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Women World Leaders' Podcast


Jun 20, 2022

Dr. Jada Daves, best-selling author, motivational speaker, trainer, and mother of 5, shares her tragic, faith-over-fear story of her newborn son, which led her to a God-ordained reconciliation of a friendship that had been snuffed out for over 21 years.
 
Forgiveness and reconciliation were just the beginning of many miracles that came through the story that Jada shares from her heart.
 
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Kimberly Hobbs  
Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women world leaders. Ladies, we are so thankful that you decided to join us today. Today we're going to be talking about a special word reconciliation. And our guest today is Miss Jada Dave's Jada, Welcome, and thanks for coming on.

Jada Daves  
Hey, Kimberly, thank you so much. It's an honor to be here. I'm so excited about this interview.

Kimberly Hobbs  
I am too and you are lovely. And Jada has an amazing story. And I ensure that this is going to bless hearts of everybody listening today. So ladies, we know that God is working in each of you giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. That's Philippians 213. And so our hope is that by you tuning in today that we can help strengthen you and inspire you and encourage you to walk in the beautiful purpose that God has just for you. And sometimes when we I can identify with one another stories and no other people have the same struggles and different things that we have gone through in life. It helps to take away some of the burden and know that we can relate to people and also that God may be speaking through that story of how they overcame certain things in their life. So we know that there is a purpose for you being on here today and you listening and Ephesians 210 says that we are God's masterpiece created a new and Christ Jesus to do the very good things that he planned for us long ago. So we believe that God has a plan for your life. And we just pray that as you act upon the things you hear and the scriptures you hear that God will move in your heart today. I want to tell you a little bit about Dr. J to Dave's before we get into our podcast. Today. She is a motivational speaker, a trainer and a coach based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She's dedicated to improve the lives of others by professionally and personally share sharing her inspirational messages. She shares them to corporations, churches, educational systems and other nonprofit organizations. Jada earned her doctorate from Vanderbilt University and human resource development and she has 30 years of experience in training and education. She has served as a missionary in several countries teaching children and adults in the local church. And she's directed family youth and women's ministries. Wow. Dr. Jada, Dr. J to Dave's is also an author and a former talk show radio host. Jada loves being a mom to her five children, uninterrupted quiet time with God don't we all offer that and long for that. She loves unlimited shopping at TJ Maxx. And she likes to have lunch and her favorite tea room. She likes to surprise strangers with acts of kindness. And she also loves playing some competitive games of cornhole with her husband she sounds like a very well rounded fun, loving person and Jada and I are getting to know each other and I am just so blessed to have her on. Jada wrote a film and said the theme of it was reconciliation, what she felt about it. And the story is about the miracle of God's saving her son Schaefer, Jada, you said that your story is only valid when it moves someone else in their story. I love that because that's why we're here to share stories and encourage each other. So May your story, sweetie today, pray in the hearts of those that are in a struggle. The Bible says even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid for you are close beside me and your rod and staff protect and comfort me with Psalm 23 for faith over fear. You teach Jada. But hearing your story about Schaefer. You were not walking what you taught. So can you tell us about that story with Schaefer?

Jada Daves  
Well, yes, Kimberly. Every time I reminisce about this, I'm just brought to such a place in my heart where I think you know, it's easier to teach this stuff than it is to live it as a motivational speaker. I do a lot of women's conferences and I you know, as I was writing the script for this film that has yet to be done, but as I look back over that script, I think about, you know, in one of the opening scenes on like faith over fear, you know, we've got to trust the Lord. work when the bottom falls out of our dreams or, you know, when that job we thought we were gonna get doesn't happen or that relationship crumbles. And we had had four children and we had suffered a miscarriage and, and that was a really hard place for me in my life. But I felt like wow, if I can get through that I can get through anything. And then we have this very tumultuous situation happened with our son, fifth child, we went into an emergency situation, they lost all vitals, they rushed us to the emergency room, it's that scene in the film where everybody's going, you know, holding your breath, not knowing if mom's gonna make if baby's gonna make it, believe it or not, miraculously, I hear that cry. And we survive. And we think that's the story so many times in our life, we think that's the story. And we took him home and at day 10, he began to have labored breathing and could not latch on to a nurse, and we got him back into the emergency room. And through a series of testing and hours later, we realized that our our son was dying. And we were critical situation and and all of a sudden, all of my faith over fear and trust the Lord when the boats rocking, you know, I put myself in the boat with the disciples when they're like, you know, your asleep,

do you not care about us? You know, like, wake up? Where are you, Lord? You know, I'm in trauma here. And I think, you know, regardless of what you're

going through if it's a divorce, or if it's financial ruin, or if it's your children or estranged, or drug and alcohol addiction, or anxiety and depression, or whatever you may be feeling. You think, God, where are you? And so there I was, in complete tears going, God, have you forsaken me?

