4/2/25 - 2088: From Breakdown to Breakthrough

Jim: You've tuned into iWork4Him, the Voice of collaboration for the Faith and Work Movement.

Martha: And we are your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. And our mission is to inspire every workplace believer to recognize their workplace as their ministry place where they work with God every day. What can that look like in your workplace? Let's find out right now.

Jim: You know, on the show, we've often talked about adversity and its impact and effect on our lives. We first talked about adversity on the show almost 10 years ago with Os Hillman, who wrote The Upside of Adversity. Now, I've come to understand adversity in the life of a Jesus follower to mean this: God uses adversity in our lives to take us from who we are to who God can use more effectively. All of the major biblical characters faced adversity before their major calling took place. Why? There's so many reasons, but most of all, so that all of our hope and trust remains in the hands of the Father and not ourselves today.

Mike and Elise Price join us from Charlotte, North Carolina. They're old friends from Florida who have a [00:01:00] faith story to tell, and something for all of us to learn. Mike and Elise Price, welcome to, iWork4Him.

Mike Price: Oh, thanks, Jim and Martha, for having us.

Martha: We're excited to have you here. I always laugh when we say old friends. Okay, you're not old. You're friends that we've had for a long time, and God's just reconnecting us in this new space of faith and work, and it's pretty exciting, and we're very much looking forward to sharing your story with everybody today.

Jim: All right, so Mike and Elise, before we get started talking about adversity and your faith at work story, what is your Jesus story? How did you guys come to be Jesus followers? Elise, you first, then Michael.

Elise Price: Mine was not a very easy one. I came from a very angry home, very rageful home. We had neighbors across the street, we were living in Florida in Winter Park at the time, who had been there a couple years, and they decided one day they were gonna ask me to go to church with them. I knew them just from saying hi across the street and waving at 'em. But so I said yes. I don't know [00:02:00] why, but that was always for the good people and I knew I was not good people.

Anyway, I went with them two or three Sundays, heard the gospel message and I didn't understand it, but I knew I needed forgiveness and I thought I needed forgiveness because I was bad at home. That's why I got hurt so much by them. It was abusive somewhat, so I was actually thinking I needed forgiveness from them. Also, I think I knew I needed it from God too, but didn't even realize the scope of that yet.

Went, had a Bible. They gave me a Bible and then three days later they disappeared. They just moved in the middle of the night. We never saw them again. But the worst adversity came until I moved outta the house when I was 18. But all through the years I never realized where the voice came from that said, there's more to life than this. I didn't understand it. I had never grown as a Christian since that time. Never went back to church. But when I was 23, I [00:03:00] ran away from home because it was all my problems were from them. Didn't know that it was gonna follow me, but it was when I was 23, friends of mine asked me to go to church again, and I was like, oh, okay, maybe, okay.

I put 'em off for a few weeks, but ultimately I went. Again, three more Sundays I went and this time I knew it was for me. He was talking directly to me, that preacher, it was like he told me my whole life. So at the time of the invitation, I was white knuckling it, but I just felt like something just kept pulling me and pulling me. And finally I just got pushed down the aisle. So I went and that's where I met the Lord Jesus as my savior. That's where he healed me. That's where I knew I needed forgiveness, asked him to be the Lord of my life, and it's not been the same since.

Jim: Mike, what about you?

Mike Price: Yeah. And by the way, those are called angels when they just leave the middle of the night like that. (laughter)

Martha: Yeah, no kidding.

Jim: That's what I was thinking. Oh, they were God plants.

Elise Price: Yes. That's right.

Mike Price: Completely different story. I grew up in a very loving Christian [00:04:00] home, family home, and we moved from North Carolina in 87 when I was 14 and here in North Carolina old country boy, liked, and made a lot of friends in school, but moved to Florida. And Country Boy is outta place in Florida.

Jim: Nah, (laughter) we had all kinds of country boy friends. Come on, let's think about Darren. Come on, Darren Lemmler. Was he not country boy or enough for you?

