1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,040 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight 2 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:14,500 God's Goodness and modern-day miracles. 3 00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:17,360 We are your hosts, Josh and Shelly Hankins. 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,680 Today we have with us an amazing guest. 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:24,240 Her name is Caitlyn Childs and we met in the most amazing of ways. 6 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,400 This podcast is bringing me to all the coolest people. 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:35,560 And I found her on TikTok and she's actually friends with Shayla Huber, author of 10 Things 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,160 I Hate About My Husband. 9 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:41,040 If you haven't listened to her episode, it's getting great feedback so go back and listen 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,240 to that. 11 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,400 But I wanted to read the excerpt from the back of Caitlyn's book because it describes 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,320 her to a T and Y reinvent the wheel. 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,520 Caitlyn Childs is a wife, mother, author and speaker. 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,520 She is a gifted storyteller who makes even the most difficult concepts easy to understand 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,320 through the use of analogies and examples. 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:06,240 She is passionate about helping people grow one step closer to God by sharing her own personal 17 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,880 discoveries and lessons learned along her faith journey. 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:15,840 And I was following Caitlyn before I even met Shayla through TikTok and she does just 19 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:16,840 that. 20 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:24,560 She does great analogies and ideas and things that God taught her and she gives you a glimpse 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,840 into her life and all these aha moments that God teaches her. 22 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,440 So with that, we'll have Caitlyn open us with an opening prayer. 23 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,360 Hey, it's good to be here. 24 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:41,440 So I just want to come in prayer and ask God that you would minimize all distractions during 25 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:42,440 this. 26 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,920 You would open the hearts of the listeners and just speak to them exactly what you want 27 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,580 them to hear through this message. 28 00:01:49,580 --> 00:01:55,080 We pray God's blessing over this podcast, over these people who are doing God's work 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,480 and we pray that you would just speak to us in all of the ways that you want to. 30 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:00,480 And Jesus' name. 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:01,480 Amen. 32 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:02,480 Amen. 33 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:07,720 I forgot to mention her book is called Seven Days to a Life of Limitless, How to Ditch the 34 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,640 Rules of Religion and Discover Unrestricted Freedom. 35 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:17,680 So I absolutely love this book and it's so easy to read and it has its packed with a lot 36 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:18,680 of good stuff. 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,800 So where do you want to start, Caitlyn? 38 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:26,120 I would just like to give an overview of what the book talks about so that people can know 39 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:27,760 my story. 40 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:37,280 So I grew up in church and it was very much so organized religion in the way that it discussed 41 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,720 more of the rules of the Bible than it did the person of Jesus. 42 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:49,520 And so I got very acquainted with the rules and not so acquainted with the person of who 43 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,720 God is. 44 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,600 And as I went about that, I was perfectly fine with that. 45 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,800 I was perfectly fine with the way things were set up because I was a rule follower by nature. 46 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,680 I didn't feel any need to rebel against that. 47 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:10,280 I liked having structure and being told what I needed to do. 48 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:17,000 But then in 2020, that was a whirlwind of a year just in general. 49 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,000 But it really came to a head for me in September of that year because my grandmother passed 50 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,200 away due to dementia-related illness. 51 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:31,840 And the week of her funeral, my dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer. 52 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,000 And it was a big time wake-up call for all of us. 53 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,600 And my husband happened to be out of town that week. 54 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,920 And I felt completely alone in it. 55 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,680 And I cried out to the only person that I knew to cry out to, which was God. 56 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,240 And I just told him, hey, your Bible says that you're a healer. 57 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,680 Your Bible says that you're a comfort and you're a guide. 58 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,320 And so I need you to comfort me and guide me through this. 59 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:05,240 And I'm going to ask for healing because you say that you can do that. 60 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:11,880 And as I pressed in and was praying for my dad, it was like just by default, I was getting 61 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,480 to know Jesus at the same time. 62 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:21,960 And he was showing me that who he is different than the rules that I had been living by all 63 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:22,960 of my life. 64 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:29,200 Yes, those rules are in place for a reason, but there's so much more to him than that. 65 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,720 And I think a lot of times in religion, we just stop there. 66 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:33,800 We stop at the rules. 67 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,400 We say, this is how you live your life. 68 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:37,600 And that's it. 69 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,240 And we never press into who he is and what he has for us specifically. 70 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,480 And so he's just over the last four years taken me on that journey. 71 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,000 And it's been a really fun ride. 72 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,680 I love how that incident with your dad's illness led to breaking generational curses 73 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,400 and you leading others along this path. 74 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:02,760 Like you felt a little alone, but then you're like, just you just kept taking one step forward 75 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,360 each with the Lord. 76 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,400 And then the rest came with you. 77 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:08,400 Absolutely. 78 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:14,120 I also find it very interesting the correlation between the strict rule following in churches 79 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,600 and the old Pharisees and Sadducees that actually knew Jesus, right? 80 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,600 And they were so pressed to follow the rules. 81 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,920 They missed God who was right in front of them. 82 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:24,920 Absolutely. 