Janna Faith: Hello, I’m Jana Faith and welcome to episode 35 of Faith Talks.

Well, I’m excited to be here in Indiana.

You might have heard, I think it was two episodes ago, I was talking about my wedding, and it happened.

I did get married, and we went on a honeymoon for a couple weeks and then moved down here to Martinsville, Indiana.

And we’re ministering here at Martinsville Baptist Tabernacle.

So I’m excited today to have a lady who is the wife of a man who’s on staff here.

And we’re just going to interview her.

She’s been through a lot in the past year and prior to that.

And so we’re just going to hear a little bit of her story and encouragement from her just with our theme of the trying of your faith, work of patience, just how God uses those trials in our life to work that patience in us.

So, Mrs.

Bryant, could you just tell us a little bit about yourself?

Anna Faith: Sure.

My name is Missy Bryant, and my husband and I have lived here in Indiana going on 12 years.

We were previously in North Carolina for 15 years serving in a ministry there, and God moved us to the Midwest, and we absolutely love it here.

My husband is the music director here at the church, and he is the assistant administrator of our Christian school.

And when we arrived here, our two children were with us.

They were both in elementary school, and now they have both graduated from high school.

We have one who is working on his master’s degree right now in history education, and he’s engaged to be married next summer.

And then our daughter began working on a degree, met the love of her life.

God worked and led.

So she’s been married for a year, and they’re expecting their first baby, our first grandchild.

Janna Faith: Oh, that’s so exciting.

Anna Faith: She’ll be arriving in September, and we’re very excited about the path that God has led them on and directed them on.

I serve here at the school.

I direct our Focused Learning Center, which is our center for those that have special needs or learning disabilities.

I also work with mentoring our teachers.

And then I teach whatever subject they need me to teach for that year.

And I love it.

I have a passion for those that need to learn differently.

And I’m thankful for those opportunities.

And I’m glad that we have that ministry here at Tabernacle.

Janna Faith: That is such a blessing.

I’ve always admired that part of the school.

And through one of my friends who works for you, she just loves it and loves you and your mentoring.

So I know that makes a big difference in a lot of lives here in Martinsville and the surrounding area.

So I know you’ve had some different health trials in the past couple years.

So would you mind just telling us a little bit about those and just the journey that God’s brought you on?

Anna Faith: So my journey starts actually about four years ago.

My mom, who had not been having any issues physically, started having some physical challenges.

And the Lord moved her from South Carolina to live with us.

And of course, that changed our lives.

And we were thankful and grateful and very excited to have her with us.

My dad passed away 20 years ago.

So my mom needed someone that would care for her and watch over her.

And so a few summers ago, we actually didn’t know if she was going to make it.

She had to have emergency surgery.

And the Lord brought her through it.

And then after that surgery, because she had gone into a sepsis type situation, we began to notice some dementia setting in.

And they said it was very likely that the surgery had a part in that.

They weren’t sure, but that was the direction they were headed.

So we began a journey that we had never faced before with her.

And grateful for the opportunity. and she was a huge prayer warrior for all of us.

I loved it when she would say, let’s see what God’s gonna do with this.

Didn’t matter what it was, she would always say, let’s see what God’s gonna do with this.

So that began to change because she didn’t always know what to say nor know us to say it to us, but we were determined that she would live with us as long as she needed to.

So the caregiving began.

That is a full-time job.

It was.

It was, but the Lord was very gracious in sending people to us who would come and stay for a little bit, help us with it.

My children were great.

It was great for them to be with her and to adjust to that scenario.

The Lord just taught us so much.

Of course, it changed where we would go, when we could go, and what we could do.

There was a lot more staying at home.

There was a lot more planning of what we were supposed to do.

And gradually, she got worse, and there wasn’t anything that they could do.

Offered medications, offered suggestions, but again, there wasn’t anything that anyone could change that.

And we knew that she would be with us until the end, no matter what happened or how long.

So it began to get really intense the year that Anna went to college, which was two years ago.

But we saw the Lord provide and the caregiving became more intense.

And the Lord directed Anna a different path than we thought for her.

She began in nursing at college.

