Kim McIntire Personal Testimony Pt 1 - 29

A lighthearted catch‑up turns into a turning point: Amber Sampson sits down with our podcast host, Kim, as she opens up about a steady childhood, a lonely adolescence, and the day fear drove her to an abortion clinic—where she heard a sentence that changed everything: “Leave this place and I will take care of you.” What follows is a tender, unfiltered testimony about God meeting people in dark rooms, a family choosing grace over shame, and a friendship that grows into a marriage shaped by prayer and patience.

We walk through the inner battle of lies about identity and acceptance, the pressure to hide, and the stunning moment that reframed Kim’s life and her daughter’s. You’ll hear how a praying aunt, shocked but supportive parents, and a humble act of adoption created a new story for their home. Kim doesn’t gloss over the hard parts: spiritual drift inside church routines, anger that didn’t fit her husband, Everett’s, gentle nature, and the heavy feeling that she was the problem. The shift arrives when Everett attends a Promise Keepers event, returns repentant, and starts praying over their family—every single night. That simple practice becomes a backbone of peace and a roadmap for restoration.

If you’re searching for faith-filled encouragement on abortion recovery, hearing God, rebuilding marriage, adoption, or learning how to pray together, this conversation offers hope without hype. It’s honest, specific, and practical—naming the lies, honoring grace, and showing how surrender is different from attendance. Stay to the end for a preview of part two as we continue Kim’s story of redemption and resilience in the next episode.

If this story strengthened you, share it with a friend, subscribe for part two, and leave a review to help others find this message of grace and courage.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Role Reversal
• 2:30 Rapid-Fire Favorites
• 8:40 Kim’s Foundations: Family & Prayer
• 12:15 Teenage Lies, Shame, and Isolation
• 17:30 The Clinic: Hearing God’s Audible Voice
• 22:30 Telling Family & Choosing Grace
• 26:30 Everett’s Friendship to Fatherhood
• 31:00 Marriage, Struggle, and Surrender
• 35:30 Promise Keepers & A Praying Husband
• 39:30 Practical Encouragement for Couples

Transcript

Kim McIntire: 0:07

Hey everyone, welcome to the It's Time to Rise Up Podcast. I'm your host, Kim McIntire. We know there are so many things you can do with your time, so thank you for choosing to spend your time listening today. We pray you're encouraged and blessed by what is shared. If you're not familiar with our show, please check out our website at it'stimetoriseup.org where you will find our social media links and for our podcast platforms. You can find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else you find your podcast. I would like to welcome my ministry partner and friend Amber Sampson. Amber, you've been in the studio before. Welcome back. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited too. Um we're gonna do something a little different. Yes. We are going to reverse the mic and you are going to be interviewing me regarding my testimony. Yeah. And I'm gonna give you all the credit for this episode. This was your idea.

Amber Sampson: 1:05

Yeah, I guess it was. But I think um as I've been listening to the podcast, I'm like, people don't know who Kim is. I mean, a lot of our listeners uh do because you know we're we run in circles with you, but um, there's a probably a lot of people out there who just don't know who you are yet. And um, and so I think it's gonna be fun to ask you some questions and get to hear, and I think and there's parts of your story I I still haven't found out, so I'm excited uh for what you're gonna share. So yeah, I just feel like I should say thank you for your idea.

Kim McIntire: 1:40

Well, it's just the Lord's at first. I was like, no, I don't really want to do that, and then I prayed about it. I was like, yes, yes, I do. Now is the time.

Amber Sampson: 1:47

Yeah, I think so. I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be fun, but then um I think um I think there's just something special in your story and thank you in our conversation today that's gonna that's gonna bless somebody. So I'm excited. Well I'm relinquishing control to you now. Okay, so um I've never been a podcast host before, so the I'm almost a tad bit nervous, but we're gonna uh pretend like we're just having a coffee in your living room and yeah, we're gonna dive right in.

Kim McIntire: 2:14

Just pretend because we do that really well.