83 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,160 And I think that's a danger that we fall into when we're focused on as a rule following 84 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,560 rather than focused on who Jesus is. 85 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:33,080 And then the rules come after. 86 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:34,880 Yes, absolutely. 87 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:40,280 Just like a parent would like you take your kids and you show them your love first. 88 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:44,320 And then you say, because I love you, don't touch the hot stove. 89 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,680 Like it's because I love you that I want to protect you from these things that can harm 90 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:49,680 you. 91 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,880 It's not follow my rules first and then I'll love you. 92 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:59,800 And by the way, I just want to put in there that my dad was healed of cancer. 93 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,800 And a few days ago, he just celebrated two years of remission. 94 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:04,800 Praise God. 95 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:05,800 Awesome. 96 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:06,800 That is awesome. 97 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,760 We definitely believe in the miracle of healing in our family. 98 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,800 We've experienced many, many a miracle. 99 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,920 Yes, it's amazing. 100 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,360 And I know that it doesn't happen every time, but it is really cool when you get to see it. 101 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,360 Yeah. 102 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,840 And it happened this time and it is praiseworthy and it is worthy of giving God all the glory. 103 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:25,840 Glory for it. 104 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,760 It was so good. 105 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,280 So what prompted you to write the book? 106 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,120 I was not looking to write a book. 107 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,800 I had people tell me all my life that I had a gift for writing. 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,320 I had a gift for words and that one day I would be an author and I just brushed it off 109 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,720 because that sounded really hard. 110 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:52,960 And then it was when my son was around the age that it was time for him to go to kindergarten. 111 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,040 I was wrestling with should I homeschool him? 112 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,080 Should I send him to school? 113 00:06:58,080 --> 00:06:59,080 What do I need to do? 114 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,080 What's best for him? 115 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:06,200 And God just led me to put him in school, even though I didn't want to, because I was 116 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,920 going to stay at home mom and all I had known, all he had known his whole life was being 117 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:12,840 at home with me. 118 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,640 And so that was a leap of faith. 119 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,480 But God told me it'll be what works best for everybody. 120 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:25,280 And shortly after, like within the month that I sent him to school, God said, oh, by the 121 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:31,680 way, with all this free time, you're going to write a book. 122 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,400 I just want you to write down what you've learned so far. 123 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:42,720 And so I just drafted a structure to put it in and just wrote down everything that I had 124 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,680 learned and it took off pretty quickly. 125 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Now, let me ask you this. 126 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,680 I know when Shayla was writing her book, she took the first steps to get it. 127 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,800 God gave her the title and then the chapters came after. 128 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,960 But then she also had revelation as she was writing it. 129 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,320 Did you also experience the same thing? 130 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:06,800 I wouldn't say that I had new revelations as I was writing it because my book was more 131 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,960 of recording what I had already learned. 132 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,720 But I did have a similar experience to Shayla. 133 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:18,840 And it was actually her who she sent me this song and it was just an instrumental piece. 134 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:24,040 And she said, just listen to this song and let God just take you where he wants to take 135 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:25,040 you. 136 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:31,720 And so I did that exercise and I was just listening to the music and just sitting with 137 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:32,720 God. 138 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,880 And in that moment, he revealed to me the name of the book and I got the artwork in my mind 139 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,960 of what was going to be on the cover and all of that. 140 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,040 And I actually could not find that artwork. 141 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:46,720 So I had to draw it myself. 142 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:47,720 Wow. 143 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,360 So the art that's on the cover of the book is actually drawn by me. 144 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:56,000 And then I had a graphic designer just plug it in to the book and play around with the 145 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:57,000 fonts. 146 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,680 And so that was a really fun experience. 147 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:00,680 Hmm. 148 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:01,680 neat. 149 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:07,840 So you were basically prompted by God to write this book about your experience after 150 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:13,160 you leaned into him from the trauma in your family all at once. 151 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,960 Did you feel that you grew closer to God while writing the book? 152 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,480 Was there more of a connection there? 153 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:20,640 Absolutely. 154 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,640 Because I had to, he did have to teach me things. 155 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,840 He just wasn't teaching me the same kinds of things. 156 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:35,880 For example, when I was writing the book, getting really frustrated that it wasn't perfect. 157 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,080 That, oh, this word sounds funny. 158 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,080 I don't like that. 159 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:45,880 And I was getting frustrated with myself because I wanted it to be something that would change 160 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,160 people's lives the way that he had changed mine. 161 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,760 And he said, I didn't ask you to write anything groundbreaking. 162 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:59,280 I asked you to record what you were learning. 163 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:06,320 And that just took the pressure off where I didn't have to make it amazing. 164 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:13,240 It was already amazing because he had taken me from point A to point B. 165 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,520 And he did teach me a lot about rest in the middle of that and just working from a place 166 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:23,080 of rest where you're not stressed out and burnt out. 167 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,920 You're working because you're staying in tune with him. 168 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,160 And it's just a natural overflow. 