1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,920 Hello, this is Leslie Kane. 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,520 I'm your host of the Why Not Today podcast. 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:10,800 And this is a podcast to celebrate people who have been courageous and said, why not 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:11,800 today? 5 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,800 I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Kane, who often said, why not today? 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:22,160 I am based in rest of Virginia planned community right outside of Washington, DC. 7 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:23,800 And thanks for joining us today. 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:25,200 And I'm excited for my guests. 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,640 And this is actually we're doing a special date. 10 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:32,840 So if you're following us and listening, when we release them, I'm adding releasing this 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,360 a little earlier than my usually deadline because I want this this is perfectly timed 12 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,360 around the holidays in December. 13 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:44,840 And I'm really excited about my guest who is a friend, their family, I've known her 14 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:46,920 for since she was a little girl. 15 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,600 And I was talking about like, you never know where you're going to connect with somebody 16 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,800 and where you're going to meet somebody and never know where it's going to take it. 17 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:54,600 So our guest today is Jody Barrett. 18 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,280 But just talked about where we connected. 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,880 I actually met her cousin when I was in college. 20 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:06,040 And that was a long time ago, a few years ago, and met Jody when she was a little girl 21 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:13,920 at the house and through really friendships and faith and life, we've become super close. 22 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,920 I feel like you're a younger sister to me, Miss Jody. 23 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,800 So I'm excited to have Jody Barrett. 24 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:23,080 And she is going to talk today about being courageous, but she's also an author. 25 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:29,280 And we're going to talk about her book, Jingle and Joy, which is intentional to have it. 26 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,400 This episode is releasing beginning of December so people are the end of November so people 27 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,960 can focus on Jingle and Joy for the holiday. 28 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,360 So yay, Jody, I'm super excited to have you as my guest. 29 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,760 So why don't you introduce yourself, tell us a little about you and maybe a fun fact 30 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,920 you might not know about Jody Barrett. 31 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,560 You know, talking about myself is not the easiest thing to do, but I'm Jody Barrett. 32 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,320 I have a lot of titles. 33 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,000 I am a wife, a mom. 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:07,320 And if I was going to give you a fun fact, it would be that I am a Gigi times two. 35 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,320 So exciting. 36 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:14,400 Yeah, I have a grandson and now a granddaughter. 37 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,880 And so that's a couple of my titles. 38 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,320 And I'm also a speaker and a writer. 39 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,360 I'm an office manager. 40 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:28,360 I mean, just we could go into titles, but I say if I was going to really tell somebody 41 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,560 about myself, I would say I am someone who really loves community and connecting with 42 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:34,560 people. 43 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,480 I was thinking about this just a few minutes ago and I thought, you know, I don't know 44 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,320 how I would do life alone. 45 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,240 And thankfully, I don't have to. 46 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:49,240 I am surrounded by a lot of great folks and my family will tell you that I will make a 47 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,160 friend with a stranger in a heartbeat. 48 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,640 And I think that's just because of my passion for community. 49 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:56,640 Totally agree. 50 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:57,640 And you definitely do that. 51 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:03,480 So before we start talking about the book and courage, share with us, what does courage 52 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,080 mean to you? 53 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,120 What does courage mean to me? 54 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:14,280 You know, courage in a nutshell to me is when you are able to move forward in the face of 55 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:15,280 fear. 56 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:21,400 You know, like even when you're afraid, you're still willing to put one foot in front of 57 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:27,360 the other and go in the direction that you're afraid of, whether that's because you know 58 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:32,760 you're supposed to or whether that's because you just really want to. 59 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,680 You know, it's just standing there and looking fear in the face and saying, I'm not going 60 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:38,680 to be paralyzed. 61 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,080 I'm still going to go forward. 62 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:41,080 Right. 63 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,920 And how often do we have to do that in life? 64 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,040 And so many people are they let that fear stop them. 65 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,040 Yeah. 66 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,560 And we always feel better when we do, don't we? 67 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:59,160 You know, I so much in my life, I think I've had to look fear in the face. 68 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:04,000 And I'm very thankful for the times when I've been able to just keep pushing forward. 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,040 So I would say, yeah. 70 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:12,560 All right, so you are an author, a speaker, you've got a ministry, so many things. 71 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:21,000 Of course, you are a wife and a mom and a great, a GG twice and super cute little baby 72 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,120 baby girl that was just born, gosh, a week or two ago. 73 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:25,600 So I love seeing her pictures. 74 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:26,600 Not quite. 