It's Supernatural

Sid: My guest is red hot for the Messiah and she almost became a statistic. Her name is Laura Schultz and Laura found herself binge eating and purging. And she was involved as so many people today in trying to keep up and look like the models on television, or the woman that they see in the magazines and the newspapers and she wanted to look normal, and be normal. And if you look better on the outside and you say “Oh, she isn’t fat, she has a 4.0 grade average in college, she teaches Sunday School, she’s working a part time job; she’s really got her life together, but Laura tell me what was really going on inside of Laura at that time.

Laura: Well at that time it was just misery, I hated myself, I hated who I was. I was trapped in this cycle of binging and purging and depression. You know none of the doctors could provide any answers and it was just this cycle of just destruction was what I was in.

Sid: Tell me about when you were in college they found you on the floor in the bathroom, tell me about that.

Laura: Well I had gone away to school and you know I was binging and purging and abusing laxatives and got up one morning to take a shower and I guess blacked out; came to 10 or 15 minutes later on the bathroom floor. And at that point realized I knew I had a problem but it was obviously starting to really affect my health at that point.

Sid: Well they took care of you according to my notes, you were on 15 different medications. It was suggested you have shock therapy, and you were diagnosed by the state as mentally ill. Did you actually have the shock therapy?

Laura: I did it was a last ditch effort, I was in the hospital and tried to kill myself and my insurance was going to run out and the doctors just didn’t know what to do with me. And so they went ahead and did the shock therapy and then sent me home. They were just kind of at a loss not knowing how to help.

Sid:   Well they’re at a loss, you’re at a loss. Obviously your parents at a loss, what does someone in that position do?

Laura:   Well thankfully, you know at that point I heard about Mercy Ministries I mean God just did an amazing work in my life.

Sid: What were you like when you walked right into that place for the first time? If someone were to describe you what would they have seen?

Laura: Well I was a mess. I mean I couldn’t make eye contact, just looked… you could just see the depression on me. Didn’t want to speak to people, just had really lost all hope. Walked into the doors thinking either this works and God’s going to show up or I’m going to die. Those were my choices and that’s how I walked into that place.

Sid: And how old were you at the time?

Laura: I was 21 at the time.

Sid: My goodness, everything to live for but as far as you were concerned nothing to live for. What was the first gleam of hope that you had in this program because you had been going for 6 years with this eating disorder and no hope. No hope from Over Eaters Anonymous, no hope from psychiatrists, no hope from your parents, no hope from dietitians. You prayed had no answers from God, what was the first glimmer of hope that you got?

Laura: Well I was reading through from some scriptures. My counselor had given me a whole big list of scriptures to read through. And I hit 1 Corinthians 1:9 and it says “God can be trusted.” And in the Amplified it makes it even more beautiful. You know “God is faithful, reliable, trustworthy, ever true to His promise and can be depended upon.” And something just clicked in me and I knew that God has saved me and I had trusted Him for that salvation and yet I had never trusted Him with anything else. I was trying to do this all on my own and something, I mean just made revelation to me that day and I realized I could trust God and I’m going to get through this. His promises are real and that was a huge turning point for me.

Sid: So in other words, you had believed a lie.

Laura: Hm, hm. I believed a lot of lies. (Laughing)

Sid: Tell me some other lies you believed.

Laura: I believed that God had made me broken, that there was something wrong with me. And you know that I was not fixable, that I would be this way forever. That I was a horrible person, that no one loved me, that no one accepted me, that I had to perform to be accepted. I mean there was just a whole slew of lies that I was living.

Sid: One of the biggies was shame, tell me about that.

Laura: You know I just never felt good enough, I never felt that anybody would want me around. You know I just felt I mean it’s just a horrible feeling. Thankfully God is so faithful and when you bring Him that brokenness you know He replaced that with just joy and peace and comfort. But that was something that I had to be willing to give to Him and go to Him with. You know He’s not going to just snatch it from you.