Amber Sampson: 2:16

Yeah, for sure. So I wanted to uh fire off some rapid fire questions, some real fun, simple things um for uh to just kind of know some of your favorite things or what you're into. So are you ready? I'm ready. Okay, here we go. Uh are you are you coffee or tea? Tea all day long.

Kim McIntire: 2:36

Oh yes, tea. Half cut tea. Oh my goodness. Half sweet, half unsweet. If I've got lemon, that's even better. Oh my goodness, I'm questioning everything right now. Um that answer would have been coffee a few months ago.

Amber Sampson: 2:51

I know. Yeah, yeah. So tea, there you go. Are you jug hot tea? I do. I like hot tea, iced tea. Wow, all right.

Kim McIntire: 2:58

Herbal tea. Herbal tea, all the things. Okay. So, what's your go-to sonic drink? My go-to sonic drink now is a strawberry water. Is there a time when it was coffee? Used to be cherry lime made. I've shifted my our friend Kelly Carter got me hooked on strawberry water at strawberry. I've had that before it is good. Yeah. They put the fresh strawberries in it, so it's not just a pump of flavor.

Amber Sampson: 3:22

I don't I don't haven't had that yet.

Kim McIntire: 3:23

So it's really yummy. Okay, that fruit is infused into the water.

Amber Sampson: 3:26

Okay, I'm gonna have to well, listeners, we'll have to try it in. If you try strawberry water and you love it, chime in on our uh social medias and let us know. But that's right. Um, okay, so what's the food you dislike the most?

Kim McIntire: 3:40

This is funny. I love the smell of this food, but I hate the taste of it. Liver and onions.

Amber Sampson: 3:46

You like the smell? I do.

Kim McIntire: 3:48

I know that's weird, but like when my mom would cook it, I would think the house smells really good. But then when the first time I ate it, I'm like, how can something smell that yummy cooking and be so bad for the palate? That's funny. That's what I was thinking, literally. And my dad was the kind of dad, I love you, dad, if you're listening, who made you eat everything on your plate. So you didn't leave the table till it was clean. Yikes, at least it smelled good. That kind of he let he loosened up on that as we got a little bit older, but when we were like very small children, it's like you are eating your food. You're eating your liver now. Yes. Wow. I would dip it in ketchup and swallow it whole. That's what I did. That's hilarious. Okay, so what was your first concert? This is funny. I had to get my husband's help on this. Because you didn't remember it. Well, yeah, I'm like, it was either Reba McIntyre or Sawyer Brown. Sawyer. And Everett was determined that it was Reba McIntyre. Oh my goodness. Which would have been like 33 or 4 years ago. Okay, that's a big deal because she was really popular. Probably a lot cheaper to see her back then than Memorial Hall, Jopel, Missouri. Come on.

Amber Sampson: 4:50

There you go. There's a lot of good people who've come to Memorial Hall. Yeah. So that's a that's a fun first concert. Yeah. Um, okay, are you cats or dogs? Cats, always. Okay. Uh what's your dream vacation destination?

Kim McIntire: 5:05

Anywhere with mountains or an ocean. Or both. We've been to places where we hiked the mountains and saw the ocean within like a couple of days. There we go. Yeah. Okay. Uh, what's your favorite smell? My favorite smell is bread baking. Yes.

Amber Sampson: 5:22

I'm a food person. One okay, real fast fun story for our listeners is one of my favorite memories of Kim is when we were planning our first conference, we went to the restaurant that's at the Keter Center. I can't believe you're gonna tell us. So our favorite story, so it was we're at the Keter Center, and uh, you know, Kim and I hadn't really been friends at church, it's like we hadn't really run together, and so we're having dinner out together, probably for probably the first time, maybe most likely. And if you never had dinner at the Keter Center, they bring you a bread basket. And Kim, she was going to town with the bread basket.

Kim McIntire: 6:02

It's true. It's true, it's true. It's true. My husband is always like, no, we don't need another basket of bread. She does not need one.

Amber Sampson: 6:10

I just never seen beside like beside, you know, like my husband, you know, he loves the bread basket too, but yeah, he's a dude, you expect that. But Kim is uh she's she's a little small thing, and I didn't expect her to like the bread basket as much as she did. But I mean, yeah, I would say probably after your husband and children in my and well, of course Jesus might be the the bread basket. The bread.