And then she just really felt like God was saying, you just need to stay home and take care of your granny.

So she did.

We saw the Lord’s hand at that.

So she and I began to tag team.

She would come early, work here at school in the mornings and clean and come home and take care of my mom.

And then I would come and teach and we would tag team in the afternoon.

So that went on for several months.

It actually continued until March of last year.

So March of 2023.

And to back it up just a little bit, in February of 2023, I began to feel some discomfort physically.

Wasn’t sure what it was.

I thought my schedule, staying up with mom, lack of sleep, all of that had a lot to do with it.

So I didn’t say anything to anyone.

I didn’t even tell my husband.

It was just, okay, we’re going to get through.

God’s going to sustain me.

He sustained me all these years.

That’s not going to change.

He’s going to still do that.

So I just carried on, plunged ahead and kept going.

So my mom passed away in March of 2023, March 25th.

And we saw God’s mercy and God’s grace because she had gotten to the point where she couldn’t do anything, struggling very much at the end.

So I was thankful that God took her to heaven and her faith became sight.

She saw her Savior, which is what she always longed for.

So then we had a lot to prepare for.

Our son was graduating from college in May.

And again, I was still having some of those, what I would call uncomfortable episodes.

I wasn’t even sure how to describe them.

I thought my body was just responding to the stress and the lack of sleep and all that was going on.

So we went for his graduation, saw him graduate, came home.

Anna was scheduled to be married on June 23rd.

So mom passed away in March.

Mark graduated in May.

Anna got married in June.

Wow, that’s a lot going on.

There was a lot, but God sustained and we saw it, his provision.

And even through all of those episodes, I kept saying, God, you brought me this far.

Please continue.

Anna’s getting married.

You allowed that.

And I just saw him work.

And again, I didn’t say anything.

So Anna got married.

Everything was wonderful.

Everything went like she wanted, and my husband and I, because of being empty nesters, but not really having the chance to go and do anything with caregiving for my mom, we decided to take a few days and just go for a short trip here in Indiana.

My favorite place to go visit is the zoo.

So we were at the zoo, and I was struggling to keep up with him at the zoo.

And so I said, can we just ride the train?

So we did.

And while we were on the train, I told him, I said, I’m just not feeling well.

And it’s been that way for several months.

I haven’t said anything.

The Lord has sustained me.

And I don’t know that really anything is terribly wrong.

I just feel really straight.

So we took our time.

We slowed down.

We rested.

We didn’t do a whole lot the rest of that time.

And when I got back home, I went to see my doctor.

She had been my mom’s doctor.

So she knew about the caregiving and all that had gone on.

It was great.

And I started crying and I was just saying, I just don’t feel well.

And I know it’s been intense, but I just don’t feel well.

So she had me just tell her everything.

And I was crying and she said, I said, I’m just a big mess.

And she said, but you’re a fixable mess.

It will be okay.

She was very reassuring and very calm.

But she began a series of tests, including some heart tests, just with my episodes that I’ve been having.

And things came back saying you need some further testing done.

So she was very quick to get me in to see a cardiologist.

I had never had, my mom never had any heart issues with anything.

So we had never visited the cardiologist.

We had been to, of course, all the other doctors with some of the challenges she had.

And we had been.

Janna Faith: This wasn’t on your radar.

Anna Faith: Not at all.

So once I went to see the cardiologist, he said, I’m going to schedule you for a stress test.

And there was a couple of other things as well.

And so they did.

And that was in August.

So that was July when I told my husband and went to see my doctor. in august they did the stress test and he said he had already scheduled the appointment for a month later for me to come in and see the results but he came immediately after the test to see me and he said we’re going to schedule you for a heart catheterization he said there are some things going on and i just think we need to get that in as soon as possible he said if they can fix it they’ll put in a stent, and you’ll go on your merrily way.

And he said, I really feel that’s all that it is.

I don’t know, of course.

So I went in anticipating that I would finish with a stent, come home from the hospital, rest, jump back into the school routine.

But instead, I woke up to a surgeon saying, we couldn’t do a stent.

You’re going to have to have a bypass, and it’s very likely going to be a triple heart bypass.