Kimberly Hobbs  
Hmm. I, I can't say I can relate to that. But the pain that you must have felt just giving birth to a son, and knowing having four other children, and how beautiful and loving that bond is with that child when you're pregnant. And then all of a sudden here you deliver a child alive, and it's dying. So you clung to every morsel of faith that you could grab. And you told me that you did ask God, God, where are you? And you also told me that your husband started singing you know it as well with my soul over your son, but this mom has broken heart wasn't having it. And you couldn't join in with him. Can you talk about this time because that was like very crucial.

Jada Daves  
Yeah, it was a time that I'm I really felt like that I had failed the Lord during this time. He's singing sweetly over Schaefer and for those of you that have been in ICU and you're on life support with a baby you understand there's literally millions it looks like of tubes, it's really a few dozen, probably. And he's just huddled over him. You know, when when peace like a river and he starts this alarm thing and peace, like a river, there's no peace, there's no river, there's no anything. I mean, I am crushed, shattered. And they had provided a rocking chair, Kimberly in the room, and I'm literally in the fetal position, just kind of doing this number, and he's going data, could you join me? And I'm like, No, I thought join you. It is not well with my soul. And I'm not going to sing something that is the furthest thing from my heart right now. And in that moment of anger and rage, I'm thinking, how can you? How can you? And it was broken beyond words to think here I'm in a rage. And I teach this stuff, Kimberly, faith over fear. And I'm thinking, I've been put to the ultimate test. And I just received an F. And as the team began to flow and my husband kept Sanjay to get it. It's not that you're failing God, I was so broken us that I can't believe these these reactions and interactions and you're, you're over here praying. And he said, Jada. It's really like you said, Kimberly, it's a mama's broken heart. It's a unique time, give yourself time, give yourself space. And I want to encourage listeners out there, Kimberly, we think that we just kind of a microwave reaction to death or divorce, or our kids being estranged or going through something like anxiety or depression or all those things that I talked about earlier. It takes time. And the time that we need, but women is as women, you know, you're here with women, world leaders, and women across the country, I think could agree that as women, we were caretakers, and we take the world on our hearts and we think we can hold it all and do it all in the Lord says no, you know, he brought to me Psalm 4610 and said, you know, JD, you've got To Be still and know that I'm god, you're and it's really hard for Type A women like myself that are in control. I want to have kids we have them, we want to build a business, we build it, we want to build a house, we build it, go get graduate degrees, you do it. You know, you just kind of feel like you are this meanie God, and you're not. And we do have to strong to lead our families. But he took me on a journey of your need to see striving Jada. B instead of do. And boy chamberlayne. That was a hard journey, a rope head that I struggled with and still do to this day. But he began a beautiful journey for me.

Kimberly Hobbs  
And I do know that because I know how the story plays out. And ladies, that faith over fear that Jade is talking about you know, I believe that God was teaching you to about faith. And the Bible says that faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen if he was building your faith. It gives us assurance about things we cannot see. That's Hebrews 11 One. Though Jaden, that complete surrender. The medical team came in. And they were starting to say they are done with all that they can do and they were unplugging your son from the life support that he was on and saying now that he has to go into hospice, and they tell you that you have like three days to plan a funeral, like I can't even comprehend what you were going through at that time. And you needed to call your pastor. So when you were pushed to the limit Jada and you needed God, to take it from here. I just got to share this verse really quick. The Bible says that each one of you will put up to put to flight 1000 of the enemy, for the Lord your God fights for you, just as He promised. That's Joshua 2310. And as you were calling on your pastor, some things happened in that time. Can you talk about that period of time when all this was going on?

