Courage, Hope, and Redemption

Announcer 0:01

It's time now to get the hell out of your life . A weekly broadcast with real people sharing real struggles and offering real hope . Today's show will encourage , inspire and empower you to face life's challenges with a bold confidence and renewed hope . Now let's join our host , ron Myers . The promoter .

Ron Meyers 0:21

Hello , my friends , it is so good to be with you today . Well , during my coffee with cheese is our I had a word that kept coming to mind Courage and I said that is perfect to describe the guest that I have today . Courage Meaning strength in the face of pain or grief . I think most of us can relate to that . My guest today was a very courageous young lady . She went through abuse , rejection , had an abortion , had her life turned upside down at a very young age and one day that courageous young lady was faced with a choice Get the hell out of her life or suffer more . And she did the courageous thing and you are going to be encouraged and cheering for her as you hear her amazing story . I'm so blessed to be able to interview people that share a story of hope , redemption and God putting her on the path to discover her purpose . Brandy , welcome to the show . How are you doing today ? I'm doing well . How are you ? I'm doing well , brandy . Tell the listeners a little bit about Brandy .

Brandi Milburn 1:49

Okay , well , brandy , melbourne again . I live in Texas . I am a full-time working single mom and run a nonprofit in my free time . My story is at a really young age my parents divorced . I was 10 . So that's really the first time I ever really experienced a trauma and coming into something like that happening and thinking it's just a dream and your world kind of falling apart . I didn't grow up with the Lord , so we did it . I didn't know to pray , I didn't have a relationship with the Lord , and that's really when the enemy began just planting seed of rejection and abandonment and not really understanding what love is and what that looks like , because to me it looks really disposable . My mother moved about three hours away from my dad and my older brother , so at that point I kind of became an only child living with a single mom .

Brandi Milburn 2:46

I wasn't promiscuous growing up at all . Actually , it was the opposite . I didn't trust men , I didn't like men , so I really didn't date when I did . I dated in high school and all of those walls came crashing down with this one and then he broke my heart and at that point I decided I was going to say who , I was going to say when , I was going to say how . And really , this rebelliousness rose up in me about two days after I turned 18 .

Brandi Milburn 3:13

I moved out of my mother's house and that began my downward spiral . I didn't know how to make a good choice , I didn't know how process decision making at all , landed myself in a severely abusive relationship . About a year , year and a half , into that relationship , I got pregnant and I chose abortion . By the grace of God , I came out of that relationship , but with no self esteem , no self worth At this point . I was completely isolated away from my family . I had no relationship with my dad , siblings , really , and I was living this crazy lifestyle . I began working in a strip club industry . That became my lifestyle . I literally put a price on my value and my work . I mean that , like I said , that was my lifestyle . Thank you .

Ron Meyers 4:07

Before the divorce . What was life like for little Brandy ? Were you the typical girl that played with the little Barbie dolls and went to pageants , or did the little things that little girls do in the neighborhood ?

Brandi Milburn 4:21

No , we actually lived in the country so we had farm animals . We had chickens and pigs and horses and dogs and cats . I was usually outside running through a pasture playing hide and go seek in the woods with my brother very outdoorsy .

Ron Meyers 4:37

How was your relationship with your parents ? Could you go to them and talk to them about anything ?

Brandi Milburn 4:42

No , we were all kind of really emotionally detached . Now , looking back , I can see that I think at that time , being the little girl and 10 years old , what you have you think is normal , you don't think . You just don't think that what you have is outside of the box or it's not normal . So it was completely normal for me . Now , looking back , there wasn't a lot of emotional relationship , there wasn't a whole lot of nurturing and we did things but , like I said , there was just no , there was no emotional relationship .

Ron Meyers 5:13

After the divorce . What was your life like during that time ?