It’s the last thing we expected to hear.

But at the same time, we knew that God wasn’t going to take us anywhere that he would not provide for us.

They also said, we’ve checked your carotid artery and you have one that’s almost completely closed up, but we’re not going to do anything with that until after your bypass surgery.

So not what we expected, not what we wished for, not what we ever dreamed, never even thought about at all.

And school had already started.

So I knew that changed the dynamics of a lot of things, just because it would change the schedule.

We had no idea when it would be.

And they also said, You have diabetes, which we did not know that at the time as well, and your numbers are too high to do surgery.

So we’ve got to get those numbers lower before we would consider even doing the surgery.

So that became a very big journey of food, not food, exercise.

And at the same time, they said you couldn’t do a whole lot of exercising because it could affect the blockages in your heart.

Janna Faith: Oh, that’s hard.

Anna Faith: It was just a round cycle of, okay, God, you’ve got to direct, you’ve got to show us, you’ve got to help.

So I began to really work.

They adjusted.

I had to send in numbers every week.

They adjusted for weeks.

It seemed to go that way.

And finally, the endocrinologist said, I’m clearing you to have your surgery.

So they scheduled it for October 10th.

And that was August when I heard it was going to have surgery.

So October was when I actually had it.

Janna Faith: And did you continue teaching those couple months?

Anna Faith: I did.

I did continue teaching, of course.

If there were any issues or any time that I felt that I needed to slow down, they were very gracious here for that adjustment.

And we were able to make that adjustment and move on.

So I went into the hospital that very early morning, and I remember Pastor Forrester coming to pray with me that morning.

And he said, what would you like me to pray?

And I said, can you just pray that everybody will do their one job that they’re supposed to do?

Because there were so many people involved.

I had met the anesthesiologist, the endocrinologist, all the people that were going to be involved with the surgery.

And I had also taken my list of verses with me on a piece of paper.

My fear thou not, for I’m with thee, verses that I knew that God was reminding me.

I haven’t given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

And I’d written those down on a piece of paper.

And so they said the surgery would probably take six to eight hours and that they would keep my husband informed.

And so off I went.

And once I got into the, and I had never had surgery other than delivering my children.

So it was a whole new world to me.

So I remember being wheeled into that operating room and they were playing it as well with my soul, which was amazing to me. and then the nurse said what are you holding and I said this is my list of verses so she tucked them in the front pocket of my gown and that’s the last thing I remember the next thing I woke up and I well I woke up and I was of course in intensive care and I remember saying I am hurting and I remember hearing someone say you’re going to be okay and that’s all I remember until they until I fully awakened and I guess looking back on that now it was more intense than I ever thought it would be my brother is a doctor and he kept telling me this is big this is big I don’t know if you realize how big it is.

And I was just continually saying, but God’s got this.

He wouldn’t bring me to this if he wasn’t going to see me through this.

But it was intense.

The time in the hospital, not being able to move, and I haven’t even been in a hospital for any length of time.

All of it together was just very intense for me.

But my sister had come, and my daughter had come and it was very exciting to be able to sit in my room, lay in my room, and still trust that God was working.

Things were going well.

They said I was doing well.

I was doing therapy and of course their goal was to get me home in a week, but they said it could take longer.

And I remember waking up those later days thinking, maybe today I can do everything they want me to do.

I want to do it so I can get home.

Nights were hard.

I felt like Satan really worked.

The pain seemed to be more intense at night and it was dark And I felt that though I knew God was with me, it was a very intense trying of everything I believed.

I knew God was with me.

I knew he was there.

I knew that nothing Satan was trying to discourage me with was true.

But it was still very intense for me.

My sister got in later in the week and I asked if she could stay with me.

And she stayed overnight.

And she saw some of that intenseness too.

But again, I think it was just me giving in to some of the discouragement.

And of the, when am I ever going to get out of here?

And it wasn’t very long in reality.

But in my mind, it was.

And I couldn’t move easily.

And I was attached to all kinds of wires.

So it was different.

It was hard.

But God kept reminding me.

You are mine.

I will see you to the end.