Kim McIntire: 6:33

Bread is at the top of my list of things I love in her elements. I could never do a no-carb diet or a low-carb diet. Forget it, people.

Amber Sampson: 6:41

Oh, that's hilarious. Okay, let's ask a few more because we could get we could live in this.

Kim McIntire: 6:46

Oh my word.

Amber Sampson: 6:47

Uh, who was your childhood celebrity crush? Donnie Osman.

Kim McIntire: 6:53

I should have told you these answers before. No, because I got you laughing so much. Oh my word. Donnie Osmond. I have a feeling too much. Can I tell you too? My parents took us to see Donnie and Marie in the 70s at the Sedalia, Missouri State Fair. And my dad's like, there's Donnie, and we're gonna go down and get an autograph. And I was like, no, no, because I couldn't handle the reality that my childhood crush was right in front of me.

Amber Sampson: 7:23

This is this is this is this is way better than I expected. Oh my gosh. This is good stuff. Um, but you know, I'm sure a lot of our listeners, big Donnie Osmond fans. Back in the day. Back in the day, he was something. Yeah, he was quite the thing. Oh my goodness. So, what's the most used app on your phone, besides the Bible app? Because I feel like that's your number one. So outside of that, what would you say?

Kim McIntire: 7:45

I really had trouble with this one. Yeah. Yeah. I I would probably say my church app.

Amber Sampson: 7:52

Oh yeah.

Kim McIntire: 7:52

Probably.

Amber Sampson: 7:53

That's good.

Kim McIntire: 7:53

Yeah.

Amber Sampson: 7:54

Yeah. That's good. And that's real yeah, that's awesome. Um, okay, last question. What is your most used emoji?

Kim McIntire: 8:02

A pink heart with a prayer emoji. I can include those in almost all my texts. That's sure. Yeah. You do. And it means love and prayers. Yeah. In case anyone's gotten a text from me and they didn't know why I chose a love and high five. Not a love and a high five. I do the I do the praise one too with both hands in the air. Yeah. Somebody's sharing a testimony or an answer to prayer.

Amber Sampson: 8:24

I'm like, yes, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, that was yeah, those were some good answers. There's I wouldn't have expected a lot of that. So that's fun. Okay, so let's get in, let's have uh let's kind of dive in here. So we shared some fun things um about you. So, but tell us like what what do you want our listeners to know about you?

Kim McIntire: 8:48

Well, here are some just kind of foundational things. Um, I'm a mom of one, and Alex isn't just my daughter, she's my friend, which is awesome. Um, she's in her mid-30s, and it's interesting how that relationship changes with time. I'm really thankful that ours did. So she's someone I spend a lot of time with. She's also a miracle of God. Yes. And that's gonna come later in the story.

Amber Sampson: 9:14

Yeah.

Kim McIntire: 9:15

Um, I'm a wife. Everett and I have been married for 37 years this October. Wow. And we have known each other since literally he was five and I was zero. So my our families attended the same church. Our families go way back to our grandparents when they were young. They lived, they shared a duplex. Like my grandparents lived in one side, his lived in the other. So our family history goes back a ways, and so there's not really a time in my life I haven't known him. Wow. Um, and he's another miracle story that will come into this interview. Um, and we have two grandchildren, Phoenix and Everly. Um, my main job is staying home with them. Um, I'm their caregiver while their mom works. Um, I love simple things. I'm like a super simple person. Like taking walks and having good talks are two of my very favorite things, and um I really enjoy reading and writing. Um, quiet is my preference. I enjoy quiet. I actually prefer solitude, and a lot of people don't believe that because I'm pretty outgoing, but I refresh and recharge by being alone. Um I love time with the Lord, that's one of my absolute favorite things. It is my favorite thing. Um prayer is hands down my deepest passion. Yeah, and I think anybody that knows me at all already knows that, but for listeners who don't know me, so yeah, I mean I feel like that's kind of foundational to who I am and what my life kind of looks like.