Brandi Milburn 5:17

I lived in the country and so I was totally used to that kind of an atmosphere . And when my mother moved , we moved to Irving , Texas , so it was culture shock for me . And then she was a working single mom , so we lived in an apartment complex . So then my life goes to being in a town where I mean a big city that I didn't , I didn't know anybody , and so I was having to and I'm introverted , so introverts just don't go out and meet people . So I was very secluded , very isolated . And then a few friends that I did find in the apartment complex , they just formed real great examples . So I mean , that was it , but it was just a complete culture shock for me .

Ron Meyers 5:59

Listeners . I'm visiting with Brandy Milburn of Texas . But , brandy , I've got to ask you you're in an abusive relationship with a man . Why did you stay with him when he was being abusive ?

Brandi Milburn 6:13

That's a really common question . By the time , I will say , the enemy had already started mentally beating me up and , like I said , planting those seeds and just confirming them . So when I would you know , look for those things . He would confirm the negative about me . So by the time someone actually throws the first punch , you absolutely believe that this is what you deserve and that's where it was , is I ? I didn't feel like I deserved anything better than that .

Ron Meyers 6:42

What would make you think , though , you deserve to be abused ?

Brandi Milburn 6:46

Just when you have no self esteem or no self worth and , like I said , the distance between you know my dad and my brother and my dad living his life three hours away there wasn't really any connection . The visitation was hit or miss , there was no emotional . So I had already picked up I'm , I'm not worthy and I'm not loved and I didn't know what pursuit looked like from a father and and so I just had no self worth , no value , that I didn't feel like I deserved to be . Think better , it was just , it was a mental . And then when I started making the decisions that I made , like having an abortion I mean I didn't tell anybody about that , I was carrying that solely all by myself .

Ron Meyers 7:30

After you had that abortion , because eventually you broke up with this gentleman . That kind of forced you to have an abortion . So he goes away and all of a sudden , Brandy , you're all alone . So during that time after the abortion and alone , you had to be in a very vulnerable state .

Brandi Milburn 7:51

And then they escaped that with a strip club . So , as thick as it sounds , you could go to a strip club and men would give you money because they thought you were pretty , and so at that point I was literally putting a price on my value and my worth .

Ron Meyers 8:05

The more money they give you and the more gentlemen that want you , the more it just reinforces . I am pretty , I am wanted . Look at these men are giving me money because I'm beautiful . Is that what goes through your mind ?

Brandi Milburn 8:22

It's what went through my mind . This was affirmation that I didn't get anywhere else , that I got there .

Ron Meyers 8:28

That's amazing . That's amazing and the listeners , as I said . What courage for this young lady , brandy , to share her story . But this story is for somebody out there listening , because there's nothing worse in life when you don't think you're worth anything . So before there was a transformation in your life , brandy , you really had no self-esteem , no self-worth . I bet you had a hard time even looking at yourself in the mirror .

Brandi Milburn 8:59

Oh , yeah , for sure , and I escaped with drugs and alcohol , so I really didn't have to be alone with me for very long .

Ron Meyers 9:07

Listeners . It's time for a break and when we return , the conclusion of Brandy's amazing story of courage , faith and purpose .

Announcer 9:18

You're listening to Get the Hell Out of your Life with your host , Ron Myers . Real stories , real struggles and real hope .

Speaker 2 9:27

It's your story . We're looking for stories of hope and overcoming life struggles with God's grace . Your story validates God's love , mercy , restoration and forgiveness . We want to help you share your story with the world . Visit our website , thepromoterorg , and click on the Share your Story link and submit your story . Your testimony of God's amazing grace will change a person's destiny for eternity .

Speaker 5 9:56

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Ron Meyers 10:45

I am talking with Brandy Milburn today , and Brandy's story is one of that . She is sending SOS messages to God through her loneliness , through her lack of self-worth , her lack of self-esteem , and I just have to believe , brandy , that something was beginning to stir inside of you that was seeking a change , something like that starting to happen in your life at this point of your story .