75 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:27,880 Almost two weeks, but not quite. 76 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:28,880 Not quite. 77 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,360 And then sweet little Colton, who I adore, who is two and a half now. 78 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:34,360 That's right. 79 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,360 Which is crazy to see that. 80 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,640 Two and a half year old fireball. 81 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,120 Yes, he is. 82 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:41,880 He is full of energy. 83 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,840 So lots of things we can talk about. 84 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:49,640 And it's funny, I remember, like I've known you for a long, long time, and then obviously 85 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:55,520 became closer with you when your grandmother was sick and passed away. 86 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,040 But the real, and I, one of those things that I often talk about the time that I feel like, 87 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,440 I know, I knew you're going to be my life forever, but that I really felt like I connected 88 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,080 with you is we started having this discussion. 89 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,400 I remember exactly where I was. 90 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,680 And we started talking about faith. 91 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,440 And we just connected at a faith level that we never have. 92 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,440 And that was just a special moment. 93 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,000 And since then, you know, love your faith walk. 94 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,520 So why don't you talk about courageous things you've done from starting the ministry to, 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,200 of course, we want to talk about your book, Jingle and Joy, and how we can have courage 96 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:32,200 during the holidays. 97 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,320 So I'm just going to let you share, share your heart. 98 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:42,560 Yeah, you know, it's funny you say share your heart and share your heart about faith, because 99 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,600 when I think about one of the things that I've had to have courage to do, it is to share 100 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,040 my faith. 101 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,760 My faith is in Jesus Christ. 102 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:58,000 And he calls me to go and tell others about him and the love he has for us. 103 00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,600 It's a joy to share about it. 104 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,640 But sometimes I'm afraid to do that. 105 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:09,940 And funny thing is, is that when the my good, good friend and I started a ministry, we decided 106 00:06:09,940 --> 00:06:17,760 not just to start a faith based ministry that encouraged women to stay in God's Word every 107 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:23,880 single day and grow in close, close relationship with the Lord, which is, we'll talk about 108 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:24,880 that. 109 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,160 I'm sure you know, it can be challenging because of all the distractions that we have in the 110 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:30,160 world. 111 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,480 So but we didn't just do a faith based ministry. 112 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,160 We did a faith and fitness based ministry. 113 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,240 Yeah, so you know, I giggle. 114 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:45,200 I know I flat out laugh because we took two things that are really hard to stick with. 115 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,600 And we said, let's encourage women to do them together. 116 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:57,520 And you know what, it must have fit the bill because we had a wonderful time with it. 117 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:03,920 We had so many women that were interested and we met so many amazing people through 118 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:05,780 doing that ministry. 119 00:07:05,780 --> 00:07:08,080 We started that over 12 years ago. 120 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,360 We no longer long. 121 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:17,280 It was 12 years ago and we no longer the fitness part of it, because what we found was what 122 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:24,640 people's deep down heart need was, was, was the faith part of it. 123 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,720 And we were growing tired. 124 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,960 And we were like, okay, we're burning the candles at both ends. 125 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:31,240 And this is what they really need. 126 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:32,640 And this is what they really want. 127 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,260 And this will really fuel all the other parts of their life. 128 00:07:36,260 --> 00:07:44,360 If they can get this, this faith being centered around Jesus, they can get that then all the 129 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:46,080 other things will fall into place. 130 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:52,600 And so, yeah, it took a lot of courage to start that with even with someone I was, I 131 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,600 was glad I didn't have to do it. 132 00:07:55,600 --> 00:08:01,800 Yeah, and Joe and Donna was the one that came to you with the idea of the ministry. 133 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:02,800 Yes. 134 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:08,400 My good friend Donna at the time we had just met, she had her husband and children had 135 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,680 just moved into our area. 136 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:15,200 And her husband was a youth pastor at our church. 137 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,320 My daughter was in the youth group. 138 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,420 So they were having like a lake outing one day. 139 00:08:20,420 --> 00:08:23,660 And my husband and I said, you know, let's walk down to the lake. 140 00:08:23,660 --> 00:08:24,960 Let's see how everybody's doing. 141 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,400 Let's get to know Donna and Justin because they were new to the area and they were going 142 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,260 to be working with our daughter. 143 00:08:32,260 --> 00:08:38,120 And Donna looks at me and says, you know, I've been thinking about starting an exercise, 144 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,800 a faith based exercise ministry. 145 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:41,800 Would you be interested? 146 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,760 And it was just perfect timing. 147 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,280 Some people call things coincidence. 148 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,600 I like to call things God incidents, which is just a play. 149 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,880 Yeah, it's just a play on words. 150 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:53,880 God incidents. 