Transcript: This is part two of our interview with Connie Jude.
Conny Jude: Yes, yes, I am so glad that you found forgiveness too, and I just really tell everybody this is the day you really learn to forgive is the day you will be free. I deserve to be free. I so deserve to be free from all of those nightmares and all of that stuff. I dealt with that for a long time and it really took from me to say, “Okay this is it. You’ve had my past, you’re not having my future because my future belongs to God.”
David Brower: Yeah.
Conny Jude: God is not going to cause me any pain.
David Brower: So when you found Christ, did your husband start doing flips and run all across town standing on his hands, or what did he do?
Conny Jude: He was super excited. He’s so excited and I am just so blessed for the man that I have that God put in my life. He went through so much with me and so did our kids. I am so blessed that he stuck this out with me and I mean he always prayed for me.
David Brower: Right.
Conny Jude: That’s where we’re basically almost live now. We’re at church whenever we can be.
David Brower: Nice.
Conny Jude: It’s just amazing.
David Brower: I think when people feel they’re apart for whatever reason, I think the ones that the relationships that last are the ones who where their hearts speak to each other. No matter what you were going through, no matter what he was going through, my sense is that you both had a servant’s heart and that you had to wake yours up in order to really be at peace with that.
Conny Jude: Yes, definitely. I now am that. Most people, they kind of laugh at that. Like I’ve never felt like I was married, and we’ve been married for over 10 years now, and never felt married. Now I’m so married and I’m so excited about it. It feels to me like I just got married because I now allow myself to love with my whole heart.
David Brower: And to be loved.
Conny Jude: Like I never did before.
David Brower: And to be loved.
Conny Jude: To receive love is just so amazing to receive love. Not be scared and it’s amazing what God can do for us.
David Brower: I can see and feel your smile. Your cheeks are going to hurt because you’re smiling so wide.
Conny Jude: Yes, yes.
David Brower: Wow. What a wonderful story. If you go to your website on your book, MendedFaith.com, people can learn more about you, about your story. Chris Jones. Tell me about Chris Jones. He helped you write the book, right?
Conny Jude: Chris Jones is such a man of God that God could write in my pack too. When I decided to write this book, of course … I’m from Germany and I’m not a professional writer. I knew I needed help and I put it on … We have like a little Facebook group, so I put and I asked if they knew anybody that could help me write a book. That’s how we got connected. We met on a Saturday. He told me a little bit about his story, and I told him what this book is going to be about. I felt that instant connection from God, and we took it from there. I have no idea, I have never trusted anybody in my life because of my past, and I trusted him. I trusted him. I told him my whole life with every detail. My parents don’t know this detail. Nobody knew this detail. Chris I always say, he almost became like my therapist.
David Brower: He was a gift fro God, that’s for darn sure.
Conny Jude: Yes. Yes, yes he has been. It was really hard times for me and for him to talk about all this stuff. I wanted to, because after a while you get close and you tell somebody your whole story. I was always kinda thinking, “Oh my can I say that to him now?” He’ll ask me questions and I’m like, “Should I say this?” How it really was. But I felt God was telling me yes you needed to let it all out.
David Brower: Good. Good for you. Good for him. Wow. Having those conversations obviously very, very difficult for you. You had to have complete utter trust in Chris, which came virtually immediately from what you were saying which is wonderful. I love those kinds of things. How did that story impact Chris?
Conny Jude: I know that it was at times it was really hard for him. We were on a radio show last week, and that was the first time. They asked him, How was this for you?” He said that a lot of times he had used the phone and he would just listen to me and he would cry hearing the story, and he will just tell himself, “I’m here for her and I need to be strong for her right now.” That’s what he did.
David Brower: He was doing some serious praying through this process too, wasn’t he?
Conny Jude: He did. He did. He would pray me through some days, because there was a lot of days where I said, “Okay I don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t, I can’t do it anymore.” He’ll pray and I was like, “Okay. This is what God needs me to do and that’s what we’re going to do.”
David Brower: Wow. When you go to Connie’s website, again it’s MendedFaith.com, and you click on her blog, several things caught my attention here. Is anything worth more than your soul? Then you quote Mark 8:37. Why do we choose to fail? You quote 1 John 3:20. These are powerful, powerful blog posts here. Unbelievably powerful.
Conny Jude: Thank you, thank you. That’s all I can do.
