Pain Doesn’t Have to Be a Life Sentence: Beth Nimmo & TJ Stevens
Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith
Jesus Calling
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2020
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sometimes before we know it, darkness can wrap itself around our hearts and minds. But when we feel ourselves lost and without hope, God is always there to lead us toward a new way of living, where we can find forgiveness for others—and ourselves. Beth Nimmo is the mother of Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Beth didn’t know she’d ever see light again after the loss of her precious daughter, but God used Rachel’s strong faith and spirit of joy to guide Beth to help troubled teens. TJ Stevens was one such teen—after an abusive childhood and several suicide attempts, TJ walked into his Virginia high school with a gun, filled with a darkness driving him to do things he’d have never thought possible. But when TJ was on his knees in desperation, he felt God moving him toward a different outcome. As TJ says, “It’s never too late to turn around and do the right thing.” Beth and TJ’s paths crossed along parallel lines, and together, they share how God has met them in their lowest points, and how pain doesn’t have to be a life sentence.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
National Suicide Prevention line
Columbine School shootings in 1999
Interview Quotes:
“What we give focus to, we give strength to--I gave focus to nothing but darkness, and darkness filled me to a point where there was an abyss of nowhere to turn.” - TJ Stevens
“When the heart isn't changed, even if you have modified behavior and there's a certain amount of control there, eventually what's in the heart will manifest itself on the surface.” - Beth Nimmo
“It's never too late to turn around and do the right thing.” - TJ Stevens
“One of the things that we have a responsibility for to the next generation coming up is; we have to show them what you're in right now doesn't have to be your life sentence and it doesn't have to define the rest of your life.” - Beth Nimmo
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As a believer, we are told that we need to walk in forgiveness. |
| 0:05.0 | And so even though you don't have the feelings to back that up, you step out in faith and say, |
| 0:11.4 | I forgive, I choose to forgive. |
| 0:13.0 | The thing that really helped me to want to enter into that peace |
| 0:18.0 | of forgiveness was, |
| 0:20.0 | Rachel would have been the first to forgive those boys. |
| 0:22.0 | And I knew that. I was now a voice for her to represent who Rachel was and everything that was in real heart and spirit. |
| 0:31.8 | I needed to walk in that forgiveness. |
| 0:35.8 | Welcome to the Jesus Calling podcast. |
| 0:38.0 | There are times that darkness comes to our lives in ways that drive us to do things that we |
| 0:41.6 | never thought we were capable of. |
| 0:44.0 | Sometimes those actions devastate others in addition to ourselves. |
| 0:47.0 | Our guests today have been victims to times of darkness, both the darkness within one's own heart |
| 0:52.0 | and the darkness that spills out when an act of |
| 0:54.0 | shame cowardice and desperation impacts more than just yourself. Beth Nemo and |
| 0:59.0 | TJ Stevens. |
| 1:02.0 | Send Joy to a child in need with Operation Christmas Child. |
| 1:07.0 | Simply pack a shoebox with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items. |
| 1:11.0 | Then bring it to a drop-off location during National Collection Week, November 13th through |
| 1:15.5 | the 20th. |
| 1:16.5 | You can also build a shoebox online. |
| 1:18.6 | And the best part is the good news of Jesus Christ is shared alongside your gift, |
... |
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