Mike Price: Yes. And listen, he knows he's country. So yeah, I moved down in eighth grade and all of a sudden couldn't make friends and really started eating at my self-esteem. And it went through my high school years. And as this is going on and my self-esteem is going down, my dad and my mom are getting more involved in church. And even though I grew up in a Christian family home, my father and mother had never given their life to the Lord and they did in Windermere, which is where we were at the time, just outside of Orlando.

And so I started to get involved in church and met a lot of great people. But that's what they were, great people, really didn't let 'em get too close. I was always really good in high [00:05:00] school, but my senior year, something happened. I stopped caring, self-esteem was in a toilet. And I didn't finish, didn't graduate in my class, and got really angry, because, they're like, all you gotta do is go to a summer school for two weeks. I'm like, I'm not doing that. Why would I do that? And so I went and got a job and just continued to spiral down.

And then in the end of that summer, same year, end of that summer, I'm in church, Sunday night, we have a missionary. He's preaching a message. And I could tell you, I could tell you this, that even though that church was full, I felt like I was the only person in that building. He was speaking directly to me. The Lord was working on me that entire message. And just like Elise, by the time he got done with that, there was no white knuckling. I was up and the first one down there giving my life to the Lord. Because you get that burning sensation, your pulse starts racing. And for people who don't move in those moments I just don't know how you can't, because the Lord had spoken to me [00:06:00] and told me that I needed a savior and he was that savior, and I gave my life to the Lord that night.

Martha: Both of your stories are so amazing, number one, because they're your testimony and God grabbed your hearts and changed your lives and you know that for a fact. And I just imagine right now that we have listeners that are relating to that in one way or another. Their house might have looked different, their situation might have looked different, or they may even yet have made that decision, and to be encouraged that God has a plan for each one of us. And, that doesn't mean that everything's just gonna be easy. So I think that's where, there's this next step of your story.

And Mike, really, I want you to talk about that for a minute. You have faced a lot of adversity in your life, and that's really, we don't wanna necessarily focus on the negative, but the reality is that the adversity has made you who you are today. And so that's why we wanna uncover it a little bit. So tell us about that.

Mike Price: Yeah, absolutely Martha, and in [00:07:00] order to get to the positive, we talk about the adversity. So you can see what the Lord's brought us through. So we fast forward from 92 to six years later to 1998. And this is probably a shock to you guys because it took me 27 years to start talking about this. You won't even know that I had this in my life. But I battled severe depression and committed suicide, tried to commit suicide in February of 1998, 27 years ago last month. And in that very moment as I was trying to end my life, the Lord sent my parents to my home where I was alone and showed up in a big way.

And the Lord said, I'm not done with you yet. And just took me on a journey, it took me on a journey and we'll fly through it real quick and we can unpack whatever you want to here, so I got the help I needed. Got really invested in church, met a lot of great people that helped me along the way. In 2002, I was fired by my dad. I was working with my dad at the time. He fired me because of 9/ 11. It had really destroyed our business, but that was one of the greatest moments of my career 'cause it launched me into healthcare and began my healthcare career. [00:08:00] So as we fast forward and we moved from Orlando down to Tampa, where we first met you guys at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks. In 2016, I lost my eyesight in my right eye.

In 21, 22, I had back-to-back heart attacks. In 2024, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and I'll tell you that yes, that those are major health issues. Those are major health scares. It was the adversity, but it taught me so much. Not just in my career, but in my personal life. My walk with the Lord, my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my children, with my friends. And I know we want to unpack some of that so I'm gonna stop for a minute. But those are pivotal adversity that happened over the past 27 years that the Lord has allowed me to go through.

Jim: So Elise, you are there walking alongside Mike as he's going through all those things. What's going through your head like, Hey, can I get some warranty work on this guy? He's falling apart. What's going on? (laughter) What, what's going on in your - I'm just joking [00:09:00] because that's why I always tell Martha every time she's like my knees, but I'm like, ah, man, the warranty's run out. I can't return. No deposit, no return.

