- [Gordon] A search for confidence.

- My idea was once I was married,

that's when I'll be truly happy.

- [Gordon] Leads to neunexpected decision.

- No dates, no talking, no flirting,

just me and Jesus.

- [Gordon] Plus, CBNINternational's Jessica Datsko

shares how a painful tumor in her head

led to a test of faith in her life.

All this on today's 700 Club Interactive.

Well welcome to the show.

Navigating the world of dating

can be overwhelming andfeel like an endless cycle.

- Well that's the way it was for one

of our co-hosts Ashley Key.

It was during this time that she felt God

calling her to make a decision

that would change her life.

Check it out.

- Hey guys it's Ashley Keyhere for 700 Club Interactive,

and we are here in the beautifulShenandoah National Park,

and I'm inviting you tojoin me on this hike,

as I just share my journey

of why I took off a year of dating.

(upbeat music)

Recently I saw a post on Instagram

that said "stop waiting for your life

"to look like something else to be happy,

"you're missing out onwhat God is doing right."

And for years that'sthe mindset that I had.

I thought that when I got married

I would be happy.

That was the end all, be all.

I wasn't happy unless I wasbeing liked by somebody else.

I wasn't confident unlessI was dating somebody,

because, again, my ideawas once I was married

that's when I'll be truly happy.

So I was trying to control it.

But I finally got tired of it.

I got tired of dating,breaking up, feeling hopeless,

dating, breaking up, feeling hopeless.

And I finally said yes to the tug

to just give him a year of my life.

Give him a year of just me and him.

Just me and Jesus, nobody else.

No dates, no talking, no flirting.

Just me and Jesus.

And I know that soundssuper cliche Christianese,

but I'm here to tell you

it was one of the best things

I could have ever done for myself.

Okay so I'm sure you're wondering by now

how that one year

of no dating really was.

There were definitely temptations

that made me want to break the fast.

People started comingout of the woodwork's,

messaging me on Instagram.

This one person in particular.

My first thought was not today Satan,

but let me consider it.

Let me read the message,

let me check this person out,

but not today.

The desire was there,

but it wasn't enough to make me stop

being obedient to whatGod had called me to.

But more importantly he had to

really do something in my heart.

He dismantled the idol of marriage

that I had created.

And I really believe Christians

of all ages can do that.

We can make marriage an idol.

Instead of looking to the Lord

we look to marriage as the end all,

be all for our life.

And I saw something recently that said

"marriage isn't your destination.

"You are not worthy of love because

"you're a husband or wife,

"you are worthy of love because

"you are a child of God."

And for the first time ever

I let God into this area of my heart.

I let him fill the void

that was only meant for him to fill.

And to be quite honestwith you it was great.

For the first time ever I was content

with being single.

I was content with where God had me,

and what he was doing in my life.

Romans 12:2 says don't copy the behavior

and the customs of this world,

but let God transformyou into a new person

by changing the way you think.

As the year of no dating came to a close,

I really saw God justcompletely transform my mind.

He gave me a fresh perspective on dating,

marriage, but even more importantly

he gave me a fresh perspective on myself.

For the first time ever again

I began trusting God with my heart.

Before I wasn't doing that,

but I finally let him into my heart,

and it was the best experience ever.

And I'm happy to report that even

almost two years afterthat one year of no dating

I'm still single.

But the fact that I canhave a positive attitude

about that is the whole reason

why I did that.

The old Ashley, theold mindset that I had,

would have been negative towards that.

But today I can confidentlysay I'm still at peace

where God has me,

and I'm still hopeful that one day

he will give me the desire of my heart.

And I know you guys canexperience that too.

Look, I know first hadn't the murky waters

of Christian dating.

But I'm here to tellyou that there is hope.

If you feel the tug to also do

a year without dating, do it.

Everyone's journey is different,

but I'm here to tell you

that God is faithful,

and the best thing,

the very best thing wecould ever do for ourselves,

single or married, is todevote ourselves to God.