151 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:58,640 You know, I said, Donna, I've been praying about a walking ministry because walking was 152 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,680 really, really important to me at the time and still is. 153 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:06,840 But it just it was like, there it is. 154 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:12,000 And long, long story I could go through to tell you all the ups and downs that we had 155 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,000 to walk through. 156 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,440 But since we're on the topic of courage, let me tell you one of the things that took the 157 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,560 most courage. 158 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:25,560 We were looking at a national program that we were going to umbrella under. 159 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:32,240 And you are required to videotape yourself while instructing an aerobics class. 160 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:33,240 Oh, wow. 161 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,240 Yes. 162 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:35,240 Wow. 163 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,240 You didn't go that route. 164 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,240 I know. 165 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:40,240 We didn't. 166 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:45,080 However, we did do the video and we did submit it. 167 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,320 And it done as has been filmed it for us. 168 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:53,440 And he promises that there's no remaining copies. 169 00:09:53,440 --> 00:10:00,480 I don't know if I trust him, but yes, that that took so much courage because I don't 170 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:05,200 know about you, but, you know, sometimes I'm self conscious. 171 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:11,640 And so, you know, and so so I'm self conscious maybe about how I sound on the video or how 172 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:12,640 I looked on the video. 173 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,800 And then you throw aerobic steps. 174 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:24,320 Oh, my goodness, that was a moment that took some serious courage. 175 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:25,320 We did. 176 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:26,320 We did send it off. 177 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,400 And that's that's not why we changed paths. 178 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,400 But that's the thing. 179 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:36,520 When you're walking a journey and you get to what I call a turning point in the road 180 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:42,120 and you have decisions about which way to go, that's when you have to lean into your 181 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:47,920 faith and you step where the Lord directs you, which takes courage to do because often 182 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,840 he calls us into an area that's not our comfort zone. 183 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,960 And we went out of our comfort zone to do what we did. 184 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:00,480 And if I had Donna here sitting with us, I think she would say the same thing. 185 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,160 We do it all again. 186 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:03,160 We would do it all again. 187 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:04,160 Yeah. 188 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,680 So I love the ministry and I've participated a couple of your events. 189 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:09,680 This was awesome. 190 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,280 And of course, they don't and you guys have done amazing things. 191 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:17,560 But you then went on to write a book called Full and Joy. 192 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:19,280 And this is one of my favorites. 193 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:20,760 And I give it out to tons of people. 194 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,800 I just got a new copy the other day. 195 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:28,120 So talk about how the book came about and the courage to write the book and publish 196 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,000 the book. 197 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:36,840 And I know that wasn't always a smooth, easy road. 198 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:44,200 You know, crazy, I've always wanted to write a book ever since I was a little girl. 199 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:53,280 The closest that I came to writing before I was out of college and into motherhood was, 200 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,600 you know, poetry in school or essays and things of that nature. 201 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:04,000 But I've always been one to write privately and just always wanted to write a book, but 202 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,160 didn't know how to go about the process. 203 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:15,080 Well, God called me into the speaking ministry world and quickly I found out that while other 204 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:22,680 people enjoyed what you had to say, they wanted to also read your works. 205 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:27,400 And so I said, you know, it's perfect time for me to pick back up the dream of having 206 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,080 a book. 207 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,960 And then you have to throw in a lot of years in the mix. 208 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,880 Social media has become such a huge thing, right? 209 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,680 It's a place where a lot of people are reading words every single day from, you know, just 210 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:46,640 a few words to, you know, entire pages. 211 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:53,680 So I was out on social media because of our ministry sharing what you now see in Jingle 212 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:54,760 and Joy. 213 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,920 And the subtitle of Jingle and Joy is praying beneath the tree. 214 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:04,160 And I was sharing about it because I was at home doing it during a time in my life where 215 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,040 all of my family, my immediate family was displaced. 216 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,000 So my husband was overseas because of military duty. 217 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:17,280 And both of my children had entered those college age years and they had flown the nest 218 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,680 at the pretty much almost the same time. 219 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:25,640 So there's this big quiet house and there's just this little Jodi and she's sitting in 220 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,400 her house around the holidays alone. 221 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:38,280 And I was meeting with my person, Jesus, because he never leaves us beneath the tree and praying. 222 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,440 And others were interested in it. 223 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,280 And so I started sharing on social media about it, inviting them to join me. 224 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:53,880 And the book actually comes three years later from what I'm just describing to you. 225 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,520 And I didn't want to do it. 226 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,120 I wanted to do it, but I didn't want to do it. 227 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,120 Have you ever been there? 