Rainbows and Recovery: Can Strong Women Help Each Other Heal After Tragedy Strikes? | S5 E9

Intro to Szn 5 EP 9

SPEAKER_04 0:09

Well, hello and welcome to another episode of the Family Business with the Alesssies. And today I have the privilege and uh the honor of having in the booth with me two lifelong friends. The first one is Desiree Hudson, and she has been a member of our staff for 20 plus years, almost a member of our family for 20 plus years, as well as Maury Martinez. She's been in the booth before with her husband David, and she's talked with me personally, and we've had some podcasts talking about parenting. We raised some kids together. So they're here today. We're in this room to talk about something that, wow, we were just saying we don't know that we have talked about it in 15 years.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

No, we sure haven't.

SPEAKER_04 0:50

Um, maybe a little bit here, a little bit there, but we said, because Steve asked us to, the book's coming out, his story and what happened 15 years ago around Father's Day, that we were all a part of. It was a tragic event. Thank God it didn't stay tragic. It was uh very traumatic for all of us who were witnessing what Steve went through, which was a massive widowmaker heart attack. I hate that word. And when the doctor looked at me and him and said, You suffered a widow maker, I didn't even reserve uh myself very well. I just started bawling because I thought, don't ever speak those words. To apply words like that over your husband and over an encounter that you just had was just a lot to absorb. So we went through it together. I couldn't have gotten through it without the help of God and my friends who've been closest to me. So we just want you guys to share your story. Steve has written the book. Um, he's gotten very tell-all in the book about his personal experiences. And of course, he's only got one side because he doesn't know really all the experiences. We've shared a little bit here and there, but we wanted to talk about what we witnessed and our own personal experiences. Um, but I want to jump into both of you personally. And so, Des, I want to start with you. Um, on that day, you

Dez’ Story and The Rainbow

SPEAKER_04 2:11

were working for the church, you were a part of the staff. The church was what, 10 years old at the time? I think 10 years old. About 10 years old, and we'd started this ministry together. You were our first staff member. So helping uh behind the scenes was a big part of what you did. You were a third arm for me and Steve. And you were single at the time. I sure was. You weren't married to uh our drummer Alton, you were single. Um, just tell us a little bit when you got that call. Okay. Was from me, I think. Did I call you or how did you know?

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Um, you know how they say these you have these life moments that you don't forget where you were, what you had on. And that was one of those moments. And I remember getting the call. I can't to this day remember who it was. I remember, I don't even remember hanging up the call. I just remember dropping the call. And I just started just praying in tongues through my entire house. Yeah. You know, my mom was chasing me, going, Dessie, what's wrong? What's wrong? You know, and I just I could not even say the words.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Uh I was just so just just praying in tongues, praying in tongues. Yeah. Finally, we got in the car and um we drove. I knew we had to go. And uh up to Stuart, we drove. It was about 110 miles per hour. I'll never forget. It was gloomy, it was dark, it was rainy. And the weather was awful in Miami that day so bad that day.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

And I remember it was really dark and just gloomy. And um, we just started heading up to Stuart.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

And um, you know, that was that moment was really, really hard.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Uh, because you the unknown, you know, you get that call and and time is is just going. And you're like, okay, where is he now in terms of the medical process? You know, is he still alive? Exactly. Is he still alive? Oh, I know. So as we were driving up there 100 miles an hour, I remember looking to my left. And to my left was the most beautiful rainbow, the brightest rainbow I have ever to this day seen in my life. Yeah, it was gorgeous. And around the rainbow, it was just darkness around the rainbow. And, you know, I looked at it and I'm like, I just knew in my heart of hearts, I said, he's he's gonna be fine. Yeah, yeah, he's going to be fine. You know, the Bible says in Genesis, you know, he did that, you know, God did that, you know, where he made a covenant. That's it, you know, with his people. The rainbow was a promise. The rainbow was a promise. And I saw that and I said, okay, that sun, not su n but s-o and is beaming through these little, you know, little um drops of water. And here he is showing me, okay, he's going to be okay, Des. He's going to be okay. I remember then calling Maury because she was there, we're going at the same time. And I'm like, Maury, do you see the rainbow? Do you see the rainbow? And she's like, Yeah, I see it, Des. And it was just amazing because it was utter darkness all around. And it was like, like just a little spot right there. And it just was so bright and so beautiful. And I knew right then and there, I said, okay, Lord, this is the promise.

