The Boys who Stole My Car Keys: A Hope Story | Ep 03

How do you make brave decisions again when your heart’s been broken? After infertility, adoption, and 25+ years of navigating the prison system, guest speaker, Brenda Amodea, is no stranger to pain. Brenda is an author, speaker, pastor and “Godmother” to many. She shares the intimate story of how adopting 4 at-risk boys turned out to be one of the bravest (and most heartbreaking) experiences yet. She shares how sometimes our best decisions are our most painful, and how to walk through it with bravery, faith, and hope. 

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“I heard God very clearly say to me, you’ve been a youth pastor for thousands of teenagers. But these boys, I’m going to ask you to be their parents.” 

Brenda Amodea , bravester.com

This is Brenda’s story…

I’ve been a youth pastor for 40 years, and I’ve always loved working with teenagers. I never thought I’d be a parent, but God had other plans. I met a group of boys who became like family to me, and I helped them through some tough times. We even started meeting together to talk about faith. A few years later, I got married and I told the boys first. They were happy for me, but they were worried that my husband would take me away from them. It was a hard conversation, but I knew that God was leading me in this new direction...

In this episode, you will learn the following:

1. Brenda’s journey as ministry leader and youth pastor, which began when she was just 15 years old
2. How Brenda’s life took a “brave” turn when she started a new church during the pandemic
3. The hard decisions and challenges that Jesus has walked Brenda through, which have helped her to be brave

Key topics to listen for (with timestamps):

  • 5:04 | Brenda’s Infertility story
  • 8:36 | The vision: A church for young people
  • 16:06 | From substitute teacher to…mom? The brave decision to adopt 4 at-risk boys
    • Quote to listen out for: “My bravest decision and my hardest decision; what’s hurt me the most but also defined me the most is…”
  • 29:29 | The choice between the safe Christian life and the a life of surrendered YES – 28:29
    • Quote to listen out for: “Prison has been a part of our lives for 20 years now” 

Episode Transcript: 

Jemese: [00:00:10] Hey, friend, welcome to A New Creation Podcast where we’re pointing women toward victory in Christ one Jesus story at a time. My name is Jemese LaChel and I’m your host. Go ahead and get comfortable, get cozy. And let’s dive right into today’s episode. Welcome back to another episode. I’m so excited to hear from our guest, Brenda. Brenda is a pastor, a speaker, a wife and a mom to four men with their own brave stories. And she would tell you that her life is a story of getting her heart smashed and the many times she’s chosen to get back up again anyways. Welcome, Brenda.

Brenda: [00:00:52] Thank you, Jemese, for this invite.

Resources

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