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—By Peter, Maria & Dad.Maria No.9

—Your Personal Interview with Maria!

1. (PETER: FOR YEARS THE FAMILY HAS BEEN HEARING ABOUT YOU FROM DAD, & THEN LAST YEAR IN THE MARIA GN THEY HEARD ABOUT YOU FROM THOSE WITH YOU. FOR A LONG TIME, IT'S BEEN OUR HEART'S DESIRE TO HEAR MORE FROM YOU PERSONALLY, OUR QUEEN, ABOUT YOUR LIFE BEFORE THE FAMILY, YOUR LIKES & DISLIKES, YOUR SPECIAL INTERESTS & YOUR THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING WILLING TO GIVE OF YOURSELF & YOUR PRICELESS TIME IN AGREEING TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ASKED BY SOME OF YOUR STAFF & OTHER WS UNITS & WHICH I'M SURE REPRESENT THE SAME TYPE OF QUESTIONS THAT THE ENTIRE FAMILY WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ASK. SINCE WE'VE ALREADY PRAYED TOGETHER, HERE IS THE FIRST QUESTION.

2. (A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS. THEY WANT TO KNOW YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD & YOUR FAVOURITE FLOWER & YOUR FAVOURITE PERFUME & OTHER THINGS. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS ARE?)

3. I CAN TELL YOU WITHOUT HESITATION MY FAVOURITE MAN, MY FAVOURITE PLACE & I'M ALSO PRETTY DECIDED ABOUT MY FAVOURITE BOOK. But trying to decide about my favourite food, my favourite flower, my favourite colour‚ my favourite stone, perfume etc. is a bit more difficult. The Lord has made so many beautiful things in the World‚ such a vast variety of beautiful colours & fragrances & aromas & tastes & sounds, that it is almost as hard for me to decide which ones are my favorites, as Dad is always saying, as it is to pick out which girl is the most beautiful in a beauty contest! There are so many I like that I just can't possibly have one favourite. There are so many good things to eat that I love to eat, & I have a lot of favourite foods. I have a lot of favorite flowers, amongst them roses‚ lilies of the valley, & pansies for their individual little faces that you can imagine look so human, & probably also because they are associated with happy memories for me.

4. IT'S DIFFICULT TO SAY WHAT MY FAVOURITE COLOUR IS now, although when I was young my preference was usually blue. In the past few years I've been attracted more to reds & shades thereof, also browns, tans, etc. I read once that being particularly fond of reds denotes an outgoing & sometimes leadership personality, & browns an earthy, stable, conservative nature.—It seems to fit me to some extent. (Amen!—D.) There are so many nice perfumes that I'm familiar with, & I'm sure there are a lot more that I'm not, but I guess I could say that I've always liked various musk oils & fragrances, on both men & women. But baby cologne is just fine too & a lot less expensive & I use that too!

5. (YOU HAVEN'T TOLD US WHO YOUR FAVOURITE PERSON IS, WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE & YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK IS.) OF COURSE YOU KNOW WHO MY FAVOURITE PERSON IS!—The one who has given meaning & brought satisfaction to my life, made me happier than I'd ever dreamed possible, gave me love such as I'd never known before‚ taught me almost everything I know, showed me what God is like, loved me with Jesus' Love, & by whose authority I'm speaking to you now. I think almost all of us in the Family agree, or we wouldn't be in the Family, that the one who has the most special spot in our heart is our Shepherd, Prophet & King‚ David, the one who has loved us the most & done the most for us, next to Jesus. He's in a class by himself & there is no one else that I could ever compare him to!

6. MY FAVOURITE PLACE?—IN DAVID'S ARMS & IN GOD'S WILL! And my favourite book?—If I must choose just one, I think I'd have to say the MOP, because it contains in a nutshell all of our basic teachings, as well as all of my favourite & most of the most important verses in the Bible! I guess since I pretty much put it together with the help of our precious staff & picked out the quotes & the verses to go in it, that could explain in part why I like it so much. I put together what I felt I wanted & needed, which is what I thought the Family needed also, & I'm very happy with it & it has proven such a tremendous blessing to me, as well as from all reports, to the entire Family. It's all from the Lord & Dad & it's an absolutely power-packed Book which I couldn't do without. Of course, I like the BOF very much too, since it has all that we need to know about a subject that concerns us & the World so greatly, the Endtime & the Future. (Amen to both!)

7. (COULD YOU ALSO TELL US WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE FULL MO LETTER IS?)