unknown 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Your sun is shining down, S-O-N. And, you know, I just went up there with a lot of hope, knowing that he was going to be okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:41

Right. Yeah. Well, I have to say, for the first time in the podcast booth, you're doing an incredible job telling the story. Because we were, we've got tissue stuffed all underneath us because we know there's going to be a watershed moment here at in a moment. But, you know, that you shared with that with me. And Jonathan Roman in the in his podcast episode with Steven and Armando, he shares about the rainbow too. And I I have to tell you guys that the reason that you were on your way was because the paramedic looked at me and said, just get everybody here. They all need to be here. And I thought, why? I don't want to waste their time. Now, at the point of, at certain at some point around the 30-minute mark when they weren't stabilizing him, I realized, okay, this is life and death. And I shared my story in a previous podcast about how I had to choose life. I feel I just felt like God said, choose. You have to. You're either going to make every decision based on Steve living or every decision based on you're afraid he's going to die. And so when the paramedics said, call and get everyone here, that was dicey for me because was that a lack of faith and belief he was going to live? Right. You know, because what we want to do is say, let's go to the emergency room. Oh, it was agida. It was serious indigestion. Right. And we call everybody and go, it was nothing was false alarm. This was not a false alarm. No, it wasn't. And I've never had anything but a false alarm in my life. So when it wasn't a false alarm, and I knew you were driving, and Maury and David were driving, and John and Jackie, and everyone was on the road. That was really a lot to take in. And only the whole, only God knows what I was feeling in that moment of I don't want to scare everybody. I don't want everybody to put themselves at risk and we rush here and then eggs on my face. It was no big deal. Honestly, like I'm fighting that on the inside of that with the reality of, no, wake up, sister. Right. And the paramedic looked at me and he said, call everyone. Because Steve said he, the only time he spoke in 42 minutes was when I said to the paramedic, what should I do? Should I call the family? And Steve yells out, just in a horrible response, don't call anybody, don't call my dad. Because he didn't want to put any of you guys in a place of fear. And plus, his mom was dealing with cancer. She was going through chemo. And when he looked at me and he said, No, call everybody, I thought, I don't think you understand who everybody is. That's right. Because everybody isn't our nucleus of our family, it's our church family. That's right. It's our staff. We're we're in this together. This is this is a big old family. You don't understand. And so when I knew I had to say, All right, get on the phone. I think I called Maury and I said, just get hold of everyone. Everyone needs to pray. Everybody. And I had to make that decision. So what I love about the story you're telling and what Jonathan mentioned was remembering a rainbow because God knew what I was facing, the fear of I'm putting them on the road in this dangerous weather. And yet God gave you guys a rainbow, a sign of promise that I'm gonna keep you on the road. I'm gonna keep you safe. No more tragedy is gonna befall you. And your pastor's gonna be. And he's gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

And to this day, anytime I see a rainbow, I thank for that.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

That's incredible. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

To this day. Oh, it is. That's just so that's how powerful it was. It is.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

I hope I hope Steve can listen to this and hear this because it's uh it's just really it's very moving, but it's also for us very sobering because we know as three women that have pastored to church a long time, we've we've buried some guys. Yes, we have. Yeah, we've got some widows in our church who had heart attacks that were less than and they didn't survive, and that was hard on us too.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:28

Um so Maureen, you have a vantage point from the perspective of what was happening even before that same week, because the heart attack was on a Monday, Father's Day was on a Sunday the day before, but on Friday, something happened in your life that was extremely