Jada Daves  
Oh, wow. Yes. And I wrote down some scriptures here that really came to me, James, one, two and three states counted all joy, when you fall in various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces patience and jump to 10 also says shall we accept good from God, but not adversity. And so instead of questioning God in this time, because I couldn't believe it, the doctors are plugging him. And they said, God gives special babies to special families. And I'm thinking but you're unplugging him like you're finished, but we're not. So we went to work. We started we call people we got on prayer chains. We were like in 40 countries. We had people lining the halls of the hospital. I got on the phone and I said you know we're going to find a hospital that will take him had gone to graduate school at Vanderbilt. We had a hospitalist that went to battle for us and we got Vandy to receive Shaffer. So instead of going on to hospice, we were waiting on the ambulance to go to Vandy. So in this period of time, they said it could be you know, a couple of hours, eight hours, I'm trying to eat the kind of rubber eggs that they bring you and take a bite at the bacon and the Lord's clearly had laid on my heart that, you know, even though I'm Baptists, and I really haven't seen this done a lot, that we should anoint him with oil, and pray for halen. And James 514. And 15 says, is anyone among you sick, let him call the elders of the church to pray over them, anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. If they have sin, they will be forgiven. And in this moment where I said we need to do this, of course, I didn't have any holy oil. I didn't know that bit of the holy lands. I thought I've got this vitamin E oil for a C section. I guess that's good enough. Um, I don't know if our pastor wants to do this or not. In the minutes. My husband gets a text while I'm sharing this with him. I'm getting ready to share this. I've got my Bible open. I'm getting ready to tell him that this is what God's laid on my heart. And he goes, Wait, I mean, I've got to take us again. I don't care who this text is from. We've got to do this. We've got to we got to make this happen because the ambulance could be here any moment. And he said Wait, wait, and his he scans the text. I knew something really weird was happening. Kimberly. He read the words from a lady in my life. That was a 21 year friend that had turned to be a thorn in my side. We had tried to get it right over and over and it was ugly. And this happens among women even in the church, sometimes it's horrible. And this text was from this individual. And she said, I don't know if this is a good time. I have begged God, I have tried to avoid this. And he has said, No, you are to go. She is a director at our church and at a church in town, not at the church we were at but at our church, and said, You are to go and see if you can anoint baby Shaffer with oil. Wow. God could have chosen anyone, Kimberly. But he chose the person that would break and shatter my heart in a million pieces, because there was unforgiveness embedded right here. Oh, I have goosebumps. Kevin reads this to me. And I went. This can't be right. And I knew the Lord was doing incredible work. And I said, how fast can she get here? She contacts her pastor, she's on the road. And he had just been to the holy lands and he had a bottle of oil and it's not in the oil. Please don't misunderstand me. But when I wanted to tell you that because we did not use my volume and the Lord provided. And she intercepted and got this all rushed in and when she walked into the room, I can't explain it. But the years of bitterness, the ugliness melted off of me. My heart was transformed. Forgiveness came and as I handed baby Schaefer into her arms.

The miracles started happening. Wow. We all gathered she brought her husband and we gathered in prayer and prayed in faith. As she anointed she said, Can I touch him? And I said, Yes, ma'am. Is she know wanted him with oil. We prayed over him. And the minute we finished here rushed in the paramedics or whatever you call those guys that transport you by ambulance was just in time. Kimberly, it was a god wink it was my friend writes a series of books calls when God winks at you. It's when those things that are too coincidental to be coincidences, it's Lord. You know, it was God divinely orchestrating this beautiful story. In the midst of our son dying in the midst of us fighting for him, we had no idea that the real healing and the real reconciliation, or a huge part of that, that would be intertwined into the story of this baby dying, was that Mama was going to be healed. Mother field. And so get that moment we load to that ambulance, and we go, and God begins to he went from wincon to Blinken. I mean, the god winks are going so fast. We get loaded up our pastors behind us traveling in the ambulance, and he's a JD, could you see out that back window and as I was praying over Schaefer the whole way, and he's gonna let you know what happened about 2025 miles into the trip, we almost got ran off the road by when a transfer comes quickly on you. And I looked over and it was a Shaffer truck. And I went, there's no way and he goes, Oh, it gets bad. He didn't pass. He just kind of hung up about, I don't know, five or six miles later, we kind of whoosh on the other side. And we look over and it's another Shaffer truck. I didn't know there were Shaffer Trucking trucks. But looking out there out there. We see them all the time. So they didn't pass they find the ambulance. To Vandy, like to angelic wings, taking baby Shaffer safely to the research hospital to the experts that we're going to be his next leg of the journey.