Sid: In your story you talk about you had to learn what the triggers were that made you want to binge and to purge. In your case if I’m not being too personal tell me one trigger.

Laura: Well I mean the first one that comes in my head is that stress, that feeling like I’m never going to measure up and I need to do something to measure up. And so any time something would come at me I didn’t feel I had done it absolutely perfect I would binge or purge to calm myself down to deal those uncomfortable feelings. Really any uncomfortable feeling that would come my way I had learned to binge and purge to deal with that.

Sid: And so when you get an uncomfortable feeling today that comes your way what do you do?

Laura: Well now I have tools, now I know that I’m not controlled by my feelings. I know that I can go to the Lord I can pour my heart out to Him like David did in the Psalms. And that He is faithful to be there and sometimes it’s going through those feelings. But other times, I know my joy does not change, because I know that joy, that joy is more than a feeling. Joy is a gift from God and I know that even in the craziest of circumstances have that joy, have that peace that’s my bedrock. And so I just know this okay this uncomfortable feeling is here. I can pray through this, I can give this to God, I can sing a worship song. I’m going to get through this I don’t have to do some destructive behavior to deal with that feeling.

Sid: How many years later is this now?

Laura: It has been almost 6 years.

Sid: Okay according to my notes you went on to complete and get a Master’s Degree.

Laura: I did.

Sid: And you are currently working for the ministry that helped set you free, Mercy Ministry as Director of Education. What’s the real burden of your heart right now?    

Laura: I am just passionate about telling people especially girls that there’s freedom. So many people in my life, doctors. You know that they were well meaning, they just didn’t know the truth. But you know a doctor told me “You’ll never finish college, this is going to be your life, eating disorders are not curable, you’re going to struggle for the rest of your life. No one ever told me there was freedom. So I am passionate about telling these girls. Don’t let the world tell you you can’t be something, or don’t let the world put limits on you, because in Christ there’s complete freedom. There’s new beginnings, He’s a miracle working God and nothings too hard for Him. So don’t let the world tell you any differently. And that’s my passion is to convey to them “What God did for me He can do for you too.”

Sid: Okay, there is a 15 year old binge eater who then purges. Fifteen? She’s listening to us right now and she knows she’s a mess but she can’t help herself. She can’t go to that school that you have there because actually you’ve got more people waiting to get in. What advice would you give her right now because she’s in a life critical situation?

Laura: Well if people don’t know she needs to surround herself with some Christian people who can uphold her in prayer.

Sid: What kind of feedback are you getting on her book?

Laura:   We had a girl that email us and she had just randomly found this book on a book shelf at a Christian bookstore and read it. And she told us that she had read all kinds of books on eating disorders I’ve been struggling for so long and none of them gave hope. They all just gave this dismal outlook and you know some of them even made it worse because they would trigger. And she said “This was the first book that helped me get free.”

Sid: Laura quick question, how’s your weight?

Laura: Oh, it’s great… I look real good, I’m very happy.

Sid: How about your eating?

Laura: Oh, I eat what I want, I stop when I’m full. You know I just have balance now.

 

Sid: I can almost hear you speaking through the radios saying “I do too, I need a healing.” Well guess what most people need healings. And I am convinced from having read the Bible of what God’s will is. It’s God’s will that every pain, every sickness, every disease that you have He wants you healed of in this life. Sure you’ll be healed when you die and go to heaven but He wants you healed now. You won’t even need a healing after you die you’ll have a new earth suit that will never get sick. Now is when you need the healing. And Jesus made such a profound statement, He said “You will do the same things that I have done and even greater.” I mean I have heard lots of interpretations of what the greater is but I don’t even care I just want to see the same at this point. Just show me the same and I’ve interviewed so many people that have had miracles of everything possible. For instance, I have on the telephone right now Sherri Stone and I’m speaking to her at her home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. And interviewing her on her book called “Miracles Still Happen.” God showed her that most nonbelievers don’t believe that miracles happen and many believers don’t even believe that miracles happen and that they can get healed and walk in the miraculous. And of course Sherri does, she was healed of cancer and members of her family were healed and people she’s prayed for. And so she compiled a book of miracles and the subtitle is “Inspiring real life stories of Supernatural Intervention.” And speaking of supernatural intervention I find I used a word yesterday it’s a Hebrew word Sherri it’s called chutzpah. And the way that I can find out if someone is Jewish or not is whether they can pronounce that word. You see it’s very difficult for a non-Jew to say chutzpah. (Laughing) I’m just easing, but any way Sherri, I read your story you have a chapter in the book called “Canning Day Special.” And you had a roadside produce stand and you were there with a friend and your friend was selling the produce. I guess you raise this at your farm or…