169 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:29,920 Mm-hmm. 170 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,560 Can you share with the audience about the blanket you made? 171 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:39,360 Because every time I tell somebody about this story, it literally brings tears to my eyes. 172 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:40,360 I shared it. 173 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:45,000 It was a four-minute video, and I told people about it on social media. 174 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,840 And it's just, it just shares his love and working through people. 175 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,640 Can you share about that? 176 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:53,640 Absolutely. 177 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:59,440 This story, like when you read it, it sounds awesome. 178 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,760 When you're doing it in the moment, you feel crazy. 179 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,440 Yeah, because you don't know the end result. 180 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,200 Yes, and I think that's how God works a lot of the time. 181 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:14,520 But basically, sometimes just as a hobby, I make t-shirt quilts for people. 182 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:19,560 If they have a bunch of extra t-shirts and they just want, if they don't want them collecting 183 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:24,880 dust on a shelf, I'll turn them into a quilt that they can use just when they're laying 184 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:25,880 around the house. 185 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:33,240 And so I had done several t-shirt quilts, and I kept some of the scrap fabric because 186 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,440 it was pretty colors. 187 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,640 And I thought, maybe I can use this in another craft project one day. 188 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:47,120 And I was just sitting with God one day, and he said, I want you to make a quilt for me. 189 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:54,760 And I want it inspired by the worship song My Redeemer Lives, specifically the line that 190 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,120 says, Who told the ocean you can only come this far? 191 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,160 Ooh, I just got chills saying that. 192 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:06,640 So I was like, OK, I've got scrap fabric from all of those t-shirt quilts. 193 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:11,920 I'll just make it look like the ocean kind of meeting the seashore. 194 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:18,560 And so I did it to where it was like dark blues fading into light blues fading into tan. 195 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,400 And then he said, it needs a pink starfish on it. 196 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,720 And I had never done anything like that. 197 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,160 And so that was a learning curve. 198 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:32,280 But I was just making this quilt, and he said, you have one month to finish it. 199 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:40,200 And so it was really neat that as I was making this quilt, it was a pattern that I had never 200 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,280 done before, and I was struggling to figure it out. 201 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:49,640 And he even walked me through how to sew it together, which kind of blew my mind because 202 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,240 you think about God knowing everything about spiritual stuff. 203 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,040 And you don't think he literally knows everything. 204 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,080 He knows how a sewing machine works. 205 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:05,520 He knows about geometry and angles and how to sew things together and patterns. 206 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,200 And so he walked me through how to do the whole thing. 207 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:13,200 And I finished the day before the deadline he gave me. 208 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:19,200 And he said, put it in your car and just keep it there. 209 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:20,440 And so I was like, OK. 210 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:25,200 And I said, God, I don't want to presume who this is for. 211 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,320 I would rather you show me who it's for. 212 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,960 Because the whole time I had been sewing it with the little pink starfish, I was thinking 213 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,800 of a friend who was going through infertility. 214 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,760 And I was like, I wonder if this is for her because she was struggling to conceive. 215 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,680 I wonder if it's like a promise for her. 216 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:49,680 And then when he gave me this picture in my mind, it was not at all my friend who was 217 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,200 struggling with infertility. 218 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:56,760 It was this woman who had salt and pepper hair cut short above her ears and dark rimmed 219 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,800 glasses. 220 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:03,200 And I just thought, I don't know that I've ever seen that woman in my life. 221 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,880 And I don't know how to find her. 222 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:13,320 And so the next day at church, she was on stage on the worship team. 223 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:20,440 And I just looked at my sister-in-law and I said, I think that's the quilt lady. 224 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:25,120 She said, I said, why have I not noticed that she looks like that before? 225 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,040 Like when that picture popped into my head, why did I not think of her? 226 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,320 And she said she normally has long hair. 227 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,040 She just cut it short above her ears like that. 228 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,640 And I was like, oh, wow. 229 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:42,760 And so although I had seen this woman before in passing, she normally went to first service. 230 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,440 I normally went to second service. 231 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:50,120 So we were just like passing ships that would smile at each other occasionally. 232 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:55,880 And she came off of the stage and I went to the lobby to grab her and I said, hey, I think 233 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,440 that I've got something for you. 234 00:14:58,440 --> 00:14:59,680 Do you like the ocean? 235 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,280 And she said, yes, it's my favorite place to be. 236 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,360 And I was like, okay, let me ask God real quick and make sure. 237 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:07,760 And he said, yes, that's her. 238 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:14,320 And so I brought her to my car and I pulled out the quilt and she instantly started crying. 239 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:16,400 And she said, I collect blankets. 240 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,640 This is so special to me. 241 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,960 And I said, I just wanted you to have this reminder that God sees you. 242 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:29,280 And I said, I think it's even significant that I made this T-shirt out of scraps because 243 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,480 sometimes God can take the scraps of our life and make it into something beautiful. 244 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:39,680 He can take things that we would normally discard and take them and rearrange them into 245 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,120 something that we would treasure. 