Kimberly Hobbs  
Conformation from God, wow.

Jada Daves  
It was crazy. His just keeps going. He goes and goes and goes about the doctor comes in the next morning and goes, this doesn't look like the baby we thought we were going to receive and then we go for weeks and weeks and we get transplant eligible. With 20 pounds he had to be 20 pounds. So we go on and on and on in the story, the miracles. The doctor that put my kidney I became the kidney donor perfect six antigen match mama millions, 1 million chances was that put my kidney in Schaefer Dave's was Dave Schaefer was the surgeon. You didn't even tell me that part. There's so much there's so much the miracles, the miracles in it, you know, the Lord doesn't have to show us those beautiful pieces. He doesn't have to, but he didn't lie. You He did it. And you know that bitterness and forgiveness. He said, Jada I want to put a cherry on top now you've you've come into this forgiveness and I've wanted to see for so long. I'm gonna blow your mind with what's next. And so the story continues there's so much more that I don't have time to share. But it's an encouragement to all of us that we have to press in we have to believe God you know, the Scriptures say ask believing. And I think many times Camberley, we kind of just go, Well, God, this and that. And we have this big laundry list of asking, but we don't really believe it. In it's almost like II and no, come boldly to the throne, amen. People that say, you know, what can we really do? You know, like, all we can do is pray. And I'm like, What, oh, you can do is pray we say it in the wrong way. Oh, we need to be doing is praise. God, believing and seeing what the Lord has for us. And you know, it has been a marvelous journey. I'm telling you, so hard to believe he is now 12 years old. Amen. His diagnosis and his prognosis hasn't changed. We are living in a miracle story. They Andy told us we don't use the the N word here. And I say we don't use the what the miracle is referred to as the M word. As it well we use it. We're a family of faith. And about I guess it was our surgery was in June, what six June of 2011. August of 2011. They did a seven page feature story. And the editor said, are you ready for the title of this? I said I'm ready. Days of Miracle and Wonder. And Schaefer was the cover. And she said in 30 years, we've never been able to use the word miracle in a story. Wow.

Kimberly Hobbs  
And you know, again, I just want to emphasize going back because this is so powerful, and I pray that you listeners really get this that you Jada. At that moment. You had a defining moment of obedience to God. You had to humble yourself, when your friend of having you hadn't talked to her, you'd been in a 21 year battle. Think about that lady's 21 years to be at a battle of your best friend and you're not talking to them. And all of a sudden they want to show up and anoint your child with oil. And you had a decision to make. Do you allow that bitterness to continue? But yet you expect God to answer your prayers, when he clear tells us to forgive? How many times do we forgive what the Bible says, in so Jada. In that moment, you allowed God to step in and restore that relationship. And that's the point of reconciliation, powerful, powerful, important word. And that is what we want to emphasize that Ephesians 432 says, Be kind to one another tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Do you think reconciliation is important? I would say. So. God says it's important. So Jada, you allowed God to step in and allow this act of kindness and your obedience and your forgiveness allowed God, you had that complete line of communication with God because of your obedient heart. Now God's here in you, when we have sinned in between us, ladies. And that sin is harboring us from communicating with God yet we're asking God to do all the stuff but yet you're not obedient to what His Word says. You need to be careful and reexamine your life. So make sure that you know God's gonna bring these things to your mind just like he did to Jada. That was probably the furthest thing from her mind when her son was dying about a friend she hadn't reconciled with. But God brought it to her attention because he said, You are going to deal with this Jada. I'm so thankful that you did and you are walking in the blessing. So in close and close some of the women out there that are listening, I believe are battling something inside and things like we're talking about right now are triggering in their own mind. They have somebody in their life that they need reconciliation with they need that complete reconciliation, Jada, how can you encourage her so that she can walk I can the blessing that you did after experiencing such trauma. Right?