Talk about what God's doing in your heart. Mike is experiencing this pretty strong adversity.

Elise Price: And I don't know if Michael even knows this, I may have told him that, but I had seen how Michael was, I saw how he eats. I saw a lot of things and I always worried that he would either have a heart attack or I'd be a widow or something like that. And I could remember one morning just laying in bed, I was getting ready to go to work. It was actually before I started working. We were gonna send the kids to Indian Rocks Christian School there. And I'm like, how, what is this gonna look like? What if I don't have Michael by my side? What about this?

And I said, what about my future? And I heard the words, I have it. What about the kids' tuition? I have it. What about groceries? What about a home? What about, and I kept hearing, I have it. And I'm like, okay, I will trust you. So he always reassured me [00:10:00] that he would be there for me no matter what. And it just took some of the fear away. And when I was first saved, I met the Lord in June. I got married in July and then I met the Lord, had a nervous breakdown that next year, and that's where he taught me and unpacked all my baggage and taught me to trust him.

Jim: Wow, that's beautiful. We've talked about adversity so many times on this show, and we are so grateful for Mike and Elise sharing their story today.

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Martha: You guys, we could honestly do three episodes to just talk about the things that God has done in and through you as an encouragement and a challenge to our listeners. But we're gonna try to get to just some different highlights. But one of the things, Mike, I just wanna ask you as a husband and as a father, how has the adversity that you've gone through in life impacted those roles?

Mike Price: Yeah, great question. So it really challenged me and it brought me so much closer in my relationship to the Lord, which in turn brought me so much closer to my wife Elise, to my children. It really put things in perspective and makes you be present in the moments and be very intentional about the time that you spend and what you spend your time on. Dylan played soccer. I was at, I don't think I missed a match. I don't think I missed a practice. Zoe danced. We went to, we sat there for 75 [00:12:00]hours to see her dance for four minutes. That's the things we do as parents.

Jim: Wait, you forgot about the, we spent $58,000 and spent 75,000 hours sitting there to watch her dance for four minutes.

 (laughter)

Martha: Yeah, but it was worth it, Zoe.

Jim: That's right Zoe. It was worth it.

Mike Price: That's right. Best memories. But yeah, really it's about the relationships. And it starts with our first relationship with Jesus. And once you get that vertical right, those horizontal relationships grow so much stronger. And that's what, that's what the adversity did for me in those relationships.

Jim: So it really helped shape your perspective and your role as a husband and a father. How did it impact your role as a healthcare executive who dropped outta high school? I'm assuming you finished high school sometime in there. You didn't finish that part of the story.

Mike Price: Yeah, I did finish high school. So it really put things in perspective. Priorities, priorities are key. At my peak, I was managing 300 people, large budgets, a thousand facilities across the US, traveling a lot. And so quality time is key.

Not just with my [00:13:00] family, but I had a family at work as well, and I have a lot of great people around me. And one of the things I always shared with them is work cannot be your top priority. If it is your top priority, you and I have to have a conversation. And that's not something that you hear leaders saying to their teams a lot because they focus on the mission, they focus on productivity and what we need to do for the job.

But when you focus on when you have the right focus yourself and you share that with your team members, you become so much more productive at work. You become more focused on the mission at work because your priorities are balanced and appropriate. And I'll stop right there 'cause I know we have limited time. So it really brings the focus and the priorities into the proper perspective.

Jim: Elise, did you see this shift happening in Mike as he was recognizing that his priorities may have been a little bit outta whack and this adversity, his health scares that you were living through. Did you see how it impacted him?

Elise Price: I did. And it just made me get on [00:14:00] my knees more. And I would encourage him, I would send him - one of the books that I found a long time ago was Praying For Your Spouse by Stormie Omartain. And. I really got that book and took it to heart. And sometimes I didn't know what to pray, but I knew I needed to pray for him.