He will help you, he will heal you

because he loves you.

Let's go back to that first quote

I mentioned earlier.

It says "stop waiting for your life

"to look like something else to be happy.

"you're missing out on what God

'is doing right now. "

And I believe God is ceiling his kids,

his sons and his daughters, to really live

the joyful, abundant life now,

not when you're married,not when you have a family,

but right now.

Just because you're single

doesn't mean that you can't enjoy life.

I'm living proof of it.

I'm enjoying life.

I'm at peace where God has me.

And I know that that'swhat he wants for you too.

(soft music)

Thanks so much for following me along

and allowing me to sharemy story with you guys

about singleness and dating.

I hope and pray that it encourages you

along your journey too.

And remember it's notabout the destination,

but about the journey.

- Well we've got Ashley herefor more about her journey.

- Yes.

We're just gonna keep talking about this.

(laughing)

- And at the outsetthanks for your honesty.

I really appreciate the transparency

of just where you are

and the struggle that you went through.

- Yeah.

- And I remember whenyou first started it,

you went in, you know I'mgoing to go on a dating fast,

then we had a conversation

where you were very specific.

This is an intimacy fast,

I'm not going to give me heart.

- Exactly, yeah.

- Why the difference?

And what got you started on the fasT?

- Well to be honest, I was,

like I had mentioned,

I was just in this continuous cycle

of controlling it.

It really was about control

because I didn't trust the Lord

in this area of my life.

- [Gordon] What do youmean by controlling?

- I was dating without intention.

You know I was like ohwell he seems nice, sure,

let's go ahead and date.

But in reality I knew deepdown maybe I shouldn't.

Am I really interested?

Or am I just doing this totry to control the outcome

of oh maybe this will be marriage.

Maybe that will be a family.

But, again, that goes back to the fact

that I was just making it an idol.

And so I felt the Lord just tell me

after I read MO, shout outto Mo interested, love her.

I read her book Wreck My Life.

And she gave a year ofher life to the Lord

where it was no flirting,no dating, no texting,

no talking, just, again, it's cliche,

but me and the Lord.

Just giving my heart to the Lord

like I had never done before.

- You know what I find so interesting,

I don't thinK it's just Christians either,

but many young women especially

are really looking for a marriage

and a family.

And feel less than without it,

but with no understanding

of the commitment,

the time, the energy

that that's going to take.

- Exactly.

- They don't see anythingbut just marriage.

- Exactly, yeah.

And so I think it's powerfulthat we get the understanding.

I mean during this timeit was like the Lord

just revealed to me likeno I'm your portion.

And he's still revealing that to me.

You know I'm still single.

And so I still struggle with the desire,

but coming back to the prayer closet

and just saying no, you're my portion.

If I'm feeling down,

if I'm feeling like envious

or jealous of other peoplewho are getting that desire,

it's like no God, you're my portion,

you are mine, you're my inheritance.

- How much has ourculture set it up though?

You have high school graduation,

you have college graduation,

now it's time to get married.

- Exactly.

- And so the expectation is there.

Before the show I was joking with Terry.

So Terry, is marriagean idol in your life?

And she was pretty quick no.

(laughing)

- [Ashley] How many yearshave you been married?

- 38.

- [Ashley] Well there you go.

- Just saying. (laughing)

- Why did you have it as an idol?

Why were you expecting somuch fulfillment from that?

- I think it's theculture that we live in.

You know I think it'sthe surrounding culture

whether you're a Christian or not.

It's like oh you graduate high school,

you go to college, you getmarried, you have a family,

that's your life.

And in reality that has such

an amazing plan beyond those two things.

I mean he uses those things.

They're biblical.

It's a covenant.

However, it's so much more than that.

And so God really openedmy eyes during this time

and is continuing to open my eyes.

But he's got a lot.

He's got a lot in store.

Not just a husband and kids,

but a lot in store.

