God Can Rewrite Any Story: Cyntoia Brown-Long and Liz Marie Galvan
Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith
Jesus Calling
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 October 2019
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sometimes we picture our lives going one way, until we encounter impossible choices and painful struggles we never saw coming. But no matter your past, your pain, or your mistakes, when we give our stories over to God, He can write a new ending for us—one filled with potential and purpose. On today’s episode, author and activist Cyntoia Brown-Long is joined by her husband Jamie Long as she shares her redemptive story of an adolescence marred by trafficking and drug use that led to a murder conviction and a life sentence in prison. Despite the walls around her and no guarantee of freedom, Cyntoia determined to expand her horizons and better herself personally in prison. But Cyntoia found it was when she began to give her life back to God that a new chapter really started to unfold. Cyntoia’s husband Jamie tells how God miraculously brought the couple together, and how He’s using them to not only strengthen each other, but to help others find justice and mercy. Interior designer Liz Marie Galvan tells the story of a life seemingly filled with joy and opportunity. Married to the love of her life, she had a budding career in design and dreams of a family—until she was confronted with the harsh reality of infertility. Hesitant to share her pain with others, she eventually found community with those who were walking through the same issues. Now, through the work she does to create cozy homes and being open about her personal story, Liz Marie sees how God can be a light during our darkest of hours and how He can redeem our stories for a greater good.
Links, Products and Resources Mentioned:
Jesus Calling weekly prayer call
Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith [Original Video Series] featuring Rita Wilson
Cyntoia Brown-Long
‘Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System’ book
PBS Documentary: Me Facing Life
#FreeCyntoia hashtag (Twitter)
Bill Haslam (Tennessee Governor)
Cozy White Cottage: 100 Ways to Love the Feeling of Being Home
Interview Quotes:
“I knew that there was some way that I could live some type of meaningful life [in prison].” - Cyntoia Brown-Long
“Jesus is always calling. He has a word for you 365 days every year. It doesn't stop. He's always there. He's there when you need Him. He's there just to say, "Hey, thank you." - Jamie Long
“But to experience true freedom—whether in prison or out of prison—it comes through Him.”- Cyntoia Brown-Long
“He is a God of second chances.” - Cyntoia Brown-Long
“Even though I was in a physical prison, I was in prison within prison. I was in a prison of anger. I was in a prison of my past, constantly letting that anxiety hold me captive.” - Cyntoia Brown-Long
“No matter what your prison is, you just have to submit to Him and cast all your cares on Him and let Him do what He does. That's who He is. He's God.” - Cyntoia Brown-Long
“I was able to meet an entire community of people that were going through the same struggle [through my blog]. It was so helpful to be able to rally together and give each other hope and pray for each other.” - Liz Marie Galvan
“I was starting to stumble a little bit and wonder why I was going through this. And I was looking to God, wanting to know why I was not able to bear a child. It was one of the darkest seasons of my life.” - Liz Marie Galvan
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Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It was not until I came back to God. And when I sat down and I just let him take over, that's when I was free. |
| 0:10.0 | And I don't think that God gives us testimonies for us to just sit on them. |
| 0:15.0 | And then, you know, there's that thing about me making that promise to them that if you do free me, |
| 0:21.0 | then I will tell the world about you. |
| 0:23.3 | And so I'm gonna keep to my word. |
| 0:27.0 | Because I think it's important. |
| 0:28.4 | I think it's necessary. |
| 0:30.7 | Welcome to the Jesus Calling podcast. Today we talk with two young women who have had incredible |
| 0:36.2 | hardships, but when they turned their traumatic circumstances over to God, they saw |
| 0:40.4 | him work in miraculous ways to redeem their struggles, and today allow him to use their stories to heal others. |
| 0:47.0 | Author and Activist Cynthia Brown Long, an interior designer Liz Marie Galvin. |
| 0:53.8 | Up first, Cynthia Brown Long shares the redemptive story of how she found hope through faith |
| 1:00.2 | after an unimaginable series of events marked her adolescence. |
| 1:04.0 | While still a high schooler, the man Cynthia thought was her boyfriend |
| 1:08.0 | began physically and sexually abusing her and forced her into prostitution. One night in 2004, 16-year-old |
| 1:16.1 | Cynthia was solicited by a 43-year-old man. During the course of the evening, |
| 1:21.2 | Cynthia began to fear for her life and shot him. |
| 1:24.9 | Sentoya was arrested and later convicted on a charge of first-degree murder. |
| 1:29.8 | She shares a little about how her life first took a downward turn, and then after her conviction, |
| 1:35.6 | how she purposed to create hope, even through this harrowing situation. |
| 1:40.3 | My name is Antoya Brown Long. I am 31 years old and for about two months now I've been free from prison. |
| 1:49.0 | I was incarcerated at the age of 16 and after 15 years God finally freed me. |
... |
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