Amber Sampson: 10:51

Yeah, yeah. Well, I think to you said, you know, you love to pray, and the one thing I will say about Kim is that if she says she's gonna pray for you, if you say, if I text Kim today and I say, Kim, I hurt my big toe, getting dressed for work today, would you please pray? She's gonna pray. And she won't if she says I'm praying, she's praying, and I don't care how small the need seems or how big the need is, Kim is Kim is going to pray. I'm so glad you know that. Yeah, and it's true, and I've been a recipient of that, and so um Kim pours out a lot, and so I think that's probably why you do need your solitude, because you do pour out a lot, and and if you're gonna give of yourself to something, you always want to give a hundred percent, whether that's to your kids, your you know, your family, your kids, grandkids, your husband, or rise up, or you know, the podcast, whatever, you're all in. And if you can't do if you can't go all uh all in, you're gonna say no. And so, um, so those are some things I've observed. Um, but Kim's a true friend, and um so, anyways, I'm afraid if I keep going, I'm gonna start getting choked up.

Kim McIntire: 12:09

So uh well I may get emotional, so I'm just going to put that out there now. Yeah. Because this is the first time I've actually shared my entire testimony. And if you have small children around listening with you, this might be a a time to pause this um interview and pick it up later when you're alone. Yeah. Um, because I'm gonna go to some places I haven't gone before about my life. Um, but I feel like now is the time. And when you asked me, you know, weeks ago, I said I'm not ready, but then I hadn't really prayed about it. So then after I pray, the Lord's like, now's the time. And so now's the time. Now's the time.

Amber Sampson: 12:47

So um, so let's let's go.

Kim McIntire: 12:51

Let's hear let's hear your testimony. Let's hear it. Well, I'm gonna start up with just my childhood. I kind of have this broken into five parts. So um, my childhood is really a great story. I had a two-parent home, mom and dad. I was raised in Joplin, Missouri, and other than four years of my life, I've lived in Joplin or the really close surrounding area like Carl Junction, Webb City. Um, my whole life, um, raised in church, my whole life, my parents were so faithful to the house of the Lord. Literally, like we were at church Sunday morning for Sunday school and church Sunday service, and then Sunday night back in the day, churches had Sunday night church, and then on Wednesday there was always a prayer meeting or a missionary meeting. And our church had revivals, so sometimes we would have two a year, and it's like seven days in a row you go to church. My mom reminded me that one year there was a two-week revival. Mom was getting us ready by herself because my dad worked evenings at the time, so anyway, that kind of home life. Yeah, you know, mom was home most of the time. My dad worked, my mom was a stay-at-of-home mom for most of my childhood. I appreciate that so much. Yeah. I I I always felt security. So I don't have, you know, a traumatic story about my growing up years. Um that doesn't mean my childhood was perfect. Right. And the enemy certainly began lying to me at a very young age. Um, but I never ever, I never doubted that Jesus died for my sins. I never doubted God was real. Like growing up, I just knew that I knew that what I was being taught was truth. Wow. Um how that became a personal truth is coming later in the story. But at 12 years old, I went forward at church camp and I had a pretty emotional response to the gospel. And I went forward and was prayed over, and then we came home, and we were those who went forward were baptized. I would say that was my salvation experience, but I also want to say my life didn't do a radical shift at 12 years old. Um, still hearing a lot of lies from the enemy, not really, I would say, in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Um at 13, my parents moved us to a small town in Kansas, not far from Joplin. And at 13, that was kind of traumatic. If you're going to talk about trauma, and I mean, for a lot of people, they're like, really? I lived through abuse, I lived through a one-parent household or a divorce situation. But you know, when you grow up in one school with friends and then you get moved to a small school, my graduating class was 60 people. I mean, I remember the first day of school, a girl throwing me up against a locker and just like threatening me. And I'd never been bullied. Wow. So my teenage years were by far like some of the most difficult and challenging. I remember struggling with suicidal thoughts at a very young age. Um, and it again it had nothing to do with my parents not being everything that that they could be. Sure. Although imperfect, like all of us are, right? Of course. So as a teenager, I believed a lot of lies, and I I want to really speak this because I feel like there may be listeners who have um teenagers who may be battling some things. Sure. And I want them to know there's hope. Um I battled suicidal thoughts as a teenager, I battled identity issues where the enemy would say, You're not accepted, you're not approved. And at the time I didn't know that was the enemy.