So I had done all of the things I needed to do for my therapy.

And surgery was on Tuesday.

And on Saturday, I had walked the halls like they wanted me to.

Saturday afternoon, PT came in.

And I went to stand up.

And I felt like something was wrong.

I couldn’t stand up straight.

I couldn’t hold myself up straight.

And I was very what I would call wobbly.

I felt like a weeble wobble.

So I told the nurse, I said, I’m feeling strange.

Here’s what’s happening.

And so she immediately started to check to see if I had had a stroke.

But I still had strength in my arms and I still had strength in my legs.

I just felt like I was out of control.

So she said, it could be a medicine that you’re on. so let me check with the doctor, see if we can take you off of it and see if you do better.

And that was really all the symptoms I had.

I couldn’t sit up without falling over.

I couldn’t stand up without falling over.

Everything I had been doing, I couldn’t do.

So the nurse got permission to take me off the med and they did with the hope that that would change things.

On Sunday, a different therapist came in and I couldn’t do anything that they asked me to do.

And she was like, whoa, this is different than what your charts have said.

What’s going on?

So I said, well, they took me off of a medicine last night.

They’re thinking it’s a medicine.

And she was like, I’m not sure, but you’re not going home today.

And I thought, okay.

But that was hard too.

But we had church in the hospital room. praised the Lord, sang our songs, trusted that God knew what he was doing.

And then the surgeon came in on Monday.

And he said, I’ve seen there’s been some changes over the weekend.

He said, you’re not going home today.

And I thought, how does he already know I can’t go home?

He hasn’t even checked on me.

And I was determined to show them that I could do what I needed to do to go home.

And he said, let’s just observe for the rest of the day and see what’s going on.

And I said, do you ever discharge people later in the day?

And he laughed and he said, I have.

And I said, do you think you could just watch for the morning and let me go home later today?

You were determined.

I was so ready to go home, but I knew I needed to stay if there was still something they needed to check.

So he had them do a stroke assessment as well.

And then he said, I’m going to have OT and PT come in again this afternoon.

And there are some things you’re going to have to be able to do before I would even consider letting you go home.

So I was determined.

I was like, Lord, you can let me do the things I need to do because I just want to go on home.

And I think because my sister was going to be staying with me, they took that into consideration.

They knew I had stairs in my home, so they had me trying to walk upstairs.

And, of course, they wanted to make sure that I could walk across the room without falling.

So they had me try all those things.

They would let me rest, and then we’d try them again.

And I could hear the ladies talking with, I’m not sure.

I’m not sure that she can do it.

Those kinds of things.

And I was like, Lord, just let me do it.

Just let me get it accomplished.

And so it was probably 4.30, 5 o’clock-ish.

And they decided that I had done enough things that they would tell the surgeon. that I could go since my sister was going to be with me.

And our home was already handicap accessible.

I was thinking about that.

Because my mom had been living with us.

So we had a hospital bed.

We had handrails all the way around the room.

So when they heard all of that, I think that didn’t make a difference.

And so they said, we’re going to let him know.

We’ll see what he says.

So he said, you can go.

So they discharged me.

It was around 5 o’clock that evening.

And so I was in the wheelchair getting ready to be rolled out.

And one of the nurses said, wait a minute.

There’s something in her chart.

And I thought, oh, no.

It’s going to keep me here another night.

But instead, she brought to me that sheet of paper. that I had taken into the operating room with my verses on it.

And she said, we saved this.

We thought this was something that you would want.

Wow.

That was God saying, I told you I had this.

There was no reason to fear.

I have this.

To see that same sheet of paper that they had saved And then they remembered to hand it to me.

It was amazing to me.

But just another reminder that God knows us, knows what we need, and knows the little things.

So we headed home.

I was thrilled to be headed home, but I knew I still had a road ahead of me.

I didn’t know for certain at that point that I’d had a stroke.

We still thought it could be the medicine.

I still felt a little odd.

I still felt wobbly.

So when I had my follow-up appointment, we told the surgeon and said, we still think there’s something going on.

So he wanted an MRI and a CAT scan to be done very quickly.