228 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:01,120 A lot. 229 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:07,400 And so these words from your dad, why not today, I did not know at the time. 230 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:08,400 OK. 231 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:14,320 But if I had have known them, they would have been words I would say because they encourage 232 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:19,960 me now, now that I do know them and in the context of why your dad would use them, I 233 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,920 would say why not today. 234 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:30,480 So took that three year experience, put it on paper into a book, was about to get the 235 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,920 book to the point that it could be published. 236 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,960 And we had a very tragic event happen in our lives. 237 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,900 One of well, probably the darkest moment of my life. 238 00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:45,600 We lost our son. 239 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,240 We lost our Ryan at 22 years of age. 240 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:55,800 And I thought there's there's no way I can let this book go out. 241 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,960 And it was scheduled to go out. 242 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,280 And I stood in my kitchen. 243 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,680 I'll never forget it. 244 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:10,600 Right in the same place that my son had last asked me this question, he said, Mom, how's 245 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,320 your book coming? 246 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:21,440 And inside my spirit, in the core of my being, I knew that I was supposed to push forward, 247 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:26,360 that in the face of fear, when it didn't feel right because of what was going on in our 248 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:32,680 lives, the book was supposed to to go forth that year. 249 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:39,520 That was in October of the year that the book came out and the book came out early November. 250 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,240 And it was not just when Ryan passed away, it was the end of October. 251 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:45,240 Right. 252 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:47,240 It wasn't like the beginning. 253 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,440 So you did it, flipped it pretty fast. 254 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:52,240 All the work had been done. 255 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:53,240 Right. 256 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,360 And have you ever had a crazy year? 257 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:57,360 All right. 258 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,960 That was the craziest year of my life. 259 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:06,280 I am known for saying that on this side of heaven, joy and pain collide. 260 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,040 They hit head on sometime. 261 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,960 And in August of that year, our daughter got married. 262 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,140 It was the most beautiful occasion. 263 00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:19,880 It was everything that I think she wanted and everything we wanted as a family to be 264 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,800 able to be there in love and support her. 265 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,160 And just a great celebration. 266 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:31,600 And then just a few months later, we're walking through the darkest time of our life all together, 267 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,560 though. 268 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,120 That community, that community of family and friends. 269 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:41,200 And we were walking through the darkest time of our life. 270 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:46,000 And yeah, God said, Jodi, the book is supposed to still happen. 271 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,320 And it did. 272 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:55,600 I can't explain it except, again, to say that when you are at a crossroad and you're faced 273 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:01,880 with different directions, it's important to lean in to your faith and move forward 274 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,920 in courage in the directions that God asks you to go. 275 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,320 And I knew that was the direction I was supposed to go with Jingle and Joy. 276 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,640 And you want to hear a crazy, you've got your copy, right? 277 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:14,640 I do. 278 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,080 OK, so the books arrive on the doorstep. 279 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:19,480 I don't know exactly when. 280 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,880 If I were to go back to my journals, I could tell you. 281 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:27,640 But as I tell my grandmother sometimes, the day of the week doesn't matter, right? 282 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,500 It doesn't change the story. 283 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:36,400 So I get the books in a box on my doorstep, and I go and I open them up and I put them 284 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:41,800 out because I had some girlfriends coming over to have dinner that night. 285 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,660 We were going to fill the table with just friendship and fellowship and prayer. 286 00:17:46,660 --> 00:17:50,520 And I opened one of the books. 287 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,720 Now remember the season I'm walking through. 288 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,040 And it fell open to day eight. 289 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:03,160 And so Jingle and Joy has 25 days of praying for other people. 290 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:07,120 And each day is designated a certain group of people. 291 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:14,060 And day eight says pray for those who are grieving. 292 00:18:14,060 --> 00:18:20,520 And here I was, Mom, you know, in deep grief because we had lost our Ryan. 293 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:28,240 And my girlfriend that helped get this to publication, she picked out parts of my writing 294 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,720 to kind of blow up and highlight. 295 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:38,240 And it says the blown up part says, Lord, help us reach out so no one walks alone through 296 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,160 grief. 297 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,880 And that was part of the prayer I wrote. 298 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:49,440 Well, can I tell you about the army of people that surrounded me and my family? 299 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,520 Yes, because they loved us. 300 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:56,400 But people that didn't even know us because they came to know us through the books surrounded 301 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:57,440 us. 302 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,800 I didn't have to walk through grief alone. 