Amber Sampson: 17:05

Right.

Kim McIntire: 17:06

I hadn't really been taught about that kind of well, there's so many influence happening when you were a teenager, so it's hard to differentiate. Right. You know. I didn't have friends really in high school. I had a couple of friends, but not like close friends. And my closer friends were boys, and that can be a good thing or not a good thing, right? Yeah. And just as I grew, you know, you know, 15, 16, 17 years old, I really um compromised my purity. Um and felt a lot of condemnation and shame because I knew it was wrong. Like I think there's a lot of teenagers, they've just never been taught, and that's kind of normal for their parents. So but I knew that the things I was doing were were not okay with God. Right.

Amber Sampson: 18:07

Um well I think that there's especially when you're young, it it's like it those moments it's um you don't understand what comes after those decisions, whether that's you know, at a party or with a boy by yourself or whatever it might be. You don't un you know, the enemy is so tricky to be like this, you know, make it look like the grand prize, and then in the after you, you know, m fall into that trap, then he wants to beat you over the head with it and shame you and guilt you. So and when you're a teenager, that's that's really hard. And yeah.

Kim McIntire: 18:50

Yeah, it's interesting because it's funny that you said that because well it's not, it's God. This morning and I was reading in Genesis, I was reading that scripture about how the enemy said to Eve, Did God really say? So he gave a lie. Well, he's like, Surely you will not die, you'll become wise like God. So he offered her a lie with a benefit. Yeah. And I was like, that's so true. How the enemy comes in with he causes us to question God, and then he basically lies and says the opposite of what God says. And then he gives this benefit that, you know, oh, but it looks good and it tastes good. And so you can you can apply that to any sin.

Amber Sampson: 19:32

Absolutely.

Kim McIntire: 19:32

And so the benefit for me was, you know, well, these guys I'm hanging out with, they accept me. They're my friend, they're not throwing me up against a locker, and so my reputation was not great, especially toward the end of high school. Um and there were, you know, a couple, I can think of a couple of of friends that Diana and Penny. I have no idea if they'll ever hear this because I've not been in touch with them, but they were just like, they were two people that stand out to me. They were kind. They were kind. Um, and I'm thankful for that. But what happened after a few years of of this cycle of listening to the enemy and believing and agre and getting in agreement with what he was saying, because that's really the process, is um I found myself pregnant at 17. Wow. And the fear of telling my mom and dad was really overwhelming to me. And I knew that abortion was wrong. Yeah. Like I wasn't justifying that at all. But again, the enemy offers a lie, and you can believe it or reject it, and I chose to believe it. This would be so much easier if your mom and dad never had to know. This would be so much easier for you to not have to be a single mom. And so a friend offered to pay for an abortion, and we drove to Wichita, Kansas, and the doctor's name, I'll never forget it. His name was George Tiller, and I remember thinking he's a killer. And I remember thinking that all the way there. So we're in the lobby, we're waiting, you know, I've paid, I've signed all the paperwork. You could go to Kansas and get an abortion at that time without parental consent. That's changed, I believe, now. So I'm not yet aged. I was 17. Wow. That's a bad decision at 17 years old. Oh my word. And there were all these letters on the walls. So I'm like super nervous. I'm just walking around reading these letters that are in frames, and they're all these letters from young girls thanking this doctor for giving them their life back. Oh wow. And I was like, but what about their baby's life? So I'm literally in my mind knowing all of this is a lie, but my fear had overtaken me.

Amber Sampson: 22:21

Yeah.

