Deb Potts was called by God to follow Him just at the brink of a family tragedy. She's been on mission for the past 30 years to serve Him every day of her life. She loves to share her amazing journey of healing with anyone who will listen. Her greatest joy is passing on the wisdom God taught her about forgiveness, healing, and destiny.

Deb and her husband Bruce are in Act II (aka retirement), living with purpose and commitment to "stay fresh" so they can "declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (Psalm 92:14-15).

Since 2012 Deb & Bruce have been part of the Marriage Ministry at their church campus. They continue to mentor couples and individuals who have hit a rough spot, train other mentors, and foster a legacy of enduring marriage in their church and their family.

Deb has authored two books, Making Peace with Prickly People, and a devotional called Mindful. Together with Bruce, they co-authored Love on Life Support, an award-winning, semi-autobiographical novel. In over forty years of marriage, they have experienced both highs and lows, including some shocking and desperate situations. Through it all, their strong faith, marriage, and community sustained them. They were compelled to weave their experiences and their know-how as Marriage Mentors into a captivating story to help encourage any couple going through serious life struggles.

No matter what, there is Hope!

Connect with Deb and learn more at www.debpotts.com.

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you, Deb.

How are you doing today?

I'm doing well, Angel.

Thank you so much for having me.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

I live in Michigan.

That's wonderful, that's wonderful.

From listening to both you and your husband in conversations, in other podcasts, yeah, I'd love to know, how is it being married to someone that's completely opposite to who you are?

You know, it's funny because when you first fall in love with somebody, you think, we're so much alike.

And then the family members are all going, they're nothing alike.

But you don't see it until after, you know, you're married and you're living together.

And you think, oh my goodness, we are so different.

How did this happen?

I thought we were so alike.

It's been almost 50 years.

In September, we'll have our 50th wedding anniversary.

Congratulations.

And we have, thank you.

We have grown a lot, let me tell you, because in our first 18 years of marriage, we were not following Christ at all.

And we were just, you know, following the patterns that were shown to us in our birth families for marriage.

And we made an about face after coming to Christ and learning more about humility, and about our own sin.

And so I think, you know, years of working with other couples in marriage, because we're marriage mentors, I can see the patterns, you know, when it's very easy to see other people's sin and not so easy to see your own.

And I think the lesson that God has taught me about marriage is that there's a reason He chose this man for me that's so different from me, to give me humility and willingness to see that my way is not the only way.

How did you meet Jesus?

Well, we had moved to Europe because of my husband's job and started going to a Bible-believing church, very different from the churches we were going to in the States.

But it was the only one that had English services.

And so we went there, and we were amazed that these people actually read their Bible.

I had, you know, received two Bibles for wedding gifts, but they were still sitting on the shelf.

And I had never read a book of the Bible at all.

And these people were, you know, really believed the Bible was true.

And so I was very intrigued by that.

We both loved the pastor.

He became a good friend of ours.

To this day, we're good friends.

And I started joining a Bible study, also a women's study.

And through those different aspects of learning about God and about how much He loved me, I made the decision one day that I felt I needed to commit my life to Christ, that I recognized that I was not perfect, and I wasn't going to get to heaven on my own, and that Jesus did die for me and wanted to be with me in heaven forever.

Now, Bruce, who's your husband?

Was he on the same page with you?

Not in the beginning.

It's been 31 years for me since that day when I received Christ.

And just after that happened, the tsunami of my life occurred in my father's suicide.

And that was, boy, a long, long story right there.

But I, going through that, watching my mom and my sisters, I realized there was something different about me, because I had made that commitment to Christ.

And even though I was so sorrowful and broken because of this devastation in my family, Bruce saw something in me.

And he recognized that there was something different.

Even though I hadn't told him that I had prayed to receive Christ, I didn't even tell my pastor.

I didn't think you were, I didn't know you were supposed to do that.

He was totally a beginner.