303 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,240 And that's just how it works. 304 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,200 He's just incredible. 305 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,240 And you know, I don't know if it had been the same if I hadn't have stepped out in faith 306 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,840 and finished the book. 307 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:13,520 You may never have. 308 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,320 And you know, a couple of things you said was in the beginning, you said the interesting 309 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,840 fact about Jodi or to know about Jodi is you love community and connecting with others. 310 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,600 And that was so evident with the book. 311 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:28,160 So when you decide to go forward with it, it was your girlfriend, people in ministry 312 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,960 and people that surrounded you that encourage you to go forward. 313 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:36,320 And if you hadn't done those things and stepped out in faith for your ministry, for the fitness 314 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,760 ministry, you never would have met those people. 315 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,320 And if you hadn't spoke, you know, been a speaker, that wouldn't happen. 316 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,680 So how many things had to happen? 317 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:49,800 And then the fact that they encourage you to get the book out. 318 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,200 And you didn't change anything from the book except for the beginning, right? 319 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,000 Just the dedication, just the dedication. 320 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:00,160 So everything else is done, which just is so in line with everything else. 321 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:06,080 And then, yeah, just watching so many people in your community and how many people you've 322 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:12,040 connected with from, you know, when Ryan passed away to his funeral to still with the golf 323 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,840 tournament that you do in honor of Ryan every year. 324 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:19,320 Such an amazing community of people that support you and you're not alone. 325 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,920 Now, and, you know, talking about things that we do now to make sure that others aren't 326 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:33,680 alone, not just in grief, but in all kinds of situations in their lives from this. 327 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:35,000 Remember where I told you I was? 328 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:41,920 I was in my home beneath a tree, you know, without my core, without my people. 329 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:43,120 You know, my core family. 330 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:48,400 But I reached out on social media to others and saw how much they needed it. 331 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,640 So now it's not just on social media. 332 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,160 It's not just in a book. 333 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:59,120 December 5th of this year, and we've done this now for four years, there'll be a community 334 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:07,240 tree to right outside in a field that's not far from our house where we will invite anyone 335 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:15,120 from the community who wants to come and pray together for community people in community, 336 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:19,480 people to be in community, people that are in our community, people that the Lord's Word 337 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:27,440 tells us to first of all, pray for all people. 338 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,160 And that's what the book is about. 339 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:30,160 And that's what we do. 340 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,980 We do it in our homes, but we also do it in our community because all people doesn't leave 341 00:21:34,980 --> 00:21:35,980 anybody out. 342 00:21:35,980 --> 00:21:36,980 Right. 343 00:21:36,980 --> 00:21:42,400 And I love, I love the tree and the community and I'm excited that I will be there and I 344 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,000 think every year I'll be there for that. 345 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,800 But want to go back a little bit to the book because you and I can talk forever and ever 346 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,160 and ever and I don't want to make this all day. 347 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:56,760 But so being intentional and courageous and I talked about the other day on my podcast 348 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:03,120 as we kicked off right after Thanksgiving, we kicked off and talked about being intentional 349 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:04,120 in December. 350 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:10,360 And one of the things I talked about was, you know, appreciating the time and being 351 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,240 present with who you're with and present with the time. 352 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,640 And one thing we've talked, I've talked to a lot of people about, I mentioned this the 353 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:23,120 other day is that enjoy that time with family and friends because you never know when that 354 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:24,940 dynamic might change. 355 00:22:24,940 --> 00:22:29,720 And like in your case, first your husband was overseas, deployed and your kids were 356 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,040 off doing other things and then your total life completely changed with Ryan passing 357 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:35,760 away. 358 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,120 But also families like my family now is spread out. 359 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:43,360 And you know, the last time we were all together in a group, who would have ever thought that 360 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:47,840 that would be the last, not maybe the last time that everybody because people are growing 361 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,280 up, those things change. 362 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:55,440 But you know, the premise of jingle and joy is you want to focus on the joy and not the 363 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,200 jingle. 364 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,720 And that's what I talked about the other day, just being intentional in December. 365 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:07,320 And so let's talk a little bit about courage it takes to pray to spend that quiet time. 366 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,840 I know we talked about a little bit beforehand. 367 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:17,000 So how would you share that it takes courage to grow your faith and take time for faith 368 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,800 and God and prayer? 369 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,080 I'm going to go to that word that you've said a couple of times intentional. 