NO I'M AFRAID NOT!—I DON'T HAVE ONE! I think they are all tremendous! There are many priceless classic Letters that of course mean more to me than the business Letters or the Current Events Letters. I think that the most beautifully written ones are those which are entirely direct prophecy like "Birthday Warning", "They Can't Stop Our Rain", "God's Gifts," etc., which are also classic milestone Letters.

8. (ONE OF THE THINGS MANY OF US VERY MUCH ADMIRE ABOUT YOU IS THAT YOU HAVE THE PERSEVERANCE TO KEEP ON GOING NO MATTER WHAT SEEMS TO BE HAPPENING.)

MAYBE IT'S MY PERSONALITY, MAYBE IT'S A GIFT OF FAITH OR BOTH. I just don't seem to get so affected by things. I figure that you can't be worrying about your mistakes all the time‚ you just have to go on & determine to do better the next time & not get so down in the dumps about them & so remorseful about them. You just have to go on because there is so much to do, & if we spend a lot of time in the dumps & worrying about the mistakes we've made‚ then we are not going to get our work done! (GBH!) If you've done something wrong, you need to correct it & go on in your service to the Lord, not wallowing in discouragement & condemnation, but confident in the knowledge that the Lord has forgiven you & wants you to get on with His Work instead of worrying about your mistakes. Likewise, if it's the Enemy trying to defeat you by an outside attack, you've got to fight him with the Word & prayer & hard work & determination & don't stop. (That's Maria!)

9. (YOU SAID THAT PERHAPS IT MIGHT BE DUE IN PART TO YOUR TYPE OF PERSONALITY, THAT THINGS DON'T SEEM TO BOTHER YOU TOO MUCH. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS BECAUSE YOU ARE SO STRONG SPIRITUALLY.)

I THINK THERE IS A DEFINITE DIFFERENCE IN PERSONALITIES, & no matter how spiritually strong they may be, some people are a lot more sensitive than others & things hit them a lot harder. Everybody has different battles, & discouragement may be one of theirs & it's one of their thorns in the flesh that they have to try to overcome.

10. ON THE OTHER HAND, SENSITIVITY TO PROBLEMS CAN ALSO BE A STRENGTH. Dad is quite sensitive & things can bother him a lot, but because they do bother him, he does something to change them! Instead of just going under, he does something about it!—Even with the smallest things‚ they affect him so much‚ so he does something to make sure things are changed for the better! Even his discouragement can work together for good, as he fights it & does something to keep the same thing from happening again.—Whereas, I am not so sensitive & things don't bother me so much, so I have a tendency to just let things go—& that I have to fight against & get a constant victory in, I might add. So everyone has different strengths & weaknesses, all of which the Lord can use for His glory.

11. THE LORD MAKES US ALL DIFFERENT & WHEN WE'RE TOGETHER WE MAKE A COMPLETE BODY, because we're all different parts with different personalities‚ different strong points & different weak points, but we're all needed. Everybody is necessary for a different reason in the Lord's Family‚ & so He makes us all different & then He uses us accordingly.

12. (ARE THERE OTHER WAYS IN WHICH YOU & DAD ARE DIFFERENT?)

PERSONALITY-WISE I'M REALLY DIFFERENT FROM DAD IN SO MANY WAYS! I always say he's the good part of our union & I'm the bad! (Ha! She's the best!)—But I know that in some ways I am a good balance! (Amen!) I think you need some people that are the way I am & some people that are the way that he is. Personality-wise we are not all like Dad, nor do we need to try to be, but we do need to be like him in obedience & in faithfulness & loyalty to the Lord & in our desire to change ourselves & others for the better. We don't all have to like the same foods or the same colours he likes. I don't like seeing the same movie twice like he does, nor do I like the smell of gasoline like he does or to swim underwater like he does! Everybody's personality is different, & these personal preferences we don't all have to be exactly alike. We don't all have to like the schedule that his body clock dictates, up at 5 o'clock in the morning & to bed at 10 at night! That's not necessarily "the" correct schedule that everybody has to follow. Dad doesn't even always follow it, he changes his schedule quite often! However, in the basic spiritual principles we should strive to be like him! We should follow him as he follows Christ.