Sherri: No, no.

Sid: You just were in the business, okay. But your friend was out there selling and something happened to you, tell me about that.

Sheri:   We had a break and we had a very busy day in the produce and we had a break so I went into the back behind the produce business, we had a little warehouse for that so we could bring it back and out front. During that time I heard a car drive up and look out the door and saw 2 men get out of the van and someone get out and said “Well the man must be getting canning specials for the wife. Immediately the Holy Spirit hit me and I began to pray. And I said “What in the world is going on,” it was a prayer almost of fear, what is going on. And…

Sid: Help me out, when you say use… terminology when you say the Holy Spirit hit me and what do you mean by that?

Sheri: The Holy Spirit came on and within my spirit told me that there was danger.

Sid: Hmm.

Sheri:   I then went into the Spirit, the Holy Spirit baptism of the Holy Spirit and began to pray accordingly to what the danger was.

Sid: Were you praying with your understanding or were you praying in tongues?

Sheri: I was praying in tongues.

Sid: Okay go ahead.

Sheri:   And there was great fear, and I was why would there be such fear. And fear was upon me and God is not of fear so I rebuked the fear and settled down and started to get up and the Lord said “No, continue to pray through.” So I was back down on my knees and praying severely and finally I was given the clearance and okay to go back out. And these 2 men were actually in the process almost accosting Jeanie. They didn’t know I was there and they looked a little bit shocked when I walked out and they pulled back from where she was. And I nonchalantly without them knowing that there was a danger and I said “Can I help you gentleman?”

Sid: But wait a second, weren’t you I mean you could see them accosting your friend and you’d already had a warning that something bad was about ready to happen how do you walk out there and just casual?

Sheri: (Laughing)

Sid: Tell me, how do you do that? I mean you’re just human like me, how do you do that.

Sheri:   Well I knew that the Lord was stronger than whatever was out in those men. And they didn’t have a chance. So I was fortified by the Holy Spirit and I guess we call that brave but it wasn’t I just knew, that I knew that nothing was going to happen. And God had brought those men there for a certain reason.

Sid: Okay, so you kind of what did you say to them?

Sheri:   I said “Good morning gentlemen can I help you? And they in turn said “Yes, we came to take you ladies for a ride.” I said “Well I’m sorry but we don’t have time for that.”

Sid: Oi vey!

Sheri:   And it blew their mind a little bit and they said “Well it doesn’t matter what you don’t have time for or what you want to do we’re going to take you for a ride.” And Jean and I both said I’m sorry but our husbands wouldn’t be happy about that, we’re not that type of women.” And they said “Well it doesn’t matter your going to go with us.” So in the process…

Sid: Now wait a second, I understand you supernaturally being okay but how about your friend Jeanie, how could she be okay on this?

Sheri:   She was walking right beside me in the Lord.

Sid: Okay, go ahead.

Sheri:   Strong spiritual Christian.

Sid: Okay, all right.