370 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:33,720 I have a good friend, Stephanie, that really helped me hone in on what it meant to be intentional 371 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:40,200 when it comes to spending time with with God, which is is where we want to focus in jingle 372 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:41,200 and joy. 373 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:47,280 And it's a great place for us to focus every day of every year. 374 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:55,640 To be intentional means to on purpose position ourselves where we can be not only in the 375 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:06,080 presence of someone, but also to be attentively listening to that someone and then being willing 376 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,080 to open ourselves up to that someone. 377 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:11,080 So that was a lot. 378 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:12,080 But right. 379 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:18,080 What does that look like in my life might be the best way to illustrate it. 380 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:25,960 So I am intentional every morning to get up and I do fix a cup of coffee and then I settle 381 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,200 right back down into a specific place. 382 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:34,200 It changes from time to time because I'm not I'm not easily. 383 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,160 Well, I just I just like change. 384 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:43,280 And so I move around, but what's intentional is that I don't start anything else until 385 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,680 I sit in a place and just listen for God. 386 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:52,480 And the way I listen for him is I open my Bible and I read his word and then I just 387 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,240 let him speak to my spirit. 388 00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,480 And then I am intentional to share what's on my heart with him. 389 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,240 So it's like that two way communication. 390 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,920 I'm listening and I'm talking and I'm a talker. 391 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,560 So that part comes easy. 392 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,000 The listening I have to be more intentional about. 393 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,000 Yeah. 394 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,640 So that that's how intentional time for me with God starts every day. 395 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:20,600 But then the way it continues throughout the day is that I just remember he's always with 396 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:21,720 me. 397 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:26,560 And so if you ever had those times where you're thinking, I just need somebody to talk to 398 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,160 and maybe you pick up the phone or maybe you text someone or something like that. 399 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:37,200 But for me, it's just I just go straight to him and share with him. 400 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:42,080 And I still may pick up the phone because I love my girlfriends and my people, but just 401 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:46,280 intentional to keep doing that every single day. 402 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:56,280 The second thing that you talked about is courage in this intentional relationship. 403 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:02,560 I think I'd have to rewind so far because now it's like so but I know there's been times 404 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:08,520 when I've needed that courage to be transparent with God. 405 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,720 But what I've learned is I've grown in my relationship with him is that there's nothing 406 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,160 too big for him and there's nothing that's going to catch him off guard. 407 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,240 There's nothing that's going to make him stop loving me. 408 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:27,440 And so I don't feel like I have to have as much courage as I used to because I'm just 409 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:28,720 so comfortable with him. 410 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,200 Does that make sense? 411 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,560 Yeah, absolutely. 412 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:37,760 And I think the more time you spend with something or someone or doing something, you know, like 413 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,240 we talked about, you got to step out fear and do it. 414 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:46,560 And maybe the first time you communicated and prayed and the more you do it, the more 415 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:47,560 comfortable you get. 416 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,120 And it doesn't take as much courage. 417 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,320 And I think that's with anything the more you do it. 418 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,320 Right. 419 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,640 It is once we do it once and then twice. 420 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,880 And you know, the whole faith walk is courage and taking time. 421 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,520 I know you said you do an intentional in the morning and I do the same thing. 422 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:09,520 But there's some mornings that, you know, I want to I'm a worker, I'm an achiever, I 423 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:10,520 want to get going. 424 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,600 And that's like, I want to keep going. 425 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:13,880 I got too many things to do. 426 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,920 But I know if I take the time, then my day is going to be so much better and aligned better 427 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,240 when I take the time. 428 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,640 But sometimes it takes courage to say, all right, and say, why not today and just do 429 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,440 it. 430 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,560 You know, it it I I have those days, too. 431 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,120 And here's the way I look at it. 432 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:37,360 Remember, our first ministry started with a fitness entity part of it. 433 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,920 So I'm very conscientious of what it means to do things daily, because, you know, we 434 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:46,280 talk about good nutrition daily, you know, good fitness daily, that kind of thing. 435 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,360 So what I usually tell people is, you know, you'll say you have a couple of those days 436 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:57,240 where you miss your time, things get in the way, your mind gets busy or what have you. 437 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,800 You don't have to go, well, forget it. 438 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:06,920 No, you just the next day, it's clean slate and you know, and you start again. 439 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:12,440 You know, God's so gracious that he's just like, I'm so glad you're back. 440 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,360 You know, I said, right. 