13. ALSO, THERE ARE MANY‚ MANY PRACTICAL & MATERIAL AREAS IN WHICH DAD HAS SET THE EXAMPLE in the Letters for us, & many rules he strongly advises us to follow for our own good. That's why I'm a little hesitant a lot of times to put everything that Dad does in the Letters, because people have trouble distinguishing what are commandments & rules & examples‚ & what is merely an interesting fact about Dad's lifestyle or personality, or peculiar only to our home or staff. We relate our schedule here & everybody says, "We've got to make our schedule the same," but that isn't always so! Just because we are on a certain schedule or Dad is on a certain schedule doesn't mean everyone has to be on it. They have to use the schedule that best suits them in their situation. People's Homes, schedules, ministries & personalities are all very different.—Many diversities of members, but all the same body. (1Cor.12:20)

14. WE ARE NOT ALL THE SAME NOR DO WE HAVE THE SAME INTERESTS OR TALENTS OR SKILLS, so we can't all fulfill the same ministries even if we wanted to. In addition, there is so much in our lives for the Lord, that we just can't personally do everything! In order to accomplish everything that needs to be done we need each other, so that one person's talent will complement another's & together we will have the necessary talents. Everybody is needed! Some people are needed to be handymen & some people are needed in the office & some to be FFers & some to be teachers of children & some of babies—not everybody is required or expected to do everything. And for people to be able to fill these different slots, they usually have to have different characteristics & personality traits.

15. (DAD GETS MANY THINGS FROM THE LORD THROUGH DREAMS, PROPHECY, VISIONS ETC. DO YOU GET THINGS IN THE SAME WAY THROUGH SUPERNATURAL SIGNS LIKE THESE?)

NO, I DON'T. I THINK THE LORD FIGURES WE ONLY NEED ONE PROPHET-KING AT A TIME! And I certainly think so. The Lord has, however‚ indicated that at a future time‚ if I need these things in the operation of my ministry, He can & will give them to me. Right now I don't get much in the way of direct revelations from the Lord, except some good practical advice which I know the Lord gives me.—Like with all the specific counsel we've been giving the musicians lately, I didn't know a thing about it until the Lord started to show me. I didn't see anything to be improved on those songs before, I thought they were fine on the Shows when I heard them. Actually‚ even when we recently started analysing the songs, I didn't exactly know what was right or wrong with them. Now I go back & look at some of the songs I liked or disliked five months ago & I see that my opinion has changed‚ & that's because the Lord has taught me as I've gone along. The Lord had to teach me if I'm going to be telling others what changes to make. Now I know a lot more than I did a few months ago about music & what's good & what's necessary for the public, all because the Lord showed me. I didn't know anything about it when I started‚ He did it all! So I get some good practical things which I know are from the Lord‚ but they just come in a very ordinary quiet way. But because of this, I have to be sure to give the Lord even more glory & credit for it openly, as people can't tell He's the One doing it, as much as they can when a person gets things through outstanding supernatural gifts that people know are miraculous. (She's got lots of unseen gifts!)

16. I'VE NEVER HAD A VISION IN MY LIFE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A VISION IS, & VERY RARELY DO I HAVE DREAMS! I've hardly ever had any significant dreams. I don't really get Verses in answer to problems too often. I usually just start talking & pray the Lord will help me know what to do about a situation, & He usually does! I don't have the gift of prophecy!—Tongues yes, interpretation no! Maybe my true confessions are going to encourage a lot of people, do you think? I usually have to go ahead by faith that the Lord will give me the answer as I talk about things. The Lord gives me answers just as I talk & pray about things, but in a practical sort of way, like thoughts in my mind, ideas & feelings about what we should do about things. I guess the Lord leads me by feelings a lot. (He sure does!)

17. (DAD SAID ONCE THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW YOUR FEELINGS, DIDN'T HE?)

IN "TEACHING GREAT MASTERS" HE SAID, "YOU HAVE A WOMAN'S INTUITION, SIXTH SENSE, PSYCHIC SENSITIVITY! YOU ARE AN AUTHORITY IN THE SPIRIT! FOLLOW YOUR IMPULSE, HONEY, BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT! You're an authority in the Spirit! And if you don't feel like it's right‚ then it's not right. If you feel like it's right‚ then it's right, because you have the Spirit of God & His sensitivity." (See No.996.) And also, "You have the power of God that He has given you from me, because of me, & because of your relationship with me, & because of the need that you have to carry on after me. Don't ever neglect it or ever despise it, don't ever minimise it, don't ever belittle it, amen? It's good to know that whatever you think is right is right, no matter what they say. Do you understand me? (Maria: Even if I just feel it?) Yes, even if you just feel it, that's the most important part of all; if you feel it, no matter whether you understand or not! Your feeling of the Spirit is more important, don't you understand?" (ML No.996:14,42) (Amen! The witness or checks of the Spirit!)