Jada Daves  
Well, I think in general, we have to accept the life that God's given us is what He has for us. I think in the the age that we're in, in culture, with comparisons. With social media, and even at church, we can easily look to the left or to the right, and I'm gonna tell you ladies comparisons kill, you think their kids are smarter, their kids are cuter, or they have more money, and they're in a different financial state. You know, she's smarter, she has more education, her business is doing better, you know, we can get tangled up. Also, in the past mistakes, you know, this situation with this person, we had tried to get it right, there had been so much ugly, and I could not, I'm going to encourage you don't focus on the ugly, really believe God for the beautiful that can come. Because we all have a past, we all have stories, we all have ugly things that we wish we would have responded differently to things. You can't make somebody come to the table. So I will say that we had tried a few times to have conversations and it just was like oil and water. It was like sandpaper equal responsibility on each side, to not be able to work this out. And the Lord did it in his timing, but boy, did we lose some beautiful years together. And, and not that friendships, you know, the whole thing. Sometimes friendships are for a reason for a season or sometimes for a lifetime. Not that you have to be very close to people all the time, or there's different seasons, but really press in and ask God to give you the ability to approach this person, it may be softly through a card in the mail a text, but try to think of, you know, if tonight, this person was no longer here, would I have complete peace in my heart? Have I done everything possible to try to reconcile? Because what happens in reconciliation, Kimberly is it it opens up a beautiful world for you. So even if the other person is still not there yet, it's okay. It might be your mother in law, it might be one of your children, it might be a neighbor, or it might be someone in the church that you serve with. But I will say in closing, Kimberly, that true contentment is truly when you don't want to switch lives with anyone. You don't look to the left or the right, you say you know what, God, my young, my mess, my baggage has been a part of your divine plan. And I know as a believer, you promise that you're going to work it all for my good. And sometimes we didn't have to be patient, it goes back to we have to have time to grieve. We have to have time sometimes to grow. We're in a different season in life. And I just want to encourage you that we get to live this beautiful life. And I have a say and change your o 20. A lot of times it's like, oh, we've got to do this, or oh, I've got to go try to talk to her. No, you get, you have this marvelous chance to go and share the love of Christ. And it will make you better and hopefully will reconcile with someone that could be a beautiful part of your life that you would not otherwise have known. So I'm going to be praying Kimberly, as we close that women will see that it's just not worth it. Most of the petty things that we've gone through and that build walls, let that open a door and see what beautiful things God may have for both of you.

Kimberly Hobbs  
Oh amen. In fact, why don't you close us in prayer and pray over the woman right now that you have in your heart and on your mind? Let's pray for her.

Jada Daves  
Dear God, I just thank you right now for this beautiful opportunity, Lord, to share this story of Shaffer and how his beautiful life in this extension through almost losing him, brought healing to my heart. And I pray now that this testimony goes forth, Lord, that the woman listening today that still struggling with that angst in her heart over something petty or if it's something really big and severe and ugly, God that you would begin to work on her right now that you would let her know God that it's just not worth it. Lay it at the altar God leave it let you crumble that ugliness. Help her to walk in forgiveness Lord and knowing that she only has partial responsibility that she reaches out to see if there would be a welcoming spirit because many times there is we're just not willing to take that first step. I pray that you would cleanse any woman out here of unforgiveness that you would help her come to the table, Lord, that You would help her to be bold and to be brave, that You would help her to remember Lord than in Proverbs, you say in Proverbs three, five and six to two trusting you with all of our heart and lean not into our own understanding of all of our ways, let you direct and guide our steps God. And I pray for anyone listening today. If they're unsure just to claim to that promise in Proverbs, and to know that you're going to take them on a beautiful journey of newness God, and I can't wait to hear. Hopefully that through Kimberly, there will be testimonies of people that have used my testimony and my ugliness to bring beauty into their lives. Lord, we love you. We praise You and thank You for women, world leaders. And for this message to go for today. In your divine name we pray, Amen.

Kimberly Hobbs  
Amen. Praise God, and I trust that he has reaching the hearts of women today and that is how we're going to close this out. Thank you Jada. From our heart. We are just so blessed that you would come on and share this powerful story of reconciliation with us today. Ladies, thank you for joining us. God bless you. From his heart to yours. We are women world leaders. All content is copyrighted and cannot be used without express written consent. God bless you have a beautiful day. Thank you Jada.