Brandi Milburn 11:18

I don't know that I was necessarily seeking the change , but I had a roommate at the time and you know , when I didn't have dinner or whatever , her parents would cook for me and I would go to their house , and so I had a relationship with her dad and stepmom . And one day I was headed out to go work at the club and he showed up at my front door and told me that the Lord told him to turn around to come share his testimony with me , and he did . He came in and told me how he himself had devalued women and started speaking to me about my worth and my value and invited me to go to church . They were doing a revival for the next three weeks and he left and I went to the club and I sat in the parking lot and the longer I sat there the more I just had this ugh in my stomach , like you can't go in , you can't go in , and I didn't .

Brandi Milburn 12:09

I went to that revival that night and I sat in the church and I remember sitting there and there was a presence there that I had never felt before and I wanted . I didn't know what was going on . It was pretty radical and I just sat and I just watched and I observed that that presence there was so strong that night that I never went back to the strip club again . I went to that revival every single night for three weeks .

Finding Redemption, Purpose Through God's Grace

Ron Meyers 12:34

Oh , that's amazing , but you said something there I just want to touch on just for a minutev because it is so important for people to hear this . You had a roommate Now was he a stripper .

Brandi Milburn 12:47

No , oh she was . She worked at a shoe store .

Ron Meyers 12:50

But her dad must have known you were a stripper because he wanted to share his testimony , right ?

Brandi Milburn 12:57

He did ? I think he did . We never really had the conversation that I'm sure he realized . Well , the point .

Ron Meyers 13:06

I'm making and I need somebody to hear this that this man , who felt led by God , invited you to his house , didn't judge . You had dinner because he saw something in you , your potential , something that you hadn't seen yet , and then , at the right time , he let God lead him to you . And I say that that sometimes , christians , we need to make sure that we don't start looking at people and judging them . Why not begin a relationship and start having a conversation with people ? Because I think sometimes Christians can kind of get on that judgment seat , if you know what I mean I do . So I guess you're going to tell us now that life started changing because you had met God . No , no , you mean there's more to this story . Yes , so what happened ?

Brandi Milburn 14:03

I got a job that paid regular hours and the owner there was . She knew where I was coming from . She knew my lifestyle . I would like to say I flipped the switch and I was doing everything I should have been doing . I wasn't . I still partied on Saturday night , went to work during the week , I would go to church on Sunday morning , but I was still very much living just this crazy lifestyle .

Brandi Milburn 14:27

I landed myself in another really unhealthy relationship . It was with a heroin addict . I got pregnant . This time I got put on bed rest because I was having symptoms of losing the baby . It's the first time in three weeks that I think I picked up a Bible . But I was on bed rest for three weeks and so I didn't know anything else to do other than lay in bed . I read Job . I read all the way through Job . After that three week time frame of being on bed rest , I went to the doctor and they told me I had lost the baby . I felt like God was punishing me because I had had an abortion . I quit going to church for a few weeks after that just because I was really distraught . I was really angry .

Brandi Milburn 15:10

The relationship with the heroin addict it ended . He had really relapsed . And there was one morning I had woke up about two in the morning and I now I know it was the Lord , but I just had this popcorn thought of check the bathroom trash can . I went to the bathroom , checked the trash can and I took the bottle and there were needles to run . Just realizing he wasn't there , I went to look for my car . My car was gone , my ATM card was gone . So he had not only stolen my car , he had taken my card and overdrew my account by a thousand dollars .

Brandi Milburn 15:42

And about a week after that I found out that I was pregnant again . And it was . It was at that point that I looked around . I didn't have rent money , I wasn't going to go back to the club and I made it . I mean , I just fell on my face and I just cried out to God . I said I don't know if you're really real , but if you are I will know you and I will make sure that this baby knows you . If you just let me keep this baby . I didn't want to go through any more loss . I still hadn't agreed having an abortion and I was having to feel every bit of , you know , being pregnant and losing that out of my control , and so , being pregnant with this baby , that was my turnaround , and I just wanted to be able to have that baby and I I begged . I bargained with God , but I didn't stop chasing after him from that day forward . That's really when I turned it around .