246 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,200 And so she just was crying and saying, thank you. 247 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,600 And I asked her what the pink starfish did for her. 248 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,080 And she said, I just had my first granddaughter was just born. 249 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,960 And I think that's representative of her. 250 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,640 So I didn't think anything else of it. 251 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:01,520 We went our separate ways. 252 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:08,040 And then I found out later that day that God had asked her to step down from the worship 253 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,920 team and rest. 254 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:18,600 And so here I am meeting her the second she walks off stage her last time to perform on 255 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:20,120 the worship team. 256 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:25,200 And I have a blanket that represents rest, her favorite place that represents rest. 257 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:27,760 And it's inspired by a worship song. 258 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:32,800 And to top it off, he gave you a time limit because he knew when her last name was. 259 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:34,880 Isn't that crazy? 260 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,840 It is just wild to me how he works. 261 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,240 Judging by Shelley's reaction, I was hoping the story got to her yet again. 262 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,600 I am in tears again. 263 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:50,960 But I think it's his love because he gets to she gets to feel God's love through that 264 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,600 blanket that he thought of her enough to convict you to make that and then you were the willing 265 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,920 vessel to actually take you were obedient. 266 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:59,400 You did what he said to do. 267 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:00,440 He helped you through it. 268 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,120 And then you had this gift for her. 269 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:09,600 And while she was resting, she had a blanket to rest with from God like he is in the details. 270 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:10,600 Isn't he? 271 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:11,600 He is. 272 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,120 And I think sometimes we don't notice it because we don't always get to see how it 273 00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:17,600 affects the other person. 274 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:24,240 So we just think that we're walking through life just casually giving people miracles 275 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,160 that we don't even realize are affecting them in big ways. 276 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:28,160 Yeah. 277 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,720 And oftentimes I don't think we consider it to be such a big deal in someone's life 278 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,080 because it's not a big deal in ours. 279 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,080 And it's just a blanket. 280 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:36,640 You make blankets all the time, right? 281 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:42,640 So to you, the significance of it, even all the parameters that made that blanket that 282 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,560 went into that blanket, the sheer significance might have been a hundredfold for that lady 283 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,000 than it was for you. 284 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:50,000 Absolutely. 285 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,000 And we might be puzzling. 286 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,160 I don't understand what this is for. 287 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,120 I don't understand how this person's going to receive glory or give glory for this. 288 00:17:56,120 --> 00:17:59,760 I don't understand how you're using this God, but he does. 289 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:00,760 He knows how he's doing. 290 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,200 He knows exactly what he's doing. 291 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:07,880 He's playing 3D chess all the time and he knows the end game all the time. 292 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:08,880 Absolutely. 293 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,040 And it's so cool to watch. 294 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,200 And you talk about hearing about God's voice in your book too. 295 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:16,200 Yes. 296 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,440 Do you have anything to share about that right now? 297 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:25,560 I think that a lot of people tend to think that just happened, that I'm just gifted 298 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,880 in that area in some way. 299 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:35,040 And I just want to let people know that the ability to hear his voice to that extent is 300 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,760 available to everyone. 301 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,680 You just have to seek it out. 302 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,440 And I think the same is true for a lot of the things of God. 303 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,120 You just have to seek it out. 304 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:50,560 And for me, I'm the type of person who likes to have a lot of guidance. 305 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:55,200 I like to be told exactly what to do step by step. 306 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,800 I don't like guesswork. 307 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,800 I don't like room for error. 308 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:06,080 And so I really wanted to seek out his instruction in that way. 309 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:12,960 And so it took about a year probably when my dad was going through the cancer stuff. 310 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,600 I would put my kids to bed. 311 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,520 My husband would already be in bed because he's like an old man. 312 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:26,040 And I would sit on the couch and just talk to him for an hour and practice hearing his 313 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:27,040 voice. 314 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,240 And sometimes my own thoughts would get in the way and I would misinterpret it. 315 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,080 Or he would say something and I would jump to conclusions about what that meant. 316 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,720 And I'd be disappointed and hurt my own feelings. 317 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,600 And it was just a learning process. 318 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:48,560 And after about a year, a solid year of doing that, God spoke to me and he said, now you 319 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,840 know my voice and you will never have to question it again. 320 00:19:52,840 --> 00:20:00,120 And so it was really powerful that like when you speak the things out, then he honors that 321 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:03,680 and he blesses that and he gives you what you're searching for. 322 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,520 I couldn't agree with you more. 323 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,120 That is so perfect. 324 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:12,040 That is exactly right. 325 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:20,520 It is profound how much God speaks to us that we dismiss as something else. 326 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,120 Or and it's not always the same, right? 327 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:27,280 Sometimes we hear his voice and sometimes it's our own voice in our head. 328 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,080 Sometimes it's the word. 329 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:30,080 Sometimes it's a song. 330 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,280 Sometimes it's a word from somebody else, right? 331 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:38,520 But by leaning into God and leaning into his precepts and leaning into the way he speaks 332 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:43,200 to us in general, it does become easier to identify his voice. 333 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,400 And his voice can be audible to you at all times. 334 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:52,480 It is, I believe, an absolute function of his and ability of his for us to be able to 335 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:57,440 communicate with him in such a way that there is no doubt that is his word. 336 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:58,440 Absolutely. 