Kim McIntire: 22:22

So I get called back. My friend's in the waiting room waiting for me. I'm setting, I'm I'm literally on the table. And I was saying, God, would you please forgive me? Because I know this is wrong. And I was just laying there, and I had never heard the voice of the Lord before. Ever. I don't even know that I had heard the voice of the Lord in my heart. But I heard the voice of the Lord say, leave this place and I will take care of you. And Amber, I believed him. So did you hear him in your heart? No, I heard an audible voice of God. Wow. And I believed it. And I got up and I got my clothes. And I didn't ask anybody. I just opened the door, I walked out. So I didn't ask for my money back. I my friend thought it was over. And we're driving home, and she's like, Are you feeling okay? Do you need something to drink? I'm like, Oh, I didn't do it. She goes, What? And she goes, Well, you need to we need to go back and get my money back. I'm I said, I'm never walking in there again. If you want to drive back, because I mean we were maybe 30 minutes to an hour on the road. I do remember that, and she was like, Well, you're gonna pay me back, right? I said, Yeah, I'll pay you back. And I did end up paying her back like a year later. Um but I just remember thinking, I believe God.

Amber Sampson: 24:00

What? So when you hear his voice, like what you say you believed God. So like what did that I mean, I've heard God before and I've heard him speak. I don't feel like I've ever heard the audible voice of God. Um so and I would say I don't think most people have experienced that either. So especially at 17, what's that's I mean, besides like like I don't know, if you could kind of dig into that, what was that like?

Kim McIntire: 24:31

Well, what it was like was I had this instant knowing that I had believed all of my life that God was real, but until that moment I didn't recognize that I was real to God, that God saw me and heard me and knew me and was for me. And it's like that reality, even as a 17-year-old, it was like became instantly clear. Wow. And it gave me the boldness to get up and walk out without money, without talking to anyone, without asking anybody. I'm just like, I'm done, I'm out of here, and I can't explain it except that I knew beyond a shadow of it, that a doubt that what I knew was God went to the darkest place to rescue me. And he rescued my daughter. And I'm convinced to this day that if I had gone through with that decision, I'm certain, Amber, I would have taken my life. Because I was already wrecked with so much guilt and shame before I even walked into that clinic. And I think the sh the shame and the guilt of following through with that at that point in my life would have overwhelmed me. And I believe the Lord saved both of our lives that day. Wow. Yeah.

Amber Sampson: 25:53

One thing um when you shared your story with me before, you said something along the lines of like God was in the abortion clinic. He wasn't outside. He was.

Kim McIntire: 26:07

He was in such a horrible space. And I I think that's something that people don't realize that the Lord I know that the Lord goes to the darkest places. So if you're a listener and someone you love is in a dark place, believe that God will go to the dark place. Believe it. Yeah. Because if he would do that for me, why would he not do that for anyone who's in an abortion clinic or in an abused clinic for you know women who have domestic who are experiencing domestic violence or an addict who's struggling with an addiction, or even someone who's in prison. Yeah, I mean I mean the Lord oftentimes that's where he shows up. And I love the scripture in Psalm 103, verse 4. It's one of my life verses. I have many, but it's one at the very top. He redeemed my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion. That was my pit. And I think everyone has one, they just look different. Yeah, that's true. Um, sometimes it's a mental pit, sometimes it's a physical pit, an emotional pit, obviously a spiritual pit. But for me, it was a physical place.

Amber Sampson: 27:20

Wow. Wow, wow. So you um you proceed with the pregnancy and I do.

Kim McIntire: 27:32

And so I had an aunt who knew. I didn't know she knew, but the school counselor had found out from my friend. My aunt was a a teacher at that school where I went, and she was praying for me, and I didn't know that until later. And she had actually called my parents while I was in Kansas. And when I got home, I was confronted because they had they believed, based on my aunt's report, that I had gone. And then think think about it, there are no cell phones. They didn't know what clinic we were going to, they didn't know what was going on. So when I got home, that's a big day. That's what I faced. Wow. And we definitely had a few words. Yeah, you did. But when I saw my aunt, I'll never forget this. My Aunt Mary said, This little baby is a gift. This little life is a gift from God, Kim. And he's entrusted you with this life. And I just felt like, you know, my mom and dad became supportive, but obviously the initial shock was very devastating. But I'm telling you, there were no prouder grandparents on the planet than my mom and dad in that hospital room when they held Alex in the world.