Mory’s 42 moment and Facing Reality

SPEAKER_04 9:45

traumatic and cataclysmic, to use big words here. But um, tell us about that.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

I had no idea that what happened prior to the heart attack would pale in comparison as to what was to come. So many of you have heard David share his story that that week his company um went through a hostile takeover, and another company basically stripped my husband and our family of any means of living and the business he had built for so many years. He lost his car, he lost his phone, everything was stripped from him in a moment's notice. Yeah. And I remember telling Pastor about that on Thursday, and he telling me, it's gonna be okay. David's young, he's gonna be able to rebuild. Don't worry. And then Friday, you and I took all the kids to some amusement uh park in Broward, and you spent hours ministering to me. That was Friday. Then Sunday's uh Father's Day said, I'm gonna stay composed here, and then Monday the heart attack happens. So um, I don't even know how all the pieces it's like you block out certain things, but suddenly David was by my side. Suddenly we threw Michael, who was 11, at somebody. I still don't remember who was watching Michael, and we're in a car racing up, and I speak to you because in my mind, I'm the person that's going to communicate to the church that our pastors had a heart attack. We need everybody to pray. Right. And the minute I heard your voice, I knew this is serious. This is not in the church world, we we tend to let's always speak to positive. Yes, yes. This was not that moment. This was our pastors had a heart attack. It's very serious. We need everybody to get on their knees and pray. And the minute I heard that from you, I'm like, okay, it's serious. So, and me sending out that email while we're driving, now my phone is blowing up from everybody in the church wanting to know is this real? How serious is it? Um, uh, what do we need to do? What can we do? And we're telling everybody stay. It's panic. Stay pure basically. It was panic. It was panic. And it was panic the whole drive there. Yeah. But for Maury, that was keeping me busy. That's what I do. Right. Tragedy happens, something big happens. I keep going, keep going like mechanical. And I'm just replying to text, replying to text. I get to the hospital, I see you, we're there for a few hours in the waiting room with you, and we're all sent home. And David has to come back home. We left an 11-year-old by himself, and now he's gonna come back and pick him up and bring him the next day. So that night I spent the night with you in your bed. And I'll never forget the moment you turned around and looked at me, and we were facing each other, and you said, My husband had a heart attack. And those words, widowmaker, yeah, became real to me in that moment. Yes. So I looked in your eyes and I said, It's gonna be okay. We both cried. Just okay, that happened. God's got it, and we're gonna be okay. Yeah, you're gonna be okay. You're not going to be a widow. That's right. That's right. And that was my memory of that day. That was the moment that I realized this is real. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 13:22

And it was, and I I, you know, I have a twin sister. My twin sister is Martha Munizi. And I had called her that morning when the heart attack was going, she was my first call, and she just started saying, He will live and not die. And he was she was in Target.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:36

Um, she was buying fireworks. I don't know, it was early because that wasn't for a month later, but she said, I just went to battle. And she actually told this story recently in her church. So I am so used to having my sister with me in hard moments, but she couldn't come in that moment. She came like the day after, two days after. But that first night, the reality of I hadn't told the kids. Yeah. The kids just thought Steve Heard is back.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Right.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

I didn't know. Do I tell them? What do I do? I needed help. I needed counsel. Um, I needed an advocate and a friend. And, you know, the thing about great friends is they don't ask you what you need, they just do what you need. Exactly. And if Maury had said, Hey, do you want me to stay in the room with you tonight? I think I think you were hoping I wouldn't wig out and lose it. And, you know, you just were trying to be a calming agent for me. And you were, but you didn't ask me. You just said, I'm in here tonight. I'll be here. If I have to sleep on the floor, I'm here. I'm gonna keep a watch on you. And I didn't even realize how much I needed that until I needed it when the quiet comes in the room at night. Absolutely. And the reality of what you've just been through hits you so hard of he should have, he should not have lived. Yeah, he should not have lived. And that 42 minutes, it might as well have been 42 hours. It felt like a lifetime of just somebody emotionally. I was boxing and just getting my butt kicked. You know, even though you we're Christians, we're all believers, and I know that God kept me strong and he kept me anchored. There's nothing that you need more in times like that than a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Although God does that for us, knowing that you were on your way, you were right there with me. I was not alone, um, kept me so structured and and in my right mind because I'd never had to be strong for Steve.