- And you know, I just,I wanna apologize and say

I am one, not with you specifically,

but who is

we have a guy on ourteam at Orphan's Promise

who I just think is an amazing guy,

and we're always saying we need

to find a good woman for him.

And as you're saying this you're thinking

why am I doing that?

I mean he's perfectly content.

I'm the one who's,

I don't want him to be alone.

- Yeah I get that.

I totally get that.

And I think that's great.

- [Gordon] But he's not alone.

- But he's not alone, yeah, yeah.

- I know.

- And he's fulfilled.

- Yes.

- Oh mercy, it's like bookendsclosing in on the deal.

- I mean Ashley, would you bedoing what you're doing now

if you were married?

And going through thelet's start a family.

- Probably not.

And that's the beauty of it.

I mean-

- [Terry] Not the same way anyway.

- Not the same way.

You know I think God usesour pain for a purpose.

He used, nothing is left.

He uses the crumbs.

He uses it all.

You know my dumb decisionsthat I made years ago

and just the way I washandling my love life

and where I've come to now.

I mean he's using it.

There wouldn't be an unhooked.

There wouldn't be what I'm doing now

if I hadn't gone throughwhat I went through.

- All right give us a preview,

you're coming out with yetanother unhooked campaign.

So this isn't about dating.

- No.

So last year was about singleness

and dating and abstainingfrom the hook-up culture,

'cause I was involved in that

and that's my testimonyto coming out of that.

But you know we asked the question,

we were like what perpetuatesthe hook-up culture?

First thought that cameto our minds, pornography.

So this year we're gonnabe tackling the stronghold

of pornography that is on our generation,

that is in the church.

We're going to be tackling that.

- How young does it start?

- I mean stats show that asyoung as eight years old people-

- Good grief.

- Boys and girls, boy and girls,

that's another myth thatit's just a boy problem,

a male problem, it's not.

Are viewing pornography.

Whether it's ads they seewhile they're on YouTube

or they're on the internet.

It's everywhere.

It's everywhere.

- Well it's wonderful to bedoing something about it.

I love that you're doing that.

So keep an eye out in February

for Ashley's un-hooked event

in January and more duringValentine's week in February.

And so be a part of that.

For everybody, for all of us.

For the well being of our culture.

- And this topic of pornography,

it's not just for single people,

it's anyone and everyone.

- No, it's everybody.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

- It's, the untold story it's addictive.

And there are plenty of hooks out there

in the internet spaceto attract you to it.

And then once you get in it

it's very hard to get out.

- So get un-hooked.

- Get un-hooked.

(laughing)

Stay tuned, there will be more.

We'll have a whole lot more from Ashley.

Well coming up, her sweet 15 became

with the discovery of adangerous bump on her head.

CBN International's Jessica Datsko

joins us to share how God sustained her

during what was thescariest time of her life,

when we come back.

(soft music)

Well growing up Jessica had the reputation

for being the healthy child.

But as a teenager thatwas about to change.

- [Woman] At 16 Jessica Datsko noticed

a painful bump on her head.

It grew quickly and an MRIconfirmed she had a tumor.

Yet in the face of a rare cancer diagnosis

Jessica never doubted God's goodness.

Her surgery and healing inspired her

to share stories of God's providence

in all the nations.

- God has an incredible wayof redeeming our stories.

- [Woman] Today she is host and producer

of CBN International's Life Changers.

- Well Jessica is here,

and thanks for joining us on the show.

- Thank you for having me.

- I didn't know that you are a miracle

until I got into this story.

So you're turning 16, what happens?

- I just started feeling pain in the back,

right here in my head,

and a week later a bump formed.

And it just kept growing and growing.

And we didn't reallyknow what was happening.

- Okay.

You actually took a trip during this time.

- Yeah.

- You went to the Bahamas.

- Yeah, we had a family vacation,

and on the ship.

- [Gordon] You couldn'tcancel the vacation?