337 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:03,200 And I think that a lot of people expect like how it was in the Old Testament where it was 338 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,600 like, and God said, X, Y, Z, you know. 339 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:14,240 And we expect it to be that easy, but it's just getting in tune with his voice like 340 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,240 tuning a radio. 341 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:20,080 And you have to tune it to the right frequency to be able to hear the station that you want 342 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,040 to hear. 343 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:23,640 And it takes practice. 344 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,440 And I even talked about that a little in my book where I was listening to a podcast one 345 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:36,200 time where this woman who was a speech and language pathologist said that she would turn 346 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:41,760 on cochlear implants for children a lot of the times for those videos where the kids 347 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:46,200 hear their parents voice for the first time and they're like crying. 348 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:47,480 Everybody's happy. 349 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:53,600 She said it actually takes a lot of discipline for those kids to be able to distinguish their 350 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:59,840 parents voice from other sounds and that it's no different with the things of God. 351 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,680 Like you have to, it's a learned thing. 352 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,280 It takes practice just like anything else. 353 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,040 You don't become an expert at baseball overnight. 354 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,720 You're not going to become an expert at hearing God's voice overnight either. 355 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:14,720 That's true. 356 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:21,080 I don't know if you can hear our dogs, but we're going to give it a second. 357 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,320 I love how God talks. 358 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:28,120 This speaks to everybody differently, like in the way that they can best receive it. 359 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:29,120 Yes. 360 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:30,120 So cool. 361 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:34,400 And you also talk about our identity in him too. 362 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:35,400 Yes. 363 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,440 That was a big thing for me. 364 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,600 And I think it was because I had always let other people tell me what my identity should 365 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,200 be. 366 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,360 And so I never quite knew who I was. 367 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,560 I just knew who I wasn't. 368 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:58,680 And so when God was speaking to me and I had a lot of shame as a kid because I felt like 369 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:00,320 I didn't measure up. 370 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,440 I grew up in a family of very like impressive people. 371 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,600 My parents had successful careers. 372 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:12,800 Both of my siblings were just very outgoing, popular, charismatic, athletic, all of the 373 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,320 things that you want to be in high school. 374 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,600 And I was sandwiched right in the middle of them. 375 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:26,680 And I was just a book reader who was content to sit in the corner by themselves and didn't 376 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,600 need interaction with other people. 377 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,760 And so people would look at me and they would just cock their head to the side and say, 378 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,760 huh, you're different than your siblings, aren't you? 379 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:46,440 And that I internalized it and thought, oh, different is wrong. 380 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,800 I'm supposed to be more like my siblings. 381 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,840 I'm expected to be more like my siblings. 382 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,680 And the fact that I'm not is wrong on my part. 383 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,920 And so I had a lot of shame from that because I felt like I didn't measure up. 384 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:07,040 And one of the first things that God spoke to me when I was pressing in after my dad's 385 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:13,280 cancer stuff, he sat me down one night and he said, I want to talk to you about what 386 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,000 you earn versus what you deserve. 387 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,600 And he said, why don't you tell me the kind of things that you earn? 388 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:22,840 And I said, will you earn money? 389 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:24,240 You can earn people's trust. 390 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,200 You can earn people's respect, that kind of thing. 391 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,240 And he said, now, what do you deserve? 392 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,680 And I thought about it, but it didn't take long for me to come to a conclusion because 393 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,600 I had been to Sunday School, mind you, since birth. 394 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,520 And so my immediate answer was, I'm a dirty sinner. 395 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,440 I don't deserve anything because apart from you, I am nothing. 396 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,320 I'm worthless. 397 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:49,960 And he said, wrong. 398 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,680 He said, that's who you used to be. 399 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,280 But that's not who you are now. 400 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,120 You're a new creation in me. 401 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:02,200 And so everything you deserve as my daughter is everything that I've paid for with my son 402 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,400 on the cross. 403 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:12,480 And so you're thinking that you're not deserving of love and respect and people's time. 404 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:18,480 And you're not deserving of the gifts that I have for you, but you are because you're 405 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,840 my daughter. 406 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:27,400 And just the simple identity shift of being the daughter is enough. 407 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,240 I don't have to do anything else to make him proud of me. 408 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,120 I don't have to write books. 409 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:37,440 I don't have to be on TikTok for him to say, that's my baby girl. 410 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,440 And I'm so proud of her. 411 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:45,680 But the things that I'm doing just come out of the overflow of, wow, God is amazing. 412 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:46,680 And he taught me so much. 413 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:48,200 I want to tell the whole world. 414 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:55,440 And so it was a really big perspective shift for me to learn about my identity in him. 415 00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:01,120 Josh has shared in previous podcasts that if somebody's going to die for something, 416 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,480 it's not going to be something they don't appreciate. 417 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,280 It's going to be something they absolutely love. 418 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:13,040 He thought enough of you to die for you so you could come to the Father without any reservations, 419 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,120 without feeling any condemnation or shame. 