18. (SO IN OTHER WORDS, YOU WILL PRAY ABOUT A SITUATION OR ABOUT AN IDEA & THEN THE LORD GIVES YOU A FEELING ABOUT IT?—SORT OF AN INTUITION?)

YES, SOMETIMES I JUST FEEL THAT SOMETHING IS RIGHT! Like when I'm going over the songs for the DTD tapes, I have a feeling if I like them or not, I sort of have a feeling whether they're good songs or not. Sometimes I don't even know how to explain exactly why I like them or why I don't, so I just have to take it from the Lord that if I like them‚ other people will like them‚ & if I don't, others won't either. I have to sort of trust my feelings if I can't explain why I don't like some of the melodies. I have to take it by faith that my feelings about a song are right, because I don't usually get any direct answer from the Lord. I don't get a verse telling me whether a song is good or not, so it has to be a lot by faith & trusting that the Lord will give me the right feelings. And along that same line, the Lord helps me to feel how others are feeling, to put myself in their place so I can understand them. (That's the leadings of His Spirit!)

19. OF COURSE MY FEELINGS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT IF I'VE PRAYED ABOUT A SITUATION & I REALLY WANT THE ANSWER, THEN THE LORD GIVES ME THE RIGHT FEELING. But it's not that all my feelings are always right! Dad didn't say all my feelings are right. What if I'm jealous? I can't say that my jealous feeling is necessarily right! It might be in some exceptional cases‚ but usually not. What if I feel grumpy & complaining about something? You know that's not the right feeling! But in the operation of my work & ministry‚ with the Words & Dad & the Family‚ I can have the faith to follow my leadings or feelings. See, that's why you have to take things in their context & you have to see what things really mean. It's just like we get things out of the Bible & we have to find out what they actually mean to our situation. (Amen!)

20. (SO THAT'S A SPECIAL GIFT, FOR FEELING THE RIGHT THINGS, THAT OTHERS DON'T HAVE?)

NO, OF COURSE OTHERS HAVE IT! DAD HAS MANY CHECKS & FEELINGS IN THE SPIRIT‚ BURDENS OR LEADINGS. The Lord often leads people by their feelings. But don't forget to make sure your thoughts & feelings are always confirmed by the Word. (Amen!)

21. (BUT DON'T YOU HAVE A SPECIAL ANOINTING FOR YOUR JOB?)

YES, I HAVE A SPECIAL ANOINTING THAT GOES WITH MY JOB, JUST LIKE YOU HAVE A SPECIAL ANOINTING FOR YOURS. At this present time I don't feel I have any more of a special anointing for my job than anybody else has for theirs. Everybody gets some anointing for their job when they're in God's Will & doing His Work. You get the power & wisdom you need for what you have to do. I just get what I need for my job, just like everyone else does for their job. But the degree of anointing measures up to the importance of the job. I don't think I have any more of an anointing right now than what would be expected after 15 years with Dad, which of course you can imagine is quite a bit! After all that, I should have a little more knowledge, I should have a little more wisdom & I should be a little more like Dad than most of the rest of you. But as far as feeling some special anointing, I don't feel it at all & I actually don't really think that I have it most of the time. I don't even think that I am necessarily supposed to! Dad said when he was gone his mantle would fall upon me! (Amen!—It is clothing her already!)

22. (BUT BEING THE QUEEN, & CONSIDERING ALL THE LORD HAS SAID ABOUT YOU, DON'T YOU FEEL SPECIAL, DON'T YOU FEEL DIFFERENT?)

I DON'T FEEL ANY DIFFERENT FROM ANYBODY ELSE EXCEPT THAT I HAVE A MORE RESPONSIBLE POSITION, I'm a Family overseer, a top leader‚ & in that way I feel set apart from most others. But as a person with lots of faults & shortcomings, I don't feel too different from all the rest of you. Of course, I've got more of a responsible position & I've also had more time to learn from Dad & to be close to him, so I should be a little more responsible & I should know a little more & I should be able to teach people a little more. I really don't feel special in any other way except that the Lord has given me this position‚ which is very special of course.

23. I KNOW THAT MY POSITION IS SPECIAL, & I don't in any way want to minimise that, but as far as me personally, I don't feel that I'm that special or different than anybody else. I feel just like a little sheep, like everybody else. I make all the same mistakes that Dad bawls everybody else out for! (Not at all!) Well, I hope I don't make all of them!—After all of Dad's personal training I should have learned not to make some of them! But maybe that's why I can understand everybody else so well & all the problems they go through. I go through the same problems & I have some of the same trials! And therefore I feel like a lot of times I need to sort of mediate between the Family & Dad, because I understand! (Amen!) In a way I am much more like everybody else & I relate & identify more with all of you than I do with Dad, since he is so much closer to what Jesus is like & has so much more the mind of Christ. Of course, since I'm so close to Dad I have the advantage of knowing how he feels & how he thinks, & I also know how you feel & think because I feel the same way.