unknown 15:32

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

I never had to be strong for anybody. Yeah, I didn't even know what that meant until I was forced into that. Be strong. You know, Steve always carries that role. I don't have to be strong. I've I'd never had a near-death experience in my life.

unknown 15:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:47

So my kids were at such an impressionable age. I mean, I can't imagine. I've thought about that more times. What would life look like? Right. We would, we would have gone on and had a measure of happiness, but the things that we've accomplished because Steve lived, um, you know, it's it's like you live it all the time, you know. Wow, he wouldn't be here right now. This would because we know statistically. Now, at the time, we did not know.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

No, right.

SPEAKER_04 16:11

So we got an education though. We got a serious education as to the reality of how small the percentile was that Steve survived in. Yeah. Even as of him writing the book, talking to the paramedics, they wanted him to know hey, listen, man, we use you as an example, you're an illustration when we when we teach new cadets and new trainees. We use your story because it's unbelievable. You know, even but I all of that, and that's in his episode, they need to listen to his episode. But that night, why that was so impactful was because it it kept me. Yeah, it kept me sane, it kept me knowing, okay, I have somebody who's helping me get through the night. You're gonna help me get through the next morning. Just that step-by-step decision to keep things intact. Um, and how you had to be strong, yeah, when you were so weak. I mean, you guys had been clobbered. You lost everything, not overnight in an eight-hour work day.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

Yeah, but like I said, it put it all in perspective. Right. Absolutely. That's business, money you can rebuild, a pastor you can't bring back. Exactly. So I think that the last thing that we were thinking about in those following days was what was happening to us home. It didn't matter. No, it didn't matter at all. But it didn't, it put it in perspective, like that's nothing. What pastor has said to me on Thursday was true, could be rebuilt. That's right. Let's focus on what really mattered. So yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_04 17:43

So now we're we're, you know, we know what happened when we were there. It was really a lot of weight. We we had a hard time getting in to see him. Church people started flooding.

unknown 17:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Uh, Vanessa Gordon, who was a doctor, when she came to the waiting room, she was a breath of fresh air because she said, Is the stint in? And we said yes, and she said, Okay, the worst is over. It's gonna be okay. It was the first time anybody allowed us to breathe. Because I don't know if you remember, they wouldn't, they would not say he's gonna be okay. Right. I didn't know then, thank God I didn't know then that he could have still died in the hospital. That this the statistics of that, the percentages of that, are super high. Well, now I know why they all acted so bizarre the whole time and I couldn't get answers and I couldn't go back there. We had to go home that long night of waiting. And you said something earlier about the story about how Steve greeted us when we walked into ICU the next morning.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

So the next morning, um, the kids still did not know. Yeah, I don't think you told the kids till that night. Um you and I go to the, he's in ICU. Yeah. And you and I go to the hospital.

Make-Up and The Next Morning

SPEAKER_03 18:51

And I rem I'll never forget that greeting between you and him. And then as soon as that moment's over and y'all are crying and having this beautiful moment, he looks at both of us and said, Wow, you guys put on makeup and did your hair to go. And I'm looking at him. But I I just it made me smile. It just took the edge off the moment. But he really appreciated that we didn't come in like all disheveled, you know, all panicked, hadn't slept all night. He saw a piece in us that we were able to get it together, get it together, and say, hey, Pastor, we're here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:36

