She Was 16, Raising Her Siblings Alone. Then God Rewrote Her Story.

Episode notes

She was 16 in a Denver apartment with no heat, no water, and two younger siblings to keep alive. Her dad was in prison. Her mom was in jail. Nobody came.

This is Brandy’s story the first in our series This Is My Story. She had only told it to a couple of people. A pastor and a licensed counselor sit down with her as she tells the truth: addiction, abandonment, a studio apartment, and the unseen hand of God before she even knew His name.

In this conversation:
• Born into addiction, alcoholism, and days without electricity in a Colorado winter
• Sixteen years old, playing mom, asking neighbors for bread
• “Sin has a way of finding the wounded”
• Addiction as a false god and what it does to a family
• Meeting Kevin, homelessness, and a mother-in-law who taught her how to love
• A blind pastor in Colorado, and the night she surrendered to Christ
• No longer orphaned: finding family in the body of Christ
• Seven children, Hurricane Ian, and a church family at Calvary
• Watching her daughter lead a child to the Lord
• What she wants for her kids: serve, stay humble, love people

If your story feels too broken to be used, hear this. God does not promise easy. He promises to be with you in the valley. He takes a mess and turns it into a message. And your story does not end with you.

Pastor Daniel Cox & Marie Cox · Cultural Connections
https://www.culturalconnectionspodcast.com
Calvary Baptist Church, Englewood, Florida · https://calbaptist.net

Scripture

Isaiah 61:3 · Micah 6:8 · Psalm 68:5 · 2 Corinthians 5:17

Hymns
Fanny Crosby, Blessed Assurance (“This is my story, this is my song”)
The Unseen Hand

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:22 Welcome
• 0:47 Everyone has a story
• 1:47 A new series: This Is My Story
• 2:21 Meet Brandy
• 3:42 Childhood in Denver
• 5:20 Sixteen, prison, and jail
• 8:16 Sin finds the wounded
• 9:52 Alone, abandoned, orphaned
• 10:54 Addiction as a false god
• 13:34 God saw her through
• 14:23 Kevin
• 15:43 A mother who mothered her
• 16:51 How she found Christ
• 17:32 The blind pastor
• 19:37 No longer orphaned
• 20:07 Seven children and a new life
• 20:46 How they got to Florida
• 22:25 Hurricane Ian
• 23:06 Serving at Calvary
• 26:30 Full-circle moments
• 27:53 A daughter leads a child to Christ
• 32:08 There is hope
• 32:39 What she wants for her children
• 33:34 Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly
• 36:18 Your story does not end with you
• 37:31 “I’m Brandy, and this is my story”

If this helped, send it to someone who needs hope. Not as entertainment. As a reminder that God is still rewriting stories.