But when they went to schedule that, they found out, or I found out that I couldn’t have one because I’d had an iron transfusion while I was in the hospital.

And that skews the results of those tests.

So they said I had to wait 90 days.

So we went through November, we went through December.

I didn’t have any feeling on the right side of my body from my head to my toes.

It was a very strange, odd feeling.

My brain still told me what to do, but I couldn’t feel it when I did it.

They did go ahead and schedule me for some occupational, physical, and even some speech therapy because there was a struggle with retaining and saying my words.

So they did do those, but of course they couldn’t do any of the scans yet.

So I went through all of those, cardiac rehab, and questioned God.

Why?

You brought me through, and I knew the answer. he brought me through he showed me all the reminders but I couldn’t play the piano and that was one of the things I absolutely loved to do it was hard to sit it was hard to walk sometimes it was hard to talk I couldn’t be at school I couldn’t I couldn’t teach because I couldn’t get my words out.

My brain felt fuzzy.

And there were times I was just like, what in the world?

Why do I have to go through all of this now?

And the Lord brought me so many times back to the verse in 2 Corinthians, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

If I could have seen everything, if I could have seen how I was going to get through the next thing, I think it would have been easier.

But that wouldn’t have been faith because I would have seen it.

And so God sent many people to encourage me, many cards, meals.

People here were incredible reminders.

I will take you through this even though you cannot see I’m walking with you.

So in January, the scans were scheduled, and it was decided by looking at the scans that I had had a major stroke.

And, of course, the doctor could see all of that, and I asked him about my feeling on my side, And he said, well, we usually gauge that on where you are at the end of a year.

So where you are at the end of a year is very likely where you will stay.

So it’s been eight months.

I’m still trusting a big God who I know can restore completely with all of that.

So several scans, visits back to the doctor, follow up appointments.

But I was able to come back to school in January. that’s a blessing yes loved it modified schedule I still thought I could go full steam ahead and God and this administration here said slow it down you can but we want you to be able to come and do what you need to do without risking another stroke yes and so my life slowed down drastically it changed what I did in the evenings.

It’s changed what I did on Saturdays, which was basically not much, but sit in my recliner.

And I was like, Lord, you did not call me to sit in my recliner.

I know that.

I know that you have called me to do things, but he reminded me that I could pray and that that was the most powerful thing that I could do for my friends, for my family, for the people in our church and for our church.

So he reminded me greatly that when he calls us to sit still, there’s a purpose there for that as well.

So day by day, got stronger.

I was able to do a little more, still kept a slower schedule.

And then during spring break, they decided that they wanted to go ahead and do the carotid artery surgery.

So that was in March.

That was nothing.

I thought that didn’t even feel like surgery compared to what I’d already been through.

Yes.

So, but I still had to do some resting and slow down a little bit again.

And then the Lord put someone in my path who said, why don’t you continue to see your chiropractor?

And then why don’t you consider some massage therapy to see if that would make a difference for your not being able to feel.

So we were referred to someone that was highly recommended, and I began that.

And after the second massage therapy, I couldn’t feel, but I could move.

I felt like the right side of my body felt like I was wearing a coat of armor.

It was heavy.

So just to move, move my arms, to do anything with that side just felt heavy.

And that heaviness was gone.

Janna Faith: Wow.

Anna Faith: It was amazing.

That night, it was 11 o’clock, I sat down at my piano and played the piano for half an hour.

Janna Faith: Oh, wow.

Anna Faith: Couldn’t feel the keys, but I could move.

Janna Faith: And that’s when you’re, like, thankful for the muscle memory?

Yes.

Wow.

It was such an answer to prayer.

Anna Faith: So though it’s still hard to play the piano, I can move and I can play notes.

And I’m very grateful for being able to do that.

So I saw that as God saying, I’m answering your prayer.

Just keep trusting.

And so that brings me to now.

That’s what I’m doing.

Waiting, trusting, doing what I can, resting, still sitting in my recliner, still trusting a great God.

A journey I would never, ever have chosen.

When I look back even at caregiving for my mom, I would not have chosen that journey, but I don’t regret one moment, and I would never change that.