So you never forget. Well, I will say, had I been by myself, that would have probably not been the case. Because I remember I just kept looking at the clock, waiting for it to be six o'clock.

unknown 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:49

That was the longest night of my life. I don't remember really sleeping. Um, it was kind of out of body, it was very weird. So to have you there going, all right, let's wake up, let's go to the hospital, let's keep it together. We did our hair, we did our makeup. It just helped me walk through with peace and calm and a plan. Right. Let's have a plan. Let's not freak out, which is really fell in line with what I felt like God spoke to me to say, choose life or choose death. Every decision that you make from this moment can be frantic. He's gonna die, he's gonna die, he's gonna die. Right. Or no, he's gonna live. He's gonna live. And if he, if something happens and he doesn't live, I'll we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But right now, he's gonna live. Choose that he's gonna live. And we all did that. You know, whether we spoke it out loud, I don't think I ever said those words out loud. I know what God spoke to me in the moment, but I felt like even our church people, oh yeah, everybody came with a he's gonna live. Yeah, absolutely. And that might be what our makeup and hair represented to him. It was more faith on our part than anything else. He, because he was feeling very frail. That was something that he struggled with. And the doctor said, I remember when we walked out, the doctor said the the heart attack is going to make him very emotional in the medication. And I remember getting the car thinking, man, when your heart gets attacked, it's an organ I know, but it it affects your psyche. Yeah, absolutely. It's your heart. It's your heart, it's the one thing that doesn't slowly give out where there's a warning, it just stops. There's nothing more frightening than that, or something that would make you feel like your his whole world shattered. The rug wasn't pulled out, it was the earth moved. The earth got pulled out, the the feeling of vulnerability, and then to have your wife walk in and then Maury walk in with me, and we're we're like, hey, we know you appreciate us looking good. Right, you're gonna be okay, you're gonna be all right. And that just brought him a lot of peace.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 21:55

It brought a lot of peace because he he didn't know how we are telling the kids, what are we gonna do? Right. And it was so Good for you to be able to look at him because I had a hard time mustering the words and saying, church is on the way, church is taken care of. We got this, Pastor Steve. Yeah. And so let's talk about that because I went into okay, I'm all I care about right now are my four kids and my husband and what goes in his mouth, what he's eating, how he's feeling, what am I supposed to do to take care of this man so this doesn't happen again? And how do I tell my children and make sure they're feeling confident? I love the church, but I didn't even have the capacity emotionally to even

Stepping Up to Help

SPEAKER_04 22:34

think about the church.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

But that's why you guys came in and so I left that night. Um, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt, I knew what my role was.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

My role was get back to Metro. The scripture says when the shepherd is is struck, yeah, the sheep will scatter. Right. And that was not gonna happen here. Yes. Not another watch. This was not gonna happen here. So I knew what my role was. I knew that I I had to get to Metro. I knew that at that time I was in the finance department, so I was managing the finances. So I knew that that had to be, you know, taken care of. Um, that, you know, that I had not only hope, but you know, making sure that that our sheep were together and everybody had, you know, because they were all like Maury said, we were getting all kinds of phone calls, you know. How is he today? And, you know, so so we just needed to get to bring in that calmness. So I knew that that was and you couldn't call me. I couldn't call you, you couldn't call me or a doctor. Your first stuff. No, it was hard. Your responsibility was to take care of your husband. Right, that's right. That happened to be our pastors, right, yeah, and your children. That's right. That's priority. You didn't have to worry about, you know, when how are the bills being paid and what's happening with our with our sheep. That was our responsibility and the staff. Yeah. So um, I knew that that was that was definitely my role. So I didn't see Pastor Steve physically till it had to be a good two months. Really? I didn't know. And he and he wanted uh a PL. I'll never forget this. And I went to the house. Uh, you opened up the door. Yeah. Um, the uh the kids were all sitting. Pastor Mike was there as well, as I recall. Yes. And I handed you the paper and you said to me, Do you want to see him? Oh.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