Ron Meyers 16:33

How old were you at this time ?

Brandi Milburn 16:35

I was 22 .

Ron Meyers 16:36

So 22 , the the hell that you've went through . You really compacted a lot of hell in your life up to the age 22 . You fell on your face . You just said I can't do this anymore . There's something in that transparent . So you became transparent and God showed up in your life and from what I read in your story , he's never left . Is that true ?

Brandi Milburn 17:02

That's true . I found a place , you know , several years into my walk and and inner healing . I went through a really intense inner healing process . When my little girl was first born , I went to some ministry leaders and just told them that I was sick and tired of me , that I wanted to be different , and that's really when I started walking through the inner healing and and getting free from the abortion and forgiveness and grieving and and all of the abuse and all of that . And several years into that , I just found myself in this place of contentment . I was a mom , I was married , I was , I was doing all of these things . That it was just content .

Brandi Milburn 17:40

And in 2012 , my little brother was killed in a car accident and it was in his passing . I mean , I really kind of spiraled in that too . I just couldn't understand how somebody's so good , how to leave us . Hmm , yeah , I'm beneficiado does it each time , but it was in losing him that the Lord , I began praying . I changed my prayers and began calling out to God going . I don't want to leave this place without walking out my purpose .

Ron Meyers 18:11

And the .

Brandi Milburn 18:12

Lord began showing me that just that everybody that's here is literally him breathing life into their lungs , and we all have a purpose , and I didn't want to leave here without mine , so he began opening up doors after that to ministry for a single mom .

Ron Meyers 18:28

What an incredible , incredible story . Listeners , brandy , brandy , somebody out there listening right now is saying oh my God , that young lady is speaking my language . They have no self-worth , they're in an abusive relationship , they've had things that they've done in their life that they've never told anyone and they most likely think that God just hates them , so they don't even look at God . You've got the microphone . You can talk to that person , that lady , that man , right now . What would you tell them ?

Brandi Milburn 19:05

I'll tell you , just like God has spoken to me over and over again , that there is nobody that will pursue you like God . There's nobody that wants to spend time with you like God . There's nobody that thinks you're more beautiful than God . He is real and genuine and you don't have to show up and look a certain way , you don't have to perform . Grace is really real and if you just surrender and invite him into all of those things , he will show up . He will not ever quit pursuing you .

Ron Meyers 19:42

Beautiful words , brandy , let me just first say that your story of what you went through and that it just broke my heart . Somebody should have to go through that kind of hell . But the good news , there is good news . The good news is that God is now showing you your purpose and you have a mission . Now you want to help other women who might feel like you used to feel , and you want to help them with the life of purpose . What is the name of your nonprofit and how can people find out more information about you and your nonprofit ?

Brandi Milburn 20:22

Nonprofit is Lighthouse Acres Ministries at , llc , and you'll find it just like that on Facebook . Our website is lighthouseacrescom . Our mission is to provide a home for women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies . I was gracious enough to have a mama who let me come home , but not everybody has that , and so we are actually currently working for land and land donations to start building , and so right now we are doing ministry within the community with single moms , so yeah , Well , you are a blessing , brandy .

Ron Meyers 20:58

And Brandy , what made you want to share your story with literally thousands , maybe millions of people around the world ?

Brandi Milburn 21:09

Number one I know where real change came from and that was the heart transformation when I invited Jesus into it . And when you look at the world today and all the the crazy and just the dark , if I can be a light for just one person , for that one person to say , hey , there is a God and he is real and and that one life be changed , then my life's not wasted and that's my legacy . That's what my legacy to be . I don't want to leave here and not have used everything that you gave me .

Ron Meyers 21:40

Well for his kingdom . You are a beautiful young lady with a beautiful spirit , with a beautiful gift and a talent , and Not only will I be praying for you in your awesome destiny and for your child , but for the Hundreds and hundreds of women who you will touch . Brandy , thank you for visiting with me today . God bless you .