- At first we thought itwas like a zit or something.

And I even tried to pop it.

- [Gordon] Ooh.

- And of course nothing came out.

So we just prayed

and felt peace to stillgo on the cruise we went.

And yeah and it just kept growing.

And the Lord just sustained my life.

- You started getting really,really bad headaches, right?

- Yeah it was really painful.

And even Advil wouldn't take care of it.

It never fully went away.

- So when did you get,

how long from you first noticed a bump

to you get a diagnosis

you have something thatcould end your life.

- Yeah so after the trip,

it was the end of the year,

we came back home for Christmas

and I went to the doctor.

They sent me to get x-rays,

and in the x-ray therewas a hole in my bone.

So where white bone shouldhave been there was a hole

about the size of a sand dollar,

of a big sand dollar.

And so at that point they'relike bone is missing.

So then I had an MRI

and that's when they diagnosed it

as Langerhans cell histiocytosis,

which-

- Easy for you to say.

- LCH, it's a rare type ofcancer or autoimmune disease.

It's debated.

- How does it start?

- So it's basicallythese Langerhans cells,

which are part of our immune system,

and they're all throughout our body.

Sometimes they reproduce too quickly

and so they reproduce typically in my bone

and basically started eroding my bone.

And then it was headed towards my brin.

- That's scary.

- Yeah.

- At 16 that's really scary.

- Yeah, yeah.

- What went through your mind?

- So I remember thinking Lord,

if I'm gonna die well okayI'll be in your presence.

But then I remember I was like,

but I feel like I haven't doneanything for you yet Jesus.

And I feel like there'sbeen prophetic words

over my life since I was a little girl

that haven't come to pass.

So I remember going into my prayer closet

and just singing and worshiping the Lord,

and there was a song was singing that said

give me a song to sing

and I'll sing it for you.

Like who can praise you from the grave?,

quoting Psalms.

So I was like well ifyou wanna take me sure,

but I don't think you should.

Please don't. (laughing)

- There's some good reasonsfor me to be around.

- Yeah.

- You're a worshiper.

Tht's one of the signatures that you have.

And it seems like you'vealways been that way.

Is that true?

- Yes, yes since I was a little girl

I would just sing, make up songs,

and just start singing

since I could almost talk.

And later I learned to sing from scripture

and I just loved doing that

and the time with the Lord.

And that's really whet sustained me

even during this season,

singing scripture over myself.

- Okay.

So you get a devastating diagnosis

and what you do with that

is you go into your prayer closet

and you start singingworship songs to the Lord.

- Yeah.

So right before that actuallyI did have a why moment.

Why is this happening?

And I asked my brother, Roberto,

who was previously on the show,

he's seven and a half years older than me,

and I just, I admire him so much

and he's walked through hisown journey with the Lord,

and I've seen so many miracles in his life

that I couldn't doubt the goodness of God

'cause I had just seenthat goodness in his life,

through my parents lives.

Their testimony as a family.

So I just asked him why.

And I don't even remember what he said,

but it was enough tojust give me hope again,

and remind me that I trust God.

That I trust God in his life.

That he's alive, he's a miracle.

So it's gonna be the same for me.

So his story empowered me,

and that's whet really led me

to go back into the prayer closet.

Yeah and it was just a moment of surrender

and giving everything to the Lord.

And just after that I think I just trusted

that he would use thatfor his glory somehow.

- Sometimes you have towalk through the valley

of the shadow of death.

He doesn't say we're gonnaget spared from that,

he says when you walk through it

I will be with you.

- Yeah and we're setapart in the midst of it.

- You started prayingspecifically for the surgeons

who were going to operate.

You started prayingspecifically for the operation,

what would be the outcome.

You started prayingspecifically for everything.

What was a four hour scheduled surgery

turned into a two hour surgery.

- Yeah, actually one and a half hours.

- And so the doctors areamazed at what happened.

What happened during surgery?

