Welcome to the Storytellers Live podcast where everyday people share real and personal stories.

Some are profound and challenging, while others are more common and relatable shared with honesty and humor.

But all of these stories reveal what God can do in our lives when we trust him with the details.

Thanks for joining us.

Hi, everyone. This is your host, Kelly, from the Storytellers Live team. On each episode, you'll hear a

different woman share her story of God's transforming love. These stories are recorded in a live

setting at weekly local gatherings, where we're aiming to build community through sharing,

connecting, and encouraging one another. Most importantly, these stories reveal

the faithfulness of God and how he can take what's ordinary and broken and exchange it for

extraordinary and redeemed. Today you'll hear from Ivy, who shared her story to gathering

in Vestavia, Alabama. For years, Ivy wrestled with resentment toward her father who had abandoned her

family when she was just a child. The pivotal point came for her when she discovered the depths

of God's grace for her, which in turn led her to a place where she could extend grace to her dad.

You know, it's common to think of forgiveness as freedom for the one who caused the hurt.

But Ivy found that the freedom of forgiveness was not for her dad, but for herself.

Here she is.

Well, first of all, I've had this written.

I've given my testimony many times to high school girls, mainly seniors.

More importantly on how not to behave in high school, but just from personal

experience. And my story is one that really starts when I was six, and it goes throughout

my life. But I've adjusted it, and I've learned so much through it, and I look back on things,

and I, you know, I think as a mom, I'm like, if my kids didn't forgive me for something that I had done and I didn't have a relationship with them, how would I feel?

...