441 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:20,520 It's just like a friend, you know, they're not going to say, you know, I talk a lot about 442 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:21,520 regret. 443 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,840 And this book I read about regret, they talked about, you know, that person, you haven't 444 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:26,840 talked to him forever and ever. 445 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:28,600 And you feel like, oh, I don't want to call him. 446 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,760 I feel bad because I haven't talked to him. 447 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:35,680 But if things are reversed, and they called you and you had you hadn't talked to him, 448 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:36,680 you'd be so happy. 449 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:41,000 You wouldn't be like, why didn't they call me in so many times, you'd be excited to hear 450 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:42,000 from them. 451 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,600 And you'd be like, I'm going to be with God and spending time. 452 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,560 Pick up where you left off. 453 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:47,560 Exactly. 454 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,240 Can I take you back because you talked about friends. 455 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,800 So that's a good segue into you mentioned another word. 456 00:28:54,800 --> 00:29:02,600 So that was presence, being, you know, present with the people that you're with. 457 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:10,320 And so in Jingle and Joy, I actually talk about that in a devotion that's entitled Exchange 458 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:18,040 Presents, like the things we put in bags and boxes for presents being, you know, with people. 459 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:24,880 And you know, that is one of the greatest gifts we can give one another is actually 460 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,360 being present when we're with others. 461 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:29,360 And it's such a challenge. 462 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,200 Not on the little things that ring. 463 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:33,200 Right. 464 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:40,680 I was at a family gathering not too long ago, and one of the family members saw me with 465 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,280 my phone in my hand and he said, put that thing away. 466 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:49,720 And you know, he meant it very kind because he wanted me to be present with the people 467 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:50,720 that we were with. 468 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,000 And so did I. 469 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,160 I was using my phone in that moment to take some photos so that I could remember some 470 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,680 things from that day. 471 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:00,880 But so many times it distracts me. 472 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,080 So I'm not even going to pretend that. 473 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:08,360 My biggest distraction in the morning and starting my day in the right place is, oh, 474 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,680 let me look at my phone real quick. 475 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,760 Well, that takes you down a whole different rabbit trail. 476 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,560 So yeah, so we can go on and on and on. 477 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:20,040 But I do want to kind of end this sooner than later. 478 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,000 Just I mean, we talked about lots of subjects. 479 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:28,760 So in the I always share ask people like, what encouragement would you give somebody 480 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,960 to be creative? 481 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:39,640 OK, so did something recently that I've never done before. 482 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,400 I spoke at a high school graduation service. 483 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:44,400 Wow. 484 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:45,400 Yeah. 485 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:51,000 Here I have this, you know, graduating class and. 486 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,960 I'm going to use them as an example, and it may not surprise you what I say because I've 487 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:01,560 already mentioned these words before, but if I'm going to encourage you to be courageous, 488 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:07,360 I'm going to tell you that when you're looking at a turning point in your life, when you're 489 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:17,880 faced with multiple directions to go and you need to lean in to the Lord and ask him for 490 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:24,280 direction and you need to be willing when he shows you which way to go to step forward 491 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:30,280 and even when it looks uncertain or unknown, knowing that he will be with you. 492 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,520 In the faith world, we might would call this courageous faith. 493 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:41,600 If you don't know the Lord like I do, this this might seem odd. 494 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:50,660 But I encourage you to know the Lord and to follow him where he leads you, which means 495 00:31:50,660 --> 00:31:53,280 just look in fear in the face sometime and saying God is with me. 496 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:54,280 I'm going to go that direction. 497 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:58,760 You know, I always tell people, listen to the first voice, which is usually the right 498 00:31:58,760 --> 00:31:59,760 one. 499 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,720 And then we try to talk ourselves out of that voice. 500 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:09,280 And yeah, and put our own thoughts and restrictions on it. 501 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,040 So I'm excited for other people to read this book. 502 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:17,240 So Jingle and Joy, Praying Beneath the Tree, where can they get it and how can they get 503 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,520 it and what can they do with it? 504 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:20,520 OK. 505 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:26,000 The biggest and best way to get it because you're not necessarily going to be local to 506 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:27,760 my area is Amazon. 507 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:35,360 So just go straight to Amazon and you can get a copy there. 508 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:45,800 And if you go to our website, FaithfullyFollowingMinistries.org, there's a page there for the book that has 509 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:50,480 a lot of free resources that go along with the book. 510 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,920 And it's also where you can always find anything that we're sharing. 511 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,200 We like to call them our favorites and our freebies. 512 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,320 There's a couple out right now for Christmas. 513 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:03,360 You can click on that page as well to connect with me. 514 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:04,760 Did you ask me that, Leslie? 