- So right before the surgeryI heard two testimonies,

and faith comes by hearing.

And I think the Lord reallygave me the faith in that moment

to believe that whet God haddone for two other people

I didn't even know he could do for me.

So the first testimony was

of a woman who had a type of pre surgery.

It was a very complicatedsurgery she was scheduled for,

and the doctor went in

and said who went in before me?

This is like super easy.

So they quickly extractedthe tumor she had.

So I heard that and I said I want that.

And then I just started asking the Lord.

Lord, the doctors say the`tumor's going towards my brain,

I want you to push it out.

And right before the surgery,

the days before, I felt a unique pain

as if it was coming out more.

And so the doctor went in

and the surgeon opened me up,

and he said it popped right out.

He came and told my parents

it was just so easy.

And then he put in thecoral and bone graft

to cover the bone,

the hole where I was missing bone.

And he said that it juststarted meshing really quickly.

And that was my second,

the second testimony I heard.

- So you started healing during surgery.

- Yeah.

So the second testimony I had heard

was of a family that prayed Psalm 91

over their daughter who hadbeen in a terrible car accident

and she recovered extremely quickly,

to the surprise,

against all odds.

And so I said Lord, I want that.

I want to recover extremely quickly.

And I just started recovering so speedily.

I was off of morphine in 24 hours.

I switched to Tylenol even though

they had prescribed me narcotics.

And I was off of Tylenol in eight days

and back in school in a week.

- Wow.

Wow.

And that was seven years ago.

Since that time, no cancer, no problem,

perfect health.

- Well there was bit of challenge.

- [Gordon] You had a scare.

- Yeah the doctor wassure I needed chemotherapy

after the surgery.

And then just the whole rest

of 2013 was going to medical checkups.

And there were moments where I did doubt.

And if it weren't for my parents

who said no, the Lord healed you.

The Lord said peace be stillto those Langerhans cells

and froze them,

and they just reallywere warriors my parents

in the midst of evenmoments of doubt for me.

So yeah, I'm cleared.

I don't have any morecells of Langerhans cell,

but yeah, the Lord's amazing.

- Well if you want to see more

of Jessica and her wonderful miracles,

all you have to do ischeck out Life Changers,

the new show launching in January

with CBN International.

You can find it on the CBN News Channel.

You can also find it on the CBN family app

that's available either place.

And check out Jessica's new show,

and realize she's a miracle.

Terry, over to you.

- Well up next, bulliedat school as a young girl,

how did she take her revenge as a teen?

And what did she do once it backfired?

The payback she never saw coming.

That's still ahead.

(upbeat music)

Michelle Glasgow was bulliedrelentlessly as a child,

and then it was payback time.

What did she do to get sweet revenge?

And how did it all go sour?

- I hated myself as a little girl.

I hated myself.

- [Woman] No one eversuspected Michelle Glasgow

carried so much pain.

To her two older sisters

and her Jamaican parents

she was outgoing and kind.

But to some of the kidsin her Toronto, Canada

community she was the blackgirl who didn't belong.

- They would come around me,

circle me and make fun of my hair,

tell me that I was ugly.

I used to get told that a lot

when I was younger.

I used to tell the teachers about it,

but they wouldn't really,you know, do anything.

I would say God, I wish Iwould just get hit by a car.

And I would say God,

did you make me justso that I could suffer?

- [Woman] The bullying lefther feeling vulnerable,

alone and angry.

- I would try to hide.

Like I would eat my lunch in the washroom.

I would get in trouble sothat I would have detention

to not go out for recess.

I started getting relaytired of being rejected.

- [Woman] In her teens she became fixated

on the tough image and lifestyleportrayed in rap videos.

- People desired to be around them.

And that's what I didn't have.

- [Woman] Then she enteredhigh school and womanhood.

Once the object of ridicule,

Michelle was now the object of attention.

She became a tease, wearingprovocative, revealing clothes.

- So that was how I startedto take back the power.