David Brower: How do these come to you, to …
Conny Jude: That is so, so crazy too. This is how God works because a lot of times I could read my Bible and then I just get … The thing is I’m brand new to this, so I’m not one that totally memorized it or knows where word is in the Bible. As I need something, I’ll open the Bible and I am just right where I need to be. I am always right where I need to be in the Bible. Do you know I asked God to give that to me. I ask God to keep me on fire every day. I ask that I can be as bold as he wants me to be.
David Brower: Wow. You are on a mission my friend. You are on a mission.
Conny Jude: I am. I am on a mission.
David Brower: So excited for you. My gosh.
Conny Jude: Thank you. I’m excited.
David Brower: How can folks get your book? Obviously they can go to your website, MendedFaith.com, but are there other places where they can locate your book?
Conny Jude: May 3 the eBook will be published and out and available for Nook and Kindle, all those things. On Amazon of course. September 18 will be our national launch and then you get the book in Barnes & Noble and all these places. Airports, wherever they sell books.
David Brower: That is awesome. Again, speechless two times in 20 minutes. Unheard of. I’m going to have to go have lunch with my dog or something and try to recoup here. What a gift, man. What an absolute blessing to be able to change people’s lives and to know that over time your book is going to be out and then out and then out and then out even more. Touching people’s lives. Your family’s got to be so proud of you, especially your husband and your kids.
Conny Jude: They are.
David Brower: You know.
Conny Jude: They are, but they haven’t read the book and they decided that they don’t want to read the book. They just want to enjoy what they see right now.
David Brower: Good for them. Don’t you think that’s a smart decision? Don’t you think?
Conny Jude: Very smart decision. Very, very smart decision. Yes.
David Brower: Let’s celebrate where you are, because you’re sure not worrying about your past anymore. You’re using that as a vehicle to help others, so why wouldn’t they be the same?
Conny Jude: That’s right. It’s got to stay in the past, and that is one reason why I am as transparent as I am, because I need people to know that I was not always like that. That I was so damaged and so broken and I made some really, really, really bad choices in my life. But that I overcame that and so can everybody else.
David Brower: I think that’s part of your mission if I understand it right, is you want to make sure that people who are going through or have gone through, even the smallest pieces of what your experience was, they need to know that they’re not alone in that experience.
Conny Jude: Yes. Yes. They’re not alone. There’s so many of us, so many of us. Not just with sexual abuse. With any kind of pain that we’re going through. We live in dark times right now. We really do.
David Brower: Right.
Conny Jude: I can only say trust in God and let him do what he needs to do, and just be obedient and don’t question it.
David Brower: Yeah.
Conny Jude: If he says jump, say how high. You know. That’s what we’ve got to do. We do that all our lives with dumb stuff. I know a lot of times I did really dumb stuff because somebody said, “Hey let’s do that.” Right? What do we not want to do that for God?
David Brower: Right. Exactly right.
Conny Jude: People start jumping for God. Yes.
David Brower: There’s a quote, I don’t even know where it came from, but it’s circled around our Bible study group for quite some time. It’s let go and let God.
Conny Jude: Yes, perfect. That’s it right there.
David Brower: Just let go and let God. Then of course you got to pay attention because you don’t want to make the story up. You got to pay attention and go where he’s leading you. You’re obviously doing that. Having great love and passion for it. Your family is embracing you like never before. How fun it must be … Well I know it is … How fun it is to be able to be loved.
Conny Jude: Yes.
David Brower: Right? Wow.
Conny Jude: It is. I am just so blessed. I really, really am. I always say because a lot of people they say, “How can you even think there is a God?,” or, “Why do you think he allowed this to happen to you?,” and all that kind of stuff. A lot of people ask me that question.
David Brower: Sure.
Conny Jude: They’re like, “I can’t even believe that you believe there is a God.”
David Brower: Right.
Conny Jude: I say if God touches your heart, you will know that he is so real. He is so real.
David Brower: Wow.
Conny Jude: You got to allow him to do that.
David Brower: What a great day. Hey folks, if you want to learn more about Conny Jude and her book, you can find her on Twitter. Twitter/Mended Faith. Instagram/Mended Faith. Of course the website MendedFaith.com. Conny I’m so excited for you and your family. Continued blessings to you and continued success with your book.
Conny Jude: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Your 20-minute podcast with David Brower has been brought to you by Audible. You can listed to David’s podcasts anywhere podcasts can be found, including I Heart Radio, the Spotify mobile app, and at DavidBrowerVO.com/your20minutepodcast. Until next time, thanks for listening.