Amber Sampson: 29:01

So what did that mean to you, knowing like that was really hard for them, but when sweet baby Alex gets here and your parents were your biggest fans. They really were. And my mom and dad were so supportive. They don't know how to navigate because you know, your baby girl is in a really challenging situation, or maybe it's not even just a teenage pregnancy, but but it could be a whole sort there's a whole list of things it could be like as somebody who's experiencing that, what like what did that just I don't even know how to put it into words, but like what did that mean to you? What would you maybe say to a parent that's kind of walking through that as a recipient of such grace and um support?

Kim McIntire: 29:56

That's a great question. You know. Obviously faith plays such a huge role in how my parents responded. And I think you have to think about your child differently than they're your child. But they're a child of God. And the truth is we have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. My parents had sin struggles in their life. And I think grace is best played out when you're able to give it and receive it. You know, that's how it's intended to be. Like you receive grace, but you also give grace. And so my encouragement would be give grace, give grace, and trust, like the grace God's given you is the grace He wants you to give. And He'll honor it. That's the thing. He honors grace giving. That's good. It's so beautiful. And I mean, I did feel that for my parents. I really did. And they allowed me to live at home. Um, my mom helped me a ton with Alex when I was working part-time. Um, it was really just the best possible situation that I could have had. Wow. Yeah. Praise God.

Amber Sampson: 31:21

So you have sweet little Alex, and so what what's going so what else what else? What's next?

Kim McIntire: 31:26

Well, I mentioned earlier. Yeah, I mentioned earlier that Everett and I had known each other our whole lives, and when I was in high school, he was one of our youth group sponsors. Like he would do like trips to Silver Dollar City or whatever our activity was. So he's quite a bit older than not quite a bit, five years. But still, you know, I was in high school, he was in college, but we became kind of friends and just hung out quite a bit. Um, there wasn't really a romantic thing going on with us, but but he I just feel like the well, I I don't feel like I know the Lord connected us as friends, and that that would come back into play with my life with Alex. So when I was expecting, Everett would literally like get me and take me for drives, and we would go get ice cream. Although I will say this about Everett. We went to Dairy Queen once and he got a um a banana fudge sundae, which by the way, they never make anymore, like those that's not on the menu. That sounds good. And I got a banana split. And I'm we're like eating our ice cream, and his looks so good because it's like vanilla ice cream and bananas and hot fudge and whipped cream and cherry on top, and I've got the traditional banana split. And I'm like, hey, like, would you want to trade? And he looked at me, he goes, No, I sure wouldn't. So you're saying that for the white food? That's one of my first like memories of like us like being with Alex because Alex was with us. Um and he loved her so much. He was actually at the hospital when she was born. Wow. So he walked through my pregnancy with me as a friend. Um not as romantic. Not at all, or anything to do with it. Just friends, yeah. And I mean, literally, he would take me places, and I'm like big and pregnant, and he was just like perfectly happy to be with me, which I thought was so sweet. But um, when she was five months old, you know, I can't explain it, but it was just like this light bulb just went off, and I'm like, this is the man I'm gonna marry. And it was mutual, and he loved Alex so much. I mean, really, that's what won my heart, to be honest. Oh, sure. I mean, if you find a man that will love your child, that's everything. And to this day, he's been an unbelievable father to her. And he adopted her when she was very young, two years old, I believe. Maybe three. Um, that's been a while. I'm having trouble remembering that before she started school.

Amber Sampson: 33:56

Wow.

Kim McIntire: 33:56

Um he's been amazing, but but you know, that journey wasn't easy either, right? Because I haven't really, you know, God met me in the abortion clinic, and we were going to church, Everett and I both super faithful to church, and we both were raised in Christian homes, and you know, we knew about Jesus, but neither of us were in a personal relationship with Christ. And you would think that that redeeming me from the pit would just like set me on a path of pursuing God in a personal way, but I just wasn't there yet. And so we did church and we prayed together before meals, and we're just kind of doing the best we could as a young married couple. But let me just tell you, it was not easy. Um he was an instant dad, that's not an easy role to fill. Yeah, and you're still a new mom? I'm a new mom. I was a stay-at-home mom. He had a job that allowed me to stay home, which I was still so so grateful for because I was just with Alex all the time, you know, and I didn't miss much. And my mom would give us date nights. She was really good actually. Once a week she gave us a Friday night date night, so we would go to dinner or maybe. And but the truth is we both were still struggling spiritually and really not surrendered. You know, you can be saved and not surrendered, right?