420 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:18,480 But we should just step into that. 421 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,360 Because in the fact that he died for a maybe. 422 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:23,360 Oh, yeah. 423 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:26,360 It was not even a sure thing that you were going to come to him. 424 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:32,080 It was a maybe if I do this, then they'll come to me. 425 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,240 And the only certainty was that we were sinners. 426 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:35,240 Yes. 427 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,200 And we, as believers, I think are the only ones that feel that we don't deserve it. 428 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,440 When you talk to a non-believer, they're like, I don't understand why God is like this. 429 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:43,440 I deserve this. 430 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:44,440 I'm a good person. 431 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,600 I understand that we don't deserve it. 432 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,720 And then just like you said, God does not have that perspective on us. 433 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:50,720 Right? 434 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:51,720 Yes. 435 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:52,720 He looks at his chosen. 436 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,200 He looks at those that leaned into him when he leaned into us. 437 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,640 And he says, why would I have sacrificed my son for someone who didn't deserve it, for 438 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,360 someone who didn't have value, for someone who didn't matter? 439 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,760 It's an insane thought process that we have that with our sinful nature that still wants 440 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:09,720 to condemn ourselves. 441 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,280 The enemy has got a stronghold on our flesh with that. 442 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:18,120 And God is just trying to repair that damage that's been done through years and saying that 443 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,080 you are worthy of the sacrifice of my son. 444 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:24,520 I want you so much that he couldn't imagine spending heaven without us. 445 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,520 Wow. 446 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:34,360 And the fact that the only way that we are able to renew our minds in that way is if 447 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:36,880 we come to him. 448 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,240 Is if we let him tell us the truth about ourselves. 449 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,920 And I think a lot of us are hesitant to do that because we're afraid that he's going 450 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:46,000 to shame us too. 451 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:47,520 I was there. 452 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:52,720 I kept God at arm's length for a long time, even though I was saved, because I was afraid 453 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,240 that he was going to tell me that I wasn't measuring up. 454 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:02,600 And then when I finally came to him and he was like, no, you have been amazing from day 455 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:03,600 one. 456 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:08,440 It was the kind of love that you would die for to receive that. 457 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,320 Like, I understand why people are martyred for their faith now, because when you receive 458 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,920 that level of love, it's like, you're never going to turn it away. 459 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:18,920 How could you? 460 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,760 How could you see it? 461 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:26,080 And then how is it possible for you to change your mind from that? 462 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:35,600 And that is why I feel like I have this mission in my life to help people see that, because 463 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:42,200 there's a big movement on people deconstructing from the faith and saying religion is toxic 464 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,320 and religion is toxic. 465 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:46,320 It is. 466 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:47,960 Jesus came to end it. 467 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:57,080 But when you get into relationship and you do see him for who he really is, then nothing 468 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:58,680 will change your mind. 469 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:05,000 And it's just my goal to help people see him for who he is so that they can experience 470 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,000 that for themselves. 471 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:07,000 Absolutely. 472 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,520 Christianity is a religion, but that's not how you be a Christian. 473 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,600 You're not a Christian because of Christianity. 474 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,480 You're a Christian because of a relationship with Christ. 475 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:23,720 And so religion has a purpose, but it's not supposed to be the be all and end all. 476 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:30,640 You're missing the point of religion if you leave it at religion. 477 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,520 God said that this is an absolute relationship. 478 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,600 In order to come to me, you have to believe in my son. 479 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,200 You have to believe that I did this for you. 480 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,000 You have to believe that he conquered death for you. 481 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:47,280 You have to believe that he took my wrath that you rightly deserve on himself. 482 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:52,800 And when you lean into that relationship, it is hard from going from secular to Christianity. 483 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:59,240 It is hard from going from unknown Christianity to relational Christianity. 484 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:03,800 But it's very difficult because it challenges who we think we are just like you said earlier. 485 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:05,920 You have this identity that you believe that you are. 486 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,160 You have this identity that's firmly rooted. 487 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,800 And when God finally meets you where you are, right, when you finally accept him, open the 488 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,320 door for him, it's hard for us to give up who we think we are because we don't know 489 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:18,320 who we're going to be. 490 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,920 We don't know who we are without who we are. 491 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,600 And so he challenges that very aspect of us. 492 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,880 And it's, I think it's one of the hardest things that we can do. 493 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,040 And at the same time, once we surrender it, we realize it was the easiest thing we could 494 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:33,040 have done. 495 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,680 And I also had, I heard a bit of an identity crisis. 496 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:42,440 So I'll admit it when I was first coming to him, because it was like I had to mourn that 497 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:48,240 past version of myself before I could step into who he made me to be. 498 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,600 And I didn't, I would look in the mirror and I would just say, God, I don't know her. 499 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,480 I don't know this person that you're turning me into. 500 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:01,080 And he was just speaking to me that this is who you've always been. 501 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:07,640 I am just stripping away everything that you have added to you over the years through your 502 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,160 life circumstances. 