Call Summary: New Year's Day Faith Discussion

Overview

New Year's Day phone call where Gary shared updates on housemate Tim Joo attending revival service and his upcoming move to a more Christian-aligned living situation with Dawson. Ida shared powerful testimonies about speaking life, faith through trials, and spiritual warfare against depression and death.

Key Topics Discussed

Gary's Living Situation Transition

• Tim Joo (current housemate) attended revival service and received ministry for addiction struggles
• Gary sees Tim's success as directly tied to his relationship with Christ
• Transitioning to live with a "more explicitly Christian" friend (Dawson) who invited him unprompted
• Dawson is "a great guy who's just seeking to go deeper and more bolder in the faith"

Ida's Teaching on Speaking Life

• House Sale Testimony: When housing market was down with 10 houses on market for 6+ months, Ida declared her house would sell first because "that's God's plan for us" - sold within 30 days
• Divine Provision: The day house sold, her aunt called with month-to-month rental from a friend - "God arranged it all. The moment, the house sold the moment."
• Business Application: For Jesus's contracting work: "When we have the work, we'll have the workers. God will send the workers. And that has never failed."

Two Ways to Live

Gary articulated the stark choice between:

1. Self-reliance where God doesn't care about you and provision can't be planned
2. Walking by faith - "if you're obedient, even if you don't know how it's all gonna work out, it will work out"

Gary noted: "It's not possible... you can't be like, halfway or like two thirds of the way. It almost doesn't work."

Spiritual Formation Through Surrender

Ida on inviting challenges: "If you literally do not say, I submit my life, do whatever you want with me, God... then the battles will come"

Key Questions:

• "How can you learn patience if you don't have something to be patient for?"
• "How can you learn to be strong if you don't have something to be strong for?"
• "How can you grow in faith if you don't have something that you're supposed to?"

Ida's Grocery Store Testimony

• Fired from Sun Harvest job senior year of college for refusing to touch customer's sweaty foot-money
• Prayed that night and felt/saw an angel touch her hair in sleep
• Next morning: friend invited her for Christmas bingo, won $500
• Next day: manager called to apologize and rehire her

Ida's LPC Exam Testimony

Passed Licensed Professional Counselor exam first time without studying: "Lord, if this is your plan for my life to take this next step, then bring to my mind whatever it is that you know I need to know."

Teaching Students to Speak Life

• "Stop saying that about yourself" - corrects students daily
• Students now self-correct: "I know, I know. Speak life."
• Goal: "The more fertile they are to receive whatever God has for them"

Carlos Carreno Update

Ida sees Gary's visits as part of a relay ministry: "We're part of the relay. I can't take on the whole thing."

Camila Suicide Tragedy

• 19-year-old girl in San Antonio killed herself Christmas Day after depression and breakup
• Found half a mile from home with a gun
• Ida's diagnosis: "The depression gets so bad and so deep... because there's no Holy Spirit. There's nothing there to remind them who they are, who they belong to or where they're going."

Ida's Battle with Suicidal Thoughts

• Admits to multiple suicidal episodes from severe emotional/physical pain
• Saved by scripture "jumping to my brain" or Carlos reminding her of her beliefs
• During mystery illness: "I didn't think I could survive. I didn't think I could."
• Expected immediate healing as faithful Christian but suffered 18 months barely able to dress herself

Confronting Death Speakers

During her illness, a woman repeatedly told her stories of relatives dying from rheumatoid arthritis. Ida's response: "I rebuke that in the name of Jesus, what you're talking about, against my body. I don't accept that. I don't receive that."

• "Her mouth shut. There was nothing else to say."
• "When she started getting near me, I would just walk away from her because I was like, get devil."

Key Quotes

• "The power of life and death is in the tongue. Don't forget."
• "God knew even when you were doing the Civics Unplugged, he knew before that. He knew when you were a little boy riding your little bike around."
• "I'm better now than I was my whole life because of that pit, a fire of hell that I was in."
• "When I get depressed, it comes fast. And it's like, kill yourself. It's not depression like, oh, I'm sad... No."
• "There's a devil who comes and speaks ugly and who comes and speaks death."

Gary's Humbling & Lessons on Personal Responsibility

• Trip to Liberty humbled Gary: "I've almost wanted to do the work for people. I don't think that's how it works."
• Ida's response: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
• Discussion of son-in-law as example - can give advice but can't force change
• Root issues: control, stubbornness, childhood patterns - "a long string"

Walking in Faith Requires Action

Ida on prayer without follow-through:

• "You go and you get prayed for, and the next day you wake up and you're like, I'm still the same person. Yeah, but did you make any decisions?"
• Cigarette example: "You're going to walk in faith and throw that package of cigarettes away because your prayer was to not [smoke]. You might have lung cancer."
• "You have to do your part still. There's no like, okay, God's just going to do it all for me."
• Faith requires action: throw away the cigarettes, believe the desire will fade

Gary's Big Takeaway

• Trust God's timing for things
• Release responsibility for outcomes: "I'm going to take away my responsibility for the outcome"
• On bringing people to Liberty/revival: "If God has put it on my heart to bring someone... great. Same with Sylvia - she's gotten the invitation so many times now. Let her."
• Ida confirmed: "If it's going to happen, she'll reach out to you. She knows she can."
• Gary: "It's totally in her court. I've done my part."
• Ida: "You can't take on the weight of everybody else's problems."

"Under Construction" Philosophy

Ida's approach with students:

• When students say "I made a 50 on this test, I'm such an idiot" - Ida asks "Did you study? No. Well, what did you expect to make?"
• "You are under construction. You're not perfect. None of us are. We're always under construction until our last breath."
• "You have to be part of that construction - put up the drywall or nail something. It's not just going to happen by itself."
• Even at 90, still learning - like the rabbi who learned forgiveness at the end of his life after preaching it for 60 years

Jewish Forgiveness Discussion

• Gary questioned whether Jews preach about forgiveness
• Gary's observation: "I feel like they teach about not forgetting when you get attacked and stuff"
• Ida's insight: "Why would they preach about forgiveness when that came in the New Testament? And they only stuck in the Old Testament."

Key Quotes

• "The power of life and death is in the tongue. Don't forget."
• "God knew even when you were doing the Civics Unplugged, he knew before that. He knew when you were a little boy riding your little bike around."
• "I'm better now than I was my whole life because of that pit, a fire of hell that I was in."
• "When I get depressed, it comes fast. And it's like, kill yourself. It's not depression like, oh, I'm sad... No."
• "There's a devil who comes and speaks ugly and who comes and speaks death."
• "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
• "You are under construction. You're not perfect. None of us are. We're always under construction until our last breath."

Action Items / Takeaways

• Gary moving to live with Dawson for more Christian-aligned environment
• Continue relay ministry to Carlos Carreno family
• Practice speaking life over circumstances regardless of external evidence
• Gary releasing responsibility for others' outcomes - trust God's timing
• Do your part after prayer (action + faith together)