And I was like, now I remember think I want to see him. It was hard. Yeah. So I thought, okay, I do want to see him, but I know I don't want to get emotional because I don't want him to get emotional. So I remember his back was he was sitting down, his back was turned. Yes. And I went into the kitchen and he got up. He turned around. The minute he looked at me, that was it. Yeah, I lost it. And of course, he was crying to, and then um, that was it. I said, Here you go, I'm out of here. Bye. And that was it. But that was that was the first time I had seen him.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

Which makes sense because we were we had to stay in Stewart at that condo. We were moving in when he had the hard car. To recuperate. To recuperate, yes. Yeah, without doubt. So we weren't able to come right back. Yeah. Um, I mean, everything was scary. The car was scary. Everything was scary. He didn't answer me after two seconds. If he'd go to the bathroom, I it was hard. Um but I I honestly, the the the the sense of confidence that we had in you managing things while we were gone. Um I mean, there's just no words for that. You know, there's just no words. It it was uh like I said, there's no words. So if I haven't thanked you in 15 years, I let me say it again, thank you. Thank you for your love of our family and your love. I would not have it any other way. I know it. I know where my place is. That's right. We're in this together. Yes, we are, and that that really did even strengthen our bond more, going through that together and seeing God bring us all through it. Um, because that was a massive hit. We're we were moving in. Oh yeah, we were moving into this building. Talk about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

So I have a funny story to say about Des because two weeks after the heart attack, we're doing the Fourth of July Durral parade. Oh, yes. And Des was in charge of that float. Yes. And I'm gonna tell you, she built a float like no other float that year because she's like, I am representing Metro Life Church and my pastor, and he's a man of excellence, and we're gonna blow the minds of the residents of Dural. We sure did. And they still remember that float, and she just put all her energy to make sure that everything that was happening at the church was more beautiful than ever because she makes things beautiful here. She does and more excellent than ever. And I remember that meaning so much to me as well. Yeah, but our roles were very different during that season. Me and Jez were talking about it earlier. Her role was about keeping the home fort going and the people at peace. And my role was more about you guys and going back and forth to Stuart.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

Um, I did come and work and for periods, but we made sure we go back. And I remember the first time that you had the opportunity of leaving Pastor by himself and how you wrestled with that. And you called me and said, My sister's getting married, and I don't know if I should go to the wedding or not. Yeah. And I'm like, You gotta go to the wedding. It's your sister. Let's work this out. So that I'm sure everybody's heard by now David's story with the golfing and the cigarette. Well, tell it again. It was hilarious. Well, that's their story to tell. But um, but David came up, stayed with Pastor, and we got in a car and we went to a wedding. That's right. And that was the first time I think that you did something normal. Yes. Yes. You left your husband, you trusted God that he was gonna be okay. Yeah, you left him in good hands, yes, and we went and had a nice celebration. So that was we were reminiscing that that was like a uh sweet picture of the difference in our roles during that season.

SPEAKER_04 28:25

Yes, it was um, you know, there's nothing like great friends, but there's nothing that compares to godly friendships. For those of us who are in this together for a lifetime, that's right. We're not petty, we're not quitting on each other. We understand we're not just doing this for an audience of one or for one another for selfish gain. We do have an audience of our church and we wanted to live what we believed. Yeah. That we believed that God could do what he said he could do. And if our pastor survived this heart attack, and thank God he did, my husband, our pastor, that we were gonna shout it from the mountain and we weren't gonna live in fear anymore. Because we we have to we always have to be thinking about the audience of our church, our congregation who needs us to step out in faith and be in faith. And I'm I have to say I look back over that season, and not that we want a pat on the back, but I think our staff really deserves one. Yeah, because a lot of churches, a lot of situations like that, everybody just kind of falls into their own world and it's a shaking and it reveals really who's for you and who's against you. That's true. And all it did in our case was it just brought us closer together more than ever. We are, I mean, we're fierce defenders of one another. That's right. And we helped raise each other's kids and were there for each other when you