503 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,120 Like you are not a pessimist by nature. 504 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:17,960 You have been hardened by life and I need to strip that away from you. 505 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:19,600 That's not your identity. 506 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:20,600 Stop clinging to it. 507 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:25,640 Something I learned through splonkiness sessions and things is predominantly learned is that 508 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:27,640 God's not blaming us. 509 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,320 He doesn't blame us for who we are right now because he knows the trauma. 510 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:32,320 He knows the life. 511 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:38,200 He knows the hard knocks that we've gone through that created the superficial us that he is 512 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,560 meeting, that we have allowed him into our life with. 513 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,920 And so he's not blaming us for being pessimistic. 514 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,600 He's not blaming us for feeling isolated and different. 515 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,640 He's not blaming us for these hardships, right? 516 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,000 Because he knows what caused and created them. 517 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,360 And he still wants to meet us where we are. 518 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,320 I think that's one of the biggest things we struggle with is that while we were still 519 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,920 sinners, he sent a son for us. 520 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,240 That while I'm still a sinner, God is meeting me where I am. 521 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,360 I don't have to clean up anything. 522 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,320 I don't have to do anything except believe in the sun. 523 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:12,320 I don't have to do anything. 524 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,920 He'll meet me right where I am and help me clean it up together. 525 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:16,920 Yes. 526 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,400 And I think that's what grace is. 527 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:26,040 And a lot of people misunderstand grace because they think it's just, oh, I mess up and I'm 528 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,040 forgiven. 529 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,400 I sinned, but he's going to forgive me. 530 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:31,480 That's what grace is. 531 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,640 And that is part of it. 532 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,680 But grace is also the fact that he gets it. 533 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:43,240 And like you said, he's not blaming you because he understands why you made the choices you 534 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:44,240 made. 535 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,920 He understands why you behave the way that you behave. 536 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,440 And that's the grace of God. 537 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,640 He understands better than anybody else. 538 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:53,640 Yes. 539 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,120 He knows our thoughts and everything. 540 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:56,120 Yeah. 541 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,920 The Bible specifically says that we don't even know our own heart. 542 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:00,680 So only God knows our heart. 543 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,200 How bad is that that I don't even know who I really am? 544 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:09,200 How can I possibly stand a chance without him if I don't even know who I am? 545 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:14,360 It's funny to me because I think about it in terms of if you've ever been watching a 546 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:19,640 movie where there's a villain and you're like, gosh, I hate that guy. 547 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:25,640 And then it reveals the villain's backstory and you're like, oh, wait, now I get why they 548 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:27,640 act the way they do. 549 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,240 Now I understand and I have compassion for them. 550 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,840 And I actually like them a little bit. 551 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,760 And suddenly they're not a villain anymore. 552 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:42,400 Suddenly they're just a broken person who was hardened by life circumstances. 553 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,560 And I think that's the way that God looks at us is we have a tendency to sort people 554 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,600 into good and bad categories. 555 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:51,320 And I don't look at you that way. 556 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,600 I don't look at you as a bad person or a good person. 557 00:33:54,600 --> 00:34:00,960 I look at you through the lens of understanding everything you've ever been through. 558 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,760 And that's what made you who you've become. 559 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:14,160 I just want to break you free of those things so that you're not living this quote unquote 560 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:15,160 villainous life anymore. 561 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,520 I love how you're not going around harming people. 562 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:19,520 Right. 563 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,960 I love how you said that he views us through this lens of purity, right? 564 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,480 He has this clear view of us. 565 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,440 And the Bible says that we as people, we see through a lens dimly. 566 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:30,440 Yes. 567 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:36,360 Just to illustrate how little understanding we have compared to the father's understanding. 568 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:41,160 And I am so grateful that he is not like us, that we're made in the image and he's not 569 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:42,160 made in ours. 570 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:43,160 Absolutely. 571 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,320 Because I don't know where we'd be if that was the case. 572 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,480 We'd probably not be here. 573 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,120 We'd be smited. 574 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:54,720 Without a doubt. 575 00:34:54,720 --> 00:34:59,040 And I think it's important that when we're in communication with others that we don't 576 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:06,480 know that we don't know all the things that have led to their life as it is now. 577 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,840 All the circumstances they had to deal with, the choices they had to make with the hand 578 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:12,280 they were dealt. 579 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,000 And when we, it softens our heart if we keep that in mind, like we don't know all that 580 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:18,120 they're going through. 581 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,000 They might not be a total jerk if someone's cutting us off in traffic. 582 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,800 They might be just having a bad day and we just have to offer them a little grace. 583 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:27,800 You know. 584 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:28,800 Yeah. 585 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:29,800 They could have been a lot on their mind. 586 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,520 Their grandmother could have passed away and their father could have been diagnosed with 587 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:34,520 stomach cancer. 