So at the funeral, I had previously given the pastor some memories that I had of my dad.

And so he asked if Bruce and I would read the scripture at the service.

And we agreed that we would do it.

And just before the service started, Bruce came to me and said, I don't, I don't know if I can do this, and keep a steady voice, you know, because he was very close to my dad, too.

And I said, Yes, you can.

Let's pray.

And so we went into a private spot in the church, and we prayed together for the first time in our 18 years of marriage, in our own words.

And we just asked God to give us the voice, a calm voice to be able to read the scripture and honor him.

And God answered that prayer.

And those things, those occurrences that happened during this whole time of losing my dad, were what catapulted my husband into making that decision just a few months later.

Anywhere along with those situations, you're thinking, why me, God?

You know, I, I've wondered often why I never got angry at God.

I think it was because he came, he called me to himself right before that horrible event that, I don't know, I've never felt that I needed to question God.

I knew it was hard.

I mean, I've been through some hard things, but he's, I've always known that he was right there with me.

That's amazing, an amazing testimony to accept Christ, of course, in a new country, right?

You know, in a strange place, and then have a relationship with a friend who is there for you, specifically for the upcoming challenges that you're about to face, and then remains there for you, and still is there for you today.

Is that accurate?

Absolutely.

I've wondered often, why didn't I just walk away from God after that?

You know, so many people I know that have had really huge struggles in their lives, and it didn't go the way they expected.

And they're like, I'm out of here.

I'm done.

You know, I just, all I can say is he had his hand on me.

I don't know how else to explain it.

Today, you and Bruce have found joy, it would seem, in being called marriage mentors.

Tell me about that journey.

Oh, that's been very interesting and so helpful in our own marriage, because we've really grown in our marriage because of the things we've learned through marriage mentoring.

We had training at our church to help couples go through tough spots together.

So we've been meeting with couples since 2012.

Some of them have blossomed and grown in their relationship, and they're close friends to us.

And some have ended up in divorce.

It's been an interesting journey.

We've learned a lot.

One of the big things we first learned was, we can't save anybody's marriage.

That was hard.

You know, you think, well, we can do this.

We can just tell them what they should be doing, and how they should be speaking to each other, and how they should solve conflict.

And voila, they'll be great.

But we're not in charge.

Kind of feel like you want to be in control and help people, but it's really up to them.

Have you guys had a situation where you think, okay, they're not going to make it, even though your heart is that you want them to make it?

And those are the actual people who made it today?

Yeah, absolutely.

One couple for sure comes to mind when you ask that question.

We would be driving to a meeting with them and thinking, this is never going to work.

They're never going to have done their homework.

And then we walk in, they're like, they got it done.

And it isn't always us.

So this one couple, I was thinking about, we had been meeting with them for a long time, more than a year.

And they decided to go to this intensive weekend for marriages.

And on the way there, they had a big fight in the car.

And they said, the husband said, let's just turn around, cancel and use the money towards a divorce.

And she said, no, we have to do this.

Let's just do this weekend.

And so they went to the weekend, and it transformed them.

And so they came back and told us, it was so amazing.

And so we said, well, tell us, what did you learn?

We want to hear all about it.

And so they explained to us, the very tools we had already taught them.

But you have to hear things more than one time before you get it.

And it was like, they finally got it.

That's fun.

Five years from today, you're listening to this conversation, what's the message you'd leave for future you?

Oh, I love that.

That's really cool.

So we have written a mission statement for our second act, we're considered, we consider this time act two.

And so my message to my future self is keep running the race with endurance.

Don't give up.

Age is going to change your body.

But it doesn't have to age your soul.

Before we leave, is there anything else you'd like to share with our amazing audience?

God loves you.

No matter what you've done, no matter what shame is over you.

God wants to peel that away and wrap his arms around you.

He's got a future and a blessing for you.

It's a pleasure.

I treasure.

Thank you for being what has inspired my 12 minute converse.