I started to noticethat's how I got attention

was by my looks.

I started feeling a lotbetter about myself.

I started feeling like Iwas finally taking control

and I was actually in charge now.

- [Woman] With her newfound power

she started getting into fights

and hanging out and smoking pot

with hardened drug dealer.

- I just thought it was cool.

It was exactly what I wasseeing in the music videos.

I knew people were scared of him.

I just thought I was gonna get that same,

I guess, reputation.

- [Woman] But Michelle was still in pain.

At 16 she drooped out and left home,

coping with alcohol

and a growing dependence on pot.

A year later at a partyMichelle was raped.

- I thought I had control,

and then I realized that I didn't.

- [Woman] The old wounds now re-opened

and Michelle's heart grew colder.

- Felt like I had to work even harder now

to be in control.

I couldn't let that happen again.

I couldn't let somebodymake me inferior again.

- [Woman] Then in 2010, Michelle, now 19,

met a guy in herneighborhood named Anthony.

They hung out, smoked a little pot,

and quickly became friends.

- He was always respectful

and just seemed to care.

It was just different than anything

I had experienced before.

- [Woman] They started dating,

and despite her growing attraction to him,

Michelle was determined to stay in control

and guard her heart.

- It was more like okaywhat can I get from him

before he tries to get something from me?

I guess I didn't wanna let go

of that control because I thought

then I was vulnerable for him to hurt me.

I actually started to really like him.

And there was this fear

that he was gonna reject me too.

- [Woman] Afraid of losing him,

she began going to churchwith him and his mom.

Then one Sunday Anthony prayed

to accept Jesus into his heart.

It was a great moment in his life,

but for Michelle.

- I remember when we were driving home

I just didn't talk because

I thought like I can't believe

you chose Jesus over me.

So you're gonna get saved

and if we die right now

you're gonna go to heaven,

and you don't care thatI'm gonna go to hell.

I was so angry at him.

- [Woman] So the next Sundayshe prayed to accept Jesus.

But it was an empty gesture

driven by her fear of rejection.

Two months later Michellesays she got a word from God.

- Jesus told me that Ihad never been rejected,

that he was actuallywith me the entire time.

All the times of feeling

like I needed to do stuff

to not be rejected,

and to know that I did all these things

that was worthy of rejection.

His grace and his mercy was still on me.

- [Woman] At once, along with the fear

and anger God took away

Michelle's need for drugs and alcohol.

- I didn't feel like I hadanything to escape from anymore.

I finally felt peace.

He was transforming my heart.

I was finally able to let go

of all the barriers I had put myself in

and let go of wanting to be in control.

- [Woman] Anthony andMichelle eventually married

and are raising two children,

and clinging to a simple truth,

that I am accepted and that I am loved.

And I remember Jesus' sacrifice

and I just realized that even

if I was the only person on Earth

he still would have died for me.

- That holds true for you as well.

If you're trying to find love

and you're looking inall the wrong places,

if you feel a need to control

and your life is out of control,

if you have a deep longing to understand

who you are and why you're here,

you need to come to the only source

that can answer those things for you,

the one who created you.

It's Jesus.

It's Jesus.

And his arms are open,

they always have been.

He has always been with you.

Let him come into your heart

and your life today.

Let him change the thingsin you that need changing.

Let him use the gifts

and abilities he created you with.

Your life will never be the same.

If you need to pray with someone,

our prayer line's always available.

It's 1-800-700-7000.

Gordon.

- Here's a word from Romans,

it's chapter 12, verse 21.

Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.

And realize in life todaythere's so many things

that are evil,

that are trying to overcome you.

In that story we just saw,

how many relationships,

how many things the world was offering,

and when you realize no, youdon't have to be overcome

with that, you can come to him.

He will always accept you.

He will always love you.

He will always forgive you

because he wants you to be with him

for all eternity.

For Terry, for me, for all of us here,

God bless you.

Merry Christmas.

And we'll see you again.