And that was just a guide to help. But when I would sit back and hear some of the meetings he was on and how intense they could be, and I just started praying for different parts of his body, his mind or his legs, or his chest or his hands, and just I would send him little texts, that little snippet that I thought was pressing and then send it to 'em. Said, here's what I did today for you. Or I hope this helps, and this is what I prayed for you.

Mike Price: They helped.

Elise Price: It was just, and then I would see different things and just start praying accordingly.

Jim: That's so awesome. It's nothing more powerful than the power of prayer of a spouse.

Martha: And I'm just gonna highlight, that book has been around a long time, but I am so glad you brought it up because just the impact... we were talking [00:15:00] before the show, Elise, that you know, you really feel like you're a supportive role for Mike in all that he does as a wife and in his work and at the home and everything, and your prayers being so intentional is the best support that you can give. And I think that's so critical. And as we get to talk about what's next, you know that is gonna continue to be incredibly important.

But I wanna talk just real quickly here, you had a little switch in occupation, Mike, where you became an ordained pastor. So we don't wanna delve into all of that, but tell us about that and then a quick comparison between, a pastoral role and a healthcare executive role.

Jim: Yeah. Which had more adversity? Working in a church or working in a corporation?

Mike Price: Yeah. So in, so 2022 after my second heart attack, took six weeks off of work because I took zero time off after my first heart attack, but took six weeks off of work. Billy Graham Library [00:16:00] here in Charlotte, we're walking around and that's where the Lord revealed to me that there's a change coming and I want you in ministry now.

At the time, I didn't know what that meant, okay. There's, okay. You want me in ministry? We do ministry at work as well. We don't leave Jesus at the door when we go in, but he wanted me in some type of full-time ministry. So last year, in July of last year, phenomenal mentor of mine in the pastorate, we had been talking for two years and it was time to go ahead and the time we was trying to go ahead and get ordained. I'd been doing a lot for the church, became his executive pastor at the church. Which is more challenging, Jim? That's a fantastic question.

I will tell you at work, I can tell people what to do and they would just do it. It's not the same way at church. And I had a friend of mine, well known friend of mine, you guys would know him, and he told me, he said, listen, do not go into the church and think you can just tell people what to do and they will do it. He said, I did that when I first went from corporate to church. He said, so humble [00:17:00]yourself and learn what humility really means and get ingrained and really get to know the people. And so it's tough. Yes. It's different. It's tough. I learned a lot of... I really did have to humble myself because we were in a smaller church and, you're sweeping and cleaning toilets and putting out toilet paper and you're going and doing ministry. You gotta be able to pivot and be flexible.

Martha: And do all the things. Thanks for sharing that.

We love to share resources with our listeners, so I just wanna highlight the Awaken podcast network, which is a collection place for other podcasts that are talking about living out our faith and work. Each one has just a little different focus hosts to meet the needs of everyone listening. So you can find this amazing collection at awakenpodcastnetwork.com. And while you're there, if you know of a podcast that you've been listening to that should be added to the network, we would love for you to send in that suggestion right there from that page. So happy listening!

Jim: Alright, Elise, through all of this, [00:18:00] how did God use you and Mike's life to soften that adversity, to be his help mate, to keep his thoughts going in the right direction? Because sometimes when things get really tough, our thoughts go the wrong direction. How did you see God using you to protect your husband?

Elise Price: I had to keep my emotions in check as well and make sure that I was always on my knees before I did or said anything, so my emotions wouldn't come across and egg his on. But I just, we just talked a lot. I was there for him. I let him talk about things without telling him how he did anything wrong or didn't do anything wrong. Just let him vent. And then we take it all and pray together.

Jim: Wait a minute. Stop you pray together? How often do you guys pray together?

Elise Price: Every day. A few times a day. As many times a day as we need really.

Martha: Nice. And our listeners have had us, heard us encouraged couples for years. [00:19:00] That is the, we say it's the secret sauce and it's not meant to be like rubbing a genie lantern or anything like that, but it truly is.

You've talked about prayer a couple different times, Elise. So, what would you say right now to the listeners who maybe have never prayed with their spouse about anything? 'cause there's a lot of them out there that have never taken that step. Why don't you give them an encouragement right now?