Amber Sampson: 35:20

Yeah, that yeah, absolutely.

Kim McIntire: 35:22

So we you can go to church and pray and do all the things on the checklist and still not be in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So we had some real struggles, honestly, and really this is more his story than mine in a lot of ways, because he had a battle of his own that he was fighting through, and and that manifested in anger at times, and he's a very gentle person. Yeah, you would say. So it, you know, you know it's not the Lord when it's opposes your personality and your character, right? And so he battled with some anger, and I kind of always felt like, well, this is because he's not happy with me, and this was the wrong decision. And he doesn't, he's not ready to be a dad. And so I basically went back to college to try to get out of the marriage, not because I wanted out, but because I wanted him to get out, because I felt the enemy was again lying. Right. Like, you're the reason he's not happy, you're the reason he's angry, you're the reason all the things he's not ready to be a dad, you know, you put him in this position. And I'm giving the short version, obviously, but I thank God that um a friend of his invited him to a Promise Keepers conference. And when he got home from that conference, he was seriously so changed. And he said to me, forgive me for not being the spiritual leader of our home. Forgive me for not praying for you and with you. I want to be the husband and the dad that God created me to be. And literally, that's pretty much what he said. And I just cried and cried and cried. This is like at night in bed, he's talking, and I'm laying in bed, and I'm just crying. He's like, So it starts now. And for the first time, my husband prayed out loud over me. And Amber. Oh, my husband faithfully prays over me every single night at bedtime. Oh my goodness. Wow. And he would jokingly say, if you're still awake, because I'll I'll be honest, sometimes I do fall asleep, but that's a compliment. I'm like, honey, that means you're you're bringing peace and I can go to sleep. That's right. But my man prays long. And and people He prays long? He he's like a prayer warrior, but he's like, he's not a person people assume that about. He's very quiet. But he is actually a prayer warrior, and a lot of you know, I feel like my strength spiritually has come from him because he's the spiritual authority in our marriage. And when the man is the spiritual head the way God called him to be, and when he leads spiritually and prays over his wife, there's gonna be a shift in the wife. Yeah, and when the wife prays for the husband, there's gonna be a shift in the husband. And it's not just praying for them, it's praying with them. So that's an encouragement too. If you're listening, and if you're a wife, start laying your hand on your husband at night and praying for him and have the boldness to pray out loud. It'll change your marriage. I've said this to several people, and they'll come later and be like, You were right, that's changed our marriage. I mean after a while it happens. Yeah, it may not happen the first time, but over a period of time you start seeing a shift. And if you're a husband that's not praying with your wife, put your hand on her back or on her hand. This is your sign, this is your cue to go. Go. It'll change everything.

Amber Sampson: 39:05

That's a good word. That's a good word. Really such a I mean, these are like two real pivotal points in your life of having Alex out of wedlock and then not only getting married, but the shift in your husband. So there's a lot more to your story. So we're going to, I think we're gonna end up doing a two-part series to your testimony, because there's so much just the Lord's been so faithful and so good. Yeah, and I think there's just so much more that the people that are listeners were gonna want to hear. So we didn't plan to do a two-part series or a two-part episode, but let's go. So um listeners, stay tuned for part two of Kim's story.

Kim McIntire: 39:51

Thank you all for listening. If you were encouraged, strengthened, or blessed by this conversation, please share it with others. The purpose of this podcast is to glorify God and encourage all believers in their walk with the Lord. Once again, our website is it'stimetoriseup.org, and you'll find our social media platforms there. May God's grace and peace be with you through Jesus Christ our Lord.