Brandi Milburn 22:04

Thank you for having me .

Ron Meyers 22:05

Well , I took a lot of notes during that conversation In the beginning when she said that she did alcohol and drugs because then she never had to be alone with herself . Wow , you really have a lot of Unworthyness and lack of self-esteem when you do not want to be alone with yourself . I Was that way years ago . I had a friend called marijuana and it kept me occupied . The other thing she said that when she walked into church she felt a presence she never felt before .

Ron Meyers 22:46

God never created us to be alone , and that's why so many of us have a void in our life because the presence of God is not there . There's another thing I think a lot of us can relate to . She thought she had a Miscarriage because God was punishing her . God doesn't punish us for doing things . We reap what we sow . There's consequences to what we do , but God is holding his hand out to us all the time . And Then she said something that I'll always remember Nobody will pursue you like God . That is so true . You have a purpose . You have a destiny . Brandy's story is a story that needs to be shared . If you know someone that could be blessed by hearing Brandy's story , please share it with them . Listeners one more time . Brandy's website is a lighthouse . Acres calm .

Announcer 23:45

You're listening to get the hell out of your life with your host , ron Myers . Real stories , real struggles and real hope .

Speaker 6 23:54

Do you believe there's no such thing as absolute truth ? If you say yes , then you are making an absolute statement . We believe that unchanging moral truth does exist . It comes from God , who loves you and gives it for your good . In fact , he went so far as to die for you and offer you forgiveness you cannot otherwise find . We want to help you learn the truth about heaven and what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus . Call her Texas at 888 . Need him to learn more .

Speaker 5 24:24

Ron will be back in a moment to wrap up today's conversation . Did you know what Ron did before he discovered his destiny ? He was a promoter of secular entertainment and , by his own admission , he promoted anything he could make a buck at . At the pinnacle of his success , he walked away from it all so he could follow Jesus and discover his God-given destiny . That was over 20 years ago and he has never looked back . Today he's an inspirational speaker on a mission to empower individuals just like you to discover their God-given destiny . Ron put his story in a novel entitled the promoter and he wants to give you a copy . Here's what a few readers have said . I could not put it down . I cried , giggled , gasp and laughed out loud . Ron has written a novel and self-help book all in one . This book is a message of hope . To request your frequency , to request your free copy , visit our website at the promoterorg .

Ron Meyers 25:20

Now back to Ron Friend , I would love to send you a copy of my story . I hope you were encouraged today by Brandy's story . Brandy's story of total forgiveness from Jesus , all the things that she had done , just like you and I have done in our life that when we come to Christ , they are totally forgiven past , present and future . No guilt , no shame and no condemnation . You see , friend , I know your potential . I know what God can do with broken people . I've talked to hundreds of them . I know what he did in my life .

Embrace Forgiveness and Find Peace

Ron Meyers 26:01

So today my message has you go out this week , spend some time with Jesus , share your heart with him , give him your heart . He will give you total forgiveness . He will give you peace , he will give you encouragement . He will give you your purpose . You can never lose your purpose in life because of things you've done in your past . You are totally forgiven . You are free to become the person he created you to become . So when you look in that mirror , you see value . You see somebody that God has chosen for . This time in your life , jesus will affirm every day in you that you are loved , you have value and that you are totally forgiven . Now , if that doesn't excite you , rewind it and listen to it again , because this is your time . I'll be back next week with another great episode of get the hell out of your life . Remember this God loves you , I love you , and when you give Jesus your heart , he will give you total forgiveness and a brand new heart .

Announcer 27:23

Get the hell out of your life is underwritten by the Christmas City gift show . We invite you to come shop with over 260 vendors from all over the united states , november 10th through the 12th inside the coast convention center located on the beach in Biloxi , mississippi . You can find more information at christmascitygiftshowcom . If you would like to share your story of God's amazing grace or listen to previous episodes , please visit our website , thepromoterorg . Join us next week for another episode of Get the hell out of your life real stories , real struggles and real hope .