It was a privilege.

I would never wish heart surgery on anyone.

It ended up being a quadruple bypass instead of a triple, which we didn’t know at the time.

And I have often said, if I had known what I know now, I don’t know if I would have gone through the surgery, but God knew, and he knew it was part of my plan for my life. changed my perspective on what I do daily.

I’ve rested more in those last eight months than I’ve probably rested in the last 20 years.

But it’s reminded me that God makes no mistakes.

And my faith, I thought I had faith before, but it has grown so much in the last eight months.

Janna Faith: and reminded me of the verse, be still and know that I am God.

Just how many of the times you had to just be still, some because you couldn’t move and others needing that rest.

But God’s so good sometimes to make us be still when we wouldn’t have otherwise.

And even the prayer element, that’s such a good reminder that that’s really the most important thing you can do for your friend.

Anna Faith: Yes.

He gave me a verse.

I say he gives me a verse for every year, but I’ve used this one for several years.

And it still, of course, says his greatness.

Jeremiah 32, 17.

Ah, Lord God, behold, thou has made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm. then there is nothing too hard for thee.

So I’m still claiming it.

I know that he’ll restore.

And if his restoring is not for me to be able to completely feel, he’ll restore my soul and show me things that I can do, though I may not be able to feel, he’ll still restore.

Because he promises there’s nothing too hard for him.

Janna Faith: Well, thank you for being willing to share your journey in the middle of the journey.

I know for some people, you know, they might share the trial and it’s completely gone.

You wouldn’t even know that it happened, but you’re very much in the middle, even with having those, what is it, four months more until they would say it’s not going to be different.

Right after that, that’s still time for things to happen and for God to work and for miracles to occur.

So I would encourage listeners out there, put her on your prayer list. pray for her Mrs.

Bryant that God would restore even more and I came obviously I came about two weeks ago and I saw her play the piano and I didn’t know anything she’s an incredible pianist but I understand from being a pianist myself that like if you couldn’t feel the right side how much that would change just the sensitivity and just everything so I know that’s a definitely I can’t imagine that not being able to feel one side.

Well, is there any, I know you’ve already shared several lessons that God taught you, but just specific application points you’d give to our listeners.

Maybe they’re going through a health trial or maybe it’s a family trial or maybe they’re not specifically going through a trial, but I think all of us at the end of our lives will look and see we went through trials.

I don’t think there’s someone who lives a life and doesn’t have a moment of trial.

So even just preparation for those who will go through things like that?

Anna Faith: I would say the biggest and greatest thing is to trust the God of the Bible.

God’s word tells us who he is.

And it’s truth.

It may be hard in the moment to say, I’m going to trust, but he’s never failed. he has been the same since Adam and Eve were created he’s created our world he holds the whole world in his hands and he is going to take care of you and me and if we follow him he will open beyond what we can imagine but trust who he is know who he is write down who he is my verses my list of verses my sticky notes with verses I put them everywhere my phone I probably have 10 reminders that pop up throughout the day on my phone reminding me that God is who he says he is.

So no trial is greater than who God is.

That’s good.

And so I think I constantly, we’re so human, I’m so human, have to be reminded of God’s greatness when the moment seems tough.

I would also say live moment by moment. sometimes I would get ahead of my day and think through what am I going to do for the weekend or what am I going to do and name a certain time but I just needed to live for the moment that God gave me and he obviously gave me continued life so I take the moment by moment and live it for him even through a trial.

Janna Faith: Take it moment by moment with God.

Reminds me of the song, Day by Day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your journey and application points.

And I love what you were saying in the middle, just how you thought you knew what faith was, but then going through those trials really taught you more about what that is how much deeper God grew you.

So just remember, listeners, as you go throughout your week and this next month, just remember that faith doesn’t just talk, faith walks.

Missie Bryant: Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Thee Generation Podcast.

If you’re serious about living a life of total surrender and total dependence, please consider signing the Thee Generation Pledge.

It’s not a promise of perfection, but a declaration of direction.

To join hundreds of others who have signed the commitment, please visit thegeneration.org.

That’s T-H-E-E-generation.org. slash pledge.