588 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,600 And their husband could have been away. 589 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:38,920 They could have been having a really bad day. 590 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,360 And if it could happen to one of us, it could happen to any of us. 591 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:48,040 And I think that's what that first means that says freely you've received, freely give. 592 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:54,400 If we have received that grace and that understanding, then we can give it to others and say, I don't 593 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,800 know your story, but God does and he still loves you. 594 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,200 So maybe I can have a little grace and patience for you too. 595 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:06,960 And it's just, you just start to look at people differently when you get in that relationship 596 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:12,520 with God, because you see, you start to see things the way he sees and you start to view 597 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:14,880 yourself the way he views you. 598 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:18,800 And so that just pours out onto others too. 599 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,800 So true. 600 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,440 I've got nothing left. 601 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:23,440 I've got nothing left. 602 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:24,440 I've got nothing left. 603 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,120 The first time I actually heard of the book, I didn't, I've, she's been reading it for 604 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,720 a while as I've heard of it, but I don't get anything out of it because I don't read it 605 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:34,040 and I don't let her talk to me about it because I like to hear things for the first time with, 606 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,040 so this is the first time I even heard the blanket story. 607 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:40,280 And this is the first time I saw, she's told me that she's cried every time she's read 608 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,840 it, but this is the first time I got to witness it. 609 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:47,760 And so I like to be fresh and I tell my wife, I shoot from the hip so that my questions are 610 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:48,760 genuine. 611 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:49,760 They're not thought out ahead of time. 612 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,920 They're not like, I don't want to feel like I'm trying to manipulate somebody with questions. 613 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,080 And I really appreciate the book that you've written. 614 00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:02,320 I feel that it will certainly help people that read it to better understand their role 615 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:08,400 and the role of God in their lives and to hopefully diminish their flesh and their fleshly 616 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,560 thoughts about who they think they're supposed to be. 617 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:12,560 Absolutely. 618 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:19,240 And my whole goal is if it gets them one step closer to God, that was really all I needed 619 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:20,240 in my walk with him. 620 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:25,200 I had been a Christian since I was eight years old, but like I said, I just kept him at arm's 621 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:32,440 length and it just took that one step closer to him for him to just wrap me in his arms 622 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,520 and change everything. 623 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:39,120 And so if I can get other people to that point of, hey, let me just get you in the room with 624 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:42,200 him and then he can take it from there. 625 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:47,920 But just getting them to that point where they're open to it is really the goal of it. 626 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:48,920 Yes. 627 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:54,600 In fact, I tell lots of people that our mission on earth from Jesus, the Great Commission, 628 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,680 isn't to make converts, it's to make disciples. 629 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:04,960 And so if I meet somebody who I think is not living a way that I would say is a Christian 630 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:09,960 living way and I introduce them to the concept of Jesus, I'm not confronting their sin. 631 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,200 I'm not confronting what I think they're doing wrong. 632 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,120 I'll let Jesus do that. 633 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:21,320 I'm there to open that bridge to have communication with the creator of that person so that person 634 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:27,720 can relay or complain about how he was made or not made, right? 635 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:30,040 Or let that mending happen there. 636 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,840 That's Jesus' glorious burden. 637 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:32,840 That is not mine. 638 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:36,880 Mine is to open a communication and then when that person has questions about it to show 639 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,320 them the resources, show them in the Bible to coach them to pray for them, but it is 640 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,840 never to convict them of what they're doing is wrong. 641 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:45,560 That's what God does. 642 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:46,560 Absolutely. 643 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:51,760 And if you think about it, and that's how Jesus changed the whole world was he just 644 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:56,920 took his inner circle and he loved them well. 645 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:03,520 And because he loved them well, they went out and ministered to others in the same way. 646 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,040 And I once heard someone describe it this way. 647 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:15,720 They said, I may get the math on this wrong, but they said one apple seed can produce 30,000 648 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:22,520 apples because you plant the seed and it turns into an apple tree, right? 649 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:27,000 Which produces a bunch of apples and it has seasons and so it keeps producing and keeps 650 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,040 producing until the tree dies. 651 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:35,360 But if you take that one seed, it produces 30,000 apples. 652 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,760 And then if you plant one seed from each of those 30,000 apples, it produces that much 653 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:41,760 more. 654 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:49,360 And so if you don't need a big stage, you don't need a TikTok following, you don't need to 655 00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:51,480 be an author of a book to make a difference. 656 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:55,880 All you need is one person in your life that you can love well. 657 00:39:55,880 --> 00:40:01,600 And if you do that one small act, you are carrying out the Great Commission. 658 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:02,600 I love that. 659 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:03,600 I love that. 660 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:08,600 It reminds me of a Spider-Man thing from one of the new Spider-Man cartoons with Miles 661 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:13,360 Morales, Spider-Man, and in it, the younger version was upset because he couldn't save 662 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:14,360 everybody. 663 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,920 And Spider-Man, the mentor Spider-Man said, don't try to save everybody, just try to 664 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:19,920 save one. 665 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,760 And it's off topic, it's Spider-Man, not Jesus, but I love that because I think a lot 666 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:30,240 of us feel that we need to do something great for God and we miss out on the thing that 667 00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:33,160 he's calling us to do with that one. 668 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:34,880 And so you can't reach everybody. 669 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:39,800 If that's not who he made you to be, if that