Sheri:   Well they tried intimidation and they tried grasping at us from the back and they couldn’t get to us and so they were a little dismayed. And they said “We’re still going to take us with them and I said “No, you’re not because we are Christian’s and our God is stronger than your god, not knowing that we knew who their god was but not realizing that they were Satanist. Then they proclaimed that faction that well you’re God is not as strong as ours. And we’re just going to take you anyway don’t you understand that we’re Satanists. And we in turn said I’m sorry but we’re not going with you our God is stronger than yours. And in the Name of Jesus we rebuke you, and we said that almost simultaneously and they both fell back. The one man ran back to the van and the other stood there trembling and he started to cry.

Sid: And when you said… did they like take a step back or did they fall?

Sheri: One man ran to the car.

Sid: Okay, but you said they stepped back.

Sheri:   It was as though there was a wall where even though they were trying to come toward us they couldn’t get through…

Sid: Okay, like a shield of protection

Sheri:   A shield, oh yes.

Sid: Oh, that’s a neat shield to have.

Sheri:   That’s our shield of faith and our shield of the Holy Spirit. And the one just stayed ended up accepting Jesus right there. He said “He’d been looking for nearly a dozen years and he never found anything as strong that actually would keep him from doing what he wanted to do. So what we had is what he wanted, so we proclaimed Jesus Christ as Savior.

Sid: Well I understand there’s a little PS to this story something very supernatural happened one year later.

Sheri:   Laughing) Once this fellow received the Lord he repented, he prayed with him.

Sid: Now what type of guy was he from a viewpoint of appearance, what did he look like at that time?

Sheri: Well tall big heavy set fellow, not fat big man. Blue jeans, cigarettes in his pocket, sleeves rolled up, long hair, dirty.

Sid: A real scruffy looking guy.

Sheri: Yeah, both of them were that way.

Sid: Okay, so a year later what happened?

Sheri:   Let me go back to just prior to that leading. All of these people started coming back into the produce business and this man panicked and we said “No, you can’t go we have to talk with you.” And he said “No, I’m going.” And so he fled to the car and we almost did a panic because here we had just been with this man about 10-12 minutes lead him to the Lord and there’s no follow-through but he’s gone.

Sid: Well he’s probably still a little afraid that you might have him arrested.

Sheri: (Laughing) That’s possible I hadn’t thought of that that’s possible. Just come kind of frustration on his part or fear and it had been too much at the time. Anyway the following year we had moved the produce business into a building and Jeanie wasn’t with me any longer and Leta was there. She was working outside and I was with the cash register and the produce on the inside. And it was a very very busy day we were just packed and I really didn’t have time for talking to many people I just kept serving wherever I could. And I happened to look over at the ice cream counter and there was a gentleman dressed very well with a little boy holding his hand. And they were asking because of the ice cream area. And I said, “Is there something I could help you with?” And I didn’t see anyone else standing there and he said “No, I’m fine.” So a half hour later and the man had kind of left for a little while and Leta and I were going to kind of again start restock our produce. I realized that the man was still standing there and I said “Oh, my goodness I’m so sorry I didn’t realize that you were here what can I do to help you? And he said “You’ve already done that Mam, thank you very much.” And I what in the world and as he did he took a little boy, and mind you he’s very well dressed at this point and he walks around outside the door and I look at the door to see who it was and who was this man?” Did I possibly know this man I didn’t recognize him at all. And as I did I realized that he walked into the green van and it was the man from the year before.

Sid: I guess there is no higher reward than leading someone and seeing them go on with the Lord.

Sheri:   That is so exciting.   And what is really wonderful that God would actually bring that man back just to let me know that he’s safe and he’s okay.

Sid: But you have a legal tangible type of faith that it’s contagious. And that’s why I’m so glad you put this book together, of course it wasn’t your idea, it was God’s idea called “Miracles Still Happen” subtitled “Inspiring Real Life Stories of Supernatural Intervention.” And who was this written for?

Sheri: The Christian’s and the unsaved Harrison House is a cross-over market they go into the Wal-Mart and stores like that along with the Christian book stores. And that’s who we knew we had to write to.