Elise Price: I think to have any relationship, you have to have two people in it. And the Lord is the other person in it and you have to talk to him like you would a human being with skin on. He is a human being with skin on, just in spirit. So he becomes your everything, he's your rock. As much as our spouses want to be that, they're only human as well, and only God can do the supernatural things that he can do, and you can't put 'em in a box and he says, we don't have because we don't ask.

We have to humbly come before him and know who we are before him, but he is the greatest person in my [00:20:00] life, next to my husband. He's first, my husband second. And he can move mountains. And if you haven't talked to him, just talk to him like a friend. Just start out with a little conversation. He'll guide you through the rest if you ask him to.

Mike Price: And remember, Genesis 2:24 says we become one. When we leave and cleave, we become one and two people praying together, oh, it's so powerful.

Elise Price: Where two or more are gathered in his name.

Jim: Mike, you recently turned 50. You retired from a long term job. Now you're relaunching a new career at C-Suite for Christ. Shouldn't you just be checking out and going to NASCAR races all the time now that you're in North Carolina? (laughter)

Mike Price: That is a great question. Let me tell you where we got some sound advice from. So we were listening to a podcast recently, and there was a couple hosts on there talking about what it means to retire and whether or not that's biblical [00:21:00] or not. And we came to the conclusion that it's not biblical just to sit back and relax. You need to have a plan in place. I believe the name of the podcast was iRetire4Him. And you may know some of the people that work there, (chuckling) but we believe in that.

We believe that not only should you be preparing financially, but you need to be praying to the Lord for what he has in store for you because there there's no book in the Bible I have found that says I can go outside on my rocking chair, which I love, and sit there during retirement. We are to be serving him.

Elise Price: This isn't our home. This is our journey that we pass through.

Martha: That's so good. You work for him and you're in this new phase

Jim: and now you I retire for him.

Martha: Yes, but not really.

Jim: and just to remind our listeners where that came from. So when Martha and I went on the air in Tampa Bay back in 2013, Martha's dad was a huge supporter of ours. His name is Ted Hains. Just a phenomenal man of God. And he goes to me, he goes, Jim, I get the whole, iWork4Him thing. I did that. I did the whole iWork4Him thing, but I don't iWork4Him anymore. I retire for him. [00:22:00] I'm like, oh, that is so good. Can we use that? That's what I said to him, and that's where iRetire4Him came from.

And just since 2020 we've been doing podcasts. My co-host for the first four and a half years was an 83-year-old guy out of Colorado Springs who runs the retirement reformation.org. And so this movement of reactivating retired believers to get them back to recognize the fact that when you retired, your calling didn't retire. If you've got a pulse, you've got a purpose, and if you're not dead, people, you're not done.

All right. So Mike, your career has taken you from Tampa Bay to Charlotte, North Carolina, back home. You're now launching a C-Suite for Christ Chapter in Charlotte. How do you think the adversity, and that's a free plug for a c-suite for Christ. Paul Neuberger, send the check to iWork4Him.com/donate. (laughter) How do you think the adversity you faced in the past prepared you for what's ahead?

Mike Price: I'm already seeing the fruits of that. It's never easy for us to go through the adversities we do, especially [00:23:00] when they're major. And especially when they're health issues. But the people I've already come in contact with, so we launched three weeks ago and it's been an overwhelming response. Elise has been on some of these calls. She's been to dinners and lunches and breakfasts with me, and just the people we've been in contact with, I've already contacted people that have lost their mom, contacted with people that have lost their job, that have lost their home.

And, so it gives me an opportunity to be able to share with them some of the adversity I've been through. And to Martha's point earlier, not just the adversity, but the perseverance and the strength. And the wisdom the Lord has provided. To be able to move beyond that. Now we look back at the adversity as a way for us to be able to be a positive influence for someone who's going through something similar.