24. (YOU MEAN YOU DON'T ALWAYS FEEL THE SAME WAY DAD DOES?)

I WISH I DID! (Ha! She always does eventually!—Ha!) I know that's a standard to strive for & I pray to be more like him as he is like Jesus, but he really is far above me. When he says he is so bad‚ well, I really have to laugh, because in the things that are really bad he is not bad at all! He is always talking about his being so terrible & so bad, but in the things that really count, he is not bad at all! Of course, he has a few weaknesses, but actually the Lord has even made them his strengths in a way. He is a 100%-fighter! He'll fight till the end! If he is deathly sick, but feels the Lord wants him to go to dinner & give a talk‚ he'll go, whereas I'd probably stay in my room & go to bed! He can really take things & really have the faith & stick it out to the end! I'm selfish & jealous & all the things that everybody else has problems with, whereas he's not so affected by these problems. I mean he's human, he does have twinges of these things at times, but he is so much more pure in those respects. (GBH! Glad she thinks so!)

25. HE'S 100-PERCENT SOLD-OUT TO THE LORD! He's so faithful & loyal, & if the Lord wants him to do something he does it! He doesn't hesitate! He doesn't say. "Well, I don't really think I can do this & I don't want to do that," he just does it because the Lord said to do it. And because of this, he has little patience with jealousy or compromise or double-mindedness or selfishness. He doesn't even understand how people can be this way! But I can understand because I am so weak myself & yield to these same sins. So although it's not impossible for us to be like Dad, for some reason most of us don't quite make it, at least I don't! (She's better!)—Of course Dad has great mercy on us all for mistakes & blunders of the mind.

26. (THAT'S SO ENCOURAGING! WHEN YOU SHARE THESE LESSONS‚ IT GIVES US REAL HOPE THAT MAYBE WE CAN MAKE IT TOO!)

WELL, I FIGURE THERE MUST BE HOPE FOR ME, OR THE LORD WOULDN'T HAVE PUT ME IN THE POSITION WHERE I AM‚ being as bad as I am! If I were in charge, I'd probably put me at the bottom of the pile‚ but it shows that the Lord must look at things a little bit differently than I do! If I'd have been in the Lord's place I would have taken somebody who is a lot more like Dad, but I know the Lord know's best. By the way, I'm very happy about His decision!—I'm glad He made the choice He did, even though I feel so incapable. I know if the Lord can use me, He certainly can use you! (Amen! GBY!)

27. (IT SURE IS A BLESSING TO HEAR ALL OF THIS, BECAUSE THE FAMILY REALLY KNOWS SO LITTLE ABOUT YOU. CAN YOU TELL US MORE?)

ONE THING MOST PEOPLE CAN TALK ABOUT IS THEMSELVES, even if they don't have anything else to talk about, ha! I suppose it makes for interesting reading‚ ha! In a way I feel a little funny telling you about myself & my work, because I think other people's work is in some ways as important as mine!—Not their position, I'm not saying that, but everybody has got their part in the work to do, & each part is important! If they don't do their job, then mine is not going to be much good! You are as important to this work as I am right now, because if you don't do your job, mine is not going to get done. Take the Family Specials book, for example. If you don't do your job of compiling it & laying it out, then I'm not going to get my job done of reading it over & proofreading it, so we are equally important, as far as working on that project is concerned.

28. I FEEL A LITTLE FUNNY ABOUT YOU MAKING SUCH A FUSS OVER ALL MY PERSONAL FEELINGS & LIKES & DISLIKES & my favourite this & that, when yours are just as interesting as mine! But I realise that because of the position I hold, that mine might be more sought-after by more people, not because they actually are so much more interesting, but because of the position, which makes them more interesting. In other words, because of my position & because you love me because the Lord has made me your Queen‚ you want to know about these things. And you really have a right to know about us, because David, as your king, & I, as your Queen, belong to you‚ our people. God has given us to you & we live to serve you & Him. Therefore, I shouldn't mind telling you what my favourite flower is or how I grew up, or the multitude of other things you want to know about! (Ha! Amen! I'm really learning things!—About both her & me! Ha! GBH! She's the best!—You couldn't have a better! God's good to us! Amen?)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family