Sid: And as you explain to me non-Christians don’t believe in miracles and when they read it they’ll have to because these… You had 66 different stories and they’re all verified miracles and Christians need this too to build their faith..

Sheri: That’s right.

Sid: Eddie when you were a young man God opened your eyes and you started seeing angels. Tell me about one particular angel you saw often.

Eddie:   This was so amazing for me between the age of 16 and about 18 years old I would go to different places, my father perhaps would take me into a restaurant and I’d see this man there, or I’d be at this park or I’d be at a gas station. I could be at various different things and there was a man he was an angel showing up as a man. He had this kind of like a flannel knit shirt on, he was a white gentleman kind of a white beard. It looked like he was in maybe mid 50’s. This guy he was late 40’s or 50’s and he would just appear and no one else seemed to notice him, no one else was going to see him but he would come. But I remember one moment specifically Sid I was in a Chinese restaurant and he just come up to me and he just blessed me, just began to pray over me. I can’t really articulate everything that he said I just know in that moment that he was imparted into me and blessing me. And it was from about the age of 16 to 18 years old this angel would show up over and over again.

Sid: Eddie, you go into schools and with young people and you talk about angles. Do many of them then see angels?

Eddie: I’ve had so many testimonies of while we’re leading worship, while we’re sharing especially among the children the angels that God would show them, they would draw pictures, they would give me a drawing of the various things that God was showing them. Angels in many different forms where light is appearing, in form of lights, where they have their facial expressions of what they are doing in the room, how they are flying in different places or if they’re standing over a person and praying. I’ve got drawings of children who bring that up to me it’s very interesting to me that as we would share testimonies. And many sometimes I haven’t shared with them about my angelic experience but the children would see them, it’s beautiful.

Sid: Now tell me one picture that comes to mind that someone saw and they painted.

Eddie: The most recent one I was just in Cleveland, Tennessee at a conference there with Perry Stone. And this young girl I was headed… we had done this conference and I was headed to the back and she had to catch me she ran to me. And she gave me this picture, this is one of the first images that came to my mind we were going to talk about this. This has been maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago, she brings me this picture and she sees rain coming down from the sky. These angels she has drawn them flying through the sky as rain is coming down and this was what she saw while I was leading worship. She saw the out pour of the Holy Spirit and angels soaring through that outpouring while I was leading worship. And she drew it and she gave it to me.

Sid: Well how appropriate for a song called from the 3 CD’s…

“Let It Rain” excerpt.

Sid: Eddie, you told me that these angels were assigned to you to do such things as miracles. Tell me one that comes to mind.

Eddie: (Laughing) I’ll tell you this we were in Suriname, South America and there was a woman while I was leading worship, while we were worshiping the Lord and God is pouring out His Spirit. By the way the kids there were seeing angels as well and this is why this really ministers to me. While we were leading worship Sunday morning this was a very specific moment. There was a lady there who sent in this testimony to the people who brought us in where she had heart failure, she had lung, her one lung wasn’t working. During the service God completely heals her heart, God completely heals her lungs, she’s breathing in a way that she’s never been able to breathe before. She’s running, she begins to scream, I remember the scream because I felt this heat come over my chest and over my stomach and God was healing me. She’s gone to the doctor, they’ve already verified. We don’t know what happened but this woman is completely healed and it was just during the worship, while we’re worshiping God and the presence of God is moving this woman, the Lord divinely heals her body.

Sid: Just out of curiosity did a lot other neat things happen on this recent trip?

Eddie: Ahh I don’t know if we have the space and the time to tell all of testimonies of what God did in Suriname. Just the outpour of God, everything from restoration of Pastor’s hearts that were broken to miracles of people who were struggling. For example I remember this one individual who had a problem in their legs walking and God healed their legs and they were able to dance for Jesus and to just glorify God when they had trouble in their legs. I had just various different people sharing different healings throughout their bodies.

Sid: You know what we’re out of time right now.