515 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:05,760 Did you ask? 516 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:06,760 No, but they can. 517 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:08,400 I mean, I was going to ask you that. 518 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,880 And I'm going to share in the show notes and on social media how to connect with you also. 519 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:14,680 But what's the best way to connect with you, Jodi? 520 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:15,680 OK. 521 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:20,360 So the best way to connect with me is on Facebook or Instagram. 522 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:26,480 So on Facebook, it's FaithfullyFollowing, and on Instagram, it's FaithfulToFollow, and 523 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:27,720 the two is a number. 524 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,440 So it's FaithfulNumberToFollow. 525 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:36,960 And those are the places I'm most active and love to connect with people, love to have 526 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:44,760 conversation there, but also on our website or our blog, FaithfullyFollowingMinistries.org. 527 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:46,320 And we will link all this, too. 528 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:51,760 So one question I forgot is actually, too, a comment I'm going to make and a question 529 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:57,600 I need to connect with is my dad, is one thing that you got me starting doing years ago, 530 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,920 you had it with your ministry. 531 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:00,920 You had a challenge. 532 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:06,160 It was January to every day share a verse of scripture. 533 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,080 And you called it verse by verse. 534 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,160 And I did it for a week and then did it for two weeks. 535 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:14,000 And I've done it so many years. 536 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:15,440 And I know we've talked about this before. 537 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:21,960 So every morning when I have my quiet time, whatever I'm reading, whatever scripture, 538 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:23,320 I always look it up. 539 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:24,480 I Google it. 540 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,280 And I'm a visual person. 541 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:30,920 So whatever graphic speaks to my heart, I share that on Instagram and Facebook. 542 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,680 And I know a lot of people listening may have followed it, may have seen it. 543 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:38,400 But I have had several people, including at that time, my friend's 16-year-old son said 544 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,160 every morning he woke up to see what I posted. 545 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:45,480 And just recently have said that, that's how they start their day. 546 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,040 So I'll never stop doing that. 547 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,360 So thank you for encouraged me. 548 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,400 So you're the one that started it. 549 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:55,280 But back to my dad, I always say, how do you connect with my dad? 550 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:59,080 And the things you said, well, first of all, the first one, community and connection, that 551 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,440 was all Patrick Kane was about. 552 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,320 And so much with that. 553 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:10,720 And then your heart for your faith, my dad definitely had a strong faith. 554 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:14,720 And as he had had strokes and things happen, he's like, God's not done with me. 555 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:16,240 I'm on this side of the grass for a reason. 556 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:18,720 I got grandchildren to teach and things. 557 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:25,120 But the other thing is I just have such fond memories of him and your grandmother connecting 558 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:30,760 and just laughing and having, picking fun on each other. 559 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,440 And just even after my dad had a stroke, I remember being at the beach. 560 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:35,680 Granny came and hung out with us. 561 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,520 And just to watch them banter back and forth just gave me such joy. 562 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:43,960 So I feel like, obviously, we go way back. 563 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,560 But that connection to my dad was definitely, there's lots of things. 564 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,120 So thank you, Jody. 565 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:52,160 And thank you for sharing. 566 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,060 And I hope people listening get the book. 567 00:35:54,060 --> 00:35:57,960 And even if you don't get it beginning of December and you start any time, you can do 568 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,040 jingle and joy any time of the year and pray over and over. 569 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,120 And I love giving this as a gift to people. 570 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:05,720 A lot of people I know have this. 571 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:09,560 And if you don't have one and you want me to send you one, I'm happy to. 572 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,000 And I think they're like $10 or less on Amazon. 573 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,640 So it's a great gift to give to a friend. 574 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,680 And I know it's helped lots of my friends go through some hard times in life over the 575 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:19,680 holidays. 576 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,320 And holidays aren't always easy for people. 577 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:23,320 That's right. 578 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:25,560 Leslie, thank you for having me. 579 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:26,560 It's been a blast. 580 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:27,560 No, you are welcome. 581 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:29,440 And we're sure we'll have you back again. 582 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,320 So thanks again, everybody, for listening. 583 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:32,320 Thanks, Jody. 584 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:39,120 Of course, you can find us on iTunes, Spotify, Likus, Share Us. 585 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:41,080 And be intentional in December. 586 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:45,680 And remember what I shared the other day, like be intentional, enjoy the holiday season. 587 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,880 So enjoy your holiday. 588 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:48,880 Merry Christmas. 589 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:50,600 I'm sure there'll be another episode before Christmas. 590 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:52,840 But thanks again, Jody. 591 00:36:52,840 --> 00:37:09,680 And remember, say why not today?