We never walk in each other's shoes, but we walk in similar situations. And it allows us to be able to help people because a lot of times, we'll be going through adversity and say, Lord, what are you trying to teach me? What are you trying to show me? And sometimes he says, I'm not trying to show you anything, but I'm going to use it to help somebody [00:24:00] who's going through something similar somewhere in my perfect timing, and you'll know when the time's right.

So it allows us to do that. And I'm gonna share this one fast story. Elisa and I got a chance to go to Knoxville over the weekend. We went, we didn't plan to go to Dollywood, but we did. And we don't ride the rides. We just, we love to go and walk and hold hands and go into shops and buy some stuff here and there. So we walk in this one shop and it's got Bible verses with hand-painted portraits all over the wall. And the lady comes over and says the artist is not here. She's at lunch. I said I want these pictures.

One of them is my life verse "Be still" and it was there hanging in three pictures. So I bought all three of the pictures and as I turn around, a lady's standing there holding a picture, crying profusely. And I said, oh my gosh. And Elise had walked away from me and I said, can we help you? And she said, my husband died five months ago and this picture reminded me of the love we had through each other for over 20 years. And I said, oh my gosh. I said, gimme the picture. So we bought the picture.

Elise walks up at the time, is able to share the love of God with her right there in [00:25:00] Dollywood, in Knoxville, Tennessee. And for a place that we didn't plan to go to. And so the Lord puts you in the right place at the right time and gives you the opportunity, but you gotta decide, am I gonna take the opportunity? So that's, he's using our adversities from our past to be able to help people today in this new journey he's got us on.

Martha: That's so good. And I was just thinking I'm gonna to, for the sake of the listener, I'm gonna put a link in from an interview that we did with Paul Neuberger from C-Suite for Christ. Of course, because we love what's happening and we're so excited for the people of Charlotte to get to experience it. And we're gonna have to get an update from you as things move forward.

Jim: Perhaps one time you want to have a gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, and you want a guest speaker to come in for an event or something like that. We could maybe come help with something like that. We love Charlotte.

Mike Price: I think we're gonna have a live podcast, but yeah, go ahead.

Martha: There you go. So I wanna ask Elise a question, because we've talked a lot about how you've supported Mike over the years in the different roles [00:26:00] and the different situations you guys have gone through. What about this new season? What do you see God showing you as far as your support?

Elise Price: I think it's not gonna just be his ministry. I think it's gonna become ours because that's what happens. It's never about us. That's one thing that I had to learn throughout the years. I went through a victim role for a long time coming from the past that I have, and God turned my mind around to know, Hey, it's not just you. It's about everybody.

When I got that mindset differently, it is about other people and it's about us like being a tapestry woven together through everybody's lives, for short little seasons, for long seasons, and everything in between. And we just have to have our eyes open and look and we just do ministry. Love on them. Help them. Hug them, give them whatever they need.

Jim: And as your roles expand as husband, wife, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, or how, however, they [00:27:00] usually call people funny names in Charlotte, I imagine. What do they call you for your grandma and grandpa? They don't call you grandma grandpa there, do they?

Elise Price: No. Nana and Papa.

Jim: Oh that's not near as bad as I figured it could be.

Martha: Yeah. That's awesome.

Jim: But your role as an ordained minister in the marketplace. Because that's really what God has ordained you to do, ministry in the marketplace. To do ministry in your little small town just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

God's got something great ahead of you. For all of our listeners, just remember that if you wanna see Mike and Elise in person, just go to our YouTube channel. We've got a YouTube channel out there with hundreds and hundreds of podcasts out there, as well as our Facebook page where we have all kinds of social media stuff that gets posted all the time. LinkedIn, check us out on LinkedIn. Martha, I just did all those plugs without you telling me to do it.

Martha: You did. Good job, Jim.

Jim: All right. Mike and Elise Price, thank you so much for being on iWork4Him today.

Mike Price: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Elise Price: Thank you.

Jim: You've been listening to iWork4Him and your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers. Our workplace, it's our mission field, but ultimately iWork4Him.