Power of Unity and Community

SPEAKER_04 29:53

got married just a few years ago. You know, that's you're our sister. That's right. And it was a traumatic situation, but but we did it. We got through it. We did help right the ship, not just for Steve and my family, our family, but for the body of Christ, the Metro Life family. Um, and for those who were there to experience it, they'll they'll tell you if it wasn't for the staff, if what if it wasn't for you guys and Armando and Anna and Johnny, Jonathan and Jackie and everyone else that were there, you know, we had a long way to go. Because I remember when Steve would preach after that, because we were moving into the new building. Yeah. And you guys said, Pastor, you will not preach in the old building one other day. One day. And that was a huge promise because the construction wasn't done on this building. But I remember driving back through, it was like eight weeks after the heart attack. We were coming back home and the church was filled with people. It was like a Wednesday night, and there were ladders everywhere. There were church people everywhere cleaning up, changing light bulbs, putting in drywall. And we just we drove in, but everybody was afraid, like, Pastor, go home. No, you're and it just I I don't I don't even have a way to come to explain the village. Like there needs to be more words in the English language. Maybe there are, I just don't know them. Because synergy is not the word, but the unity, yeah, that's it, and the love that it displayed, you know, you don't you don't get those experiences more than once in a lifetime. No. And although I didn't want it to come through that door of almost loss, I will tell you the greatest gift is when you look back and you say, We made it, and we made it with uh an army of people who really are a family. That's right. And we are that more than ever. And we moved into this building and he preached the first time. And I remember when he started preaching and he got excited and his face turned red. All of us were like, No, no, no, calm down. And we had we kind of had a little PTSD we all had to deal with in the long run. But it's it now what was a horrible dark story is just such a beautiful story of survival. And we have shared it and shared it and shared it with our people. And now we have our language of 42 because the 42 minutes is really our own story. We all have our own 42s of what we went through. You've had your 42, you've had your 42. Um, something that should have taken you out. That's right. Didn't you're a surviving uh member of the testimony club. Yes, you are a witness, and we all are. So, wow, I know. Anything else you guys want to say? Anything we left out of your part of the story?

SPEAKER_03 32:34

No, I just um just to sum it up, when you were saying about all that we went through as a team and the unity that was taking place, I think that some people, when they are new to the church and they see that from the outside, the the true tightness that this staff has, I think that maybe now they can better understand that. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

This isn't something that is a click. This isn't something that is um, it's not even chemistry all the time. No, no, no, it's not chemistry all the time. Um, we were bonded together in a way that no man can separate. Yes. That's the only way that I can describe it. It is truly a marriage because we went through the darkest of dark times and we came together to make something happen for God. Yeah, absolutely. So that we can have this moment. And even when you were sharing about the paramedics, to be able to say, this is a story that they use. God ordained that. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 33:36

Totally.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

And this is the story of Metro Life and the founding members and the staff that was there. God did that.

SPEAKER_05 33:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

And we will never be the same, and we don't want to be the same. We don't want to be exactly. We are who we are because of that moment. And we're grateful to God for that.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

We're grateful to God for that. We sure are. And we're grateful we have. I have a husband, and we all have a pastor that's a fighter. Yes. That doesn't give up. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that he's the fighter he is, that he's as strong as he is, because he's a fierce defender of his church. Yes, he is, and his staff and the people that he loves. There's we say this all the time: there's no more loyal man almost to a fault. He's strong, he's an eight, but he's loyal. But he's loyal, and uh we're just so glad. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. It's all good. But we hope you've enjoyed the story. We hope you read the book because the book can help you. And maybe you're experiencing your own 42, an event that could have taken you out, but it didn't, and you're still here to tell the story. We s I love to say this. You can't change your story, but you can tell it.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:39

So uh we hope you've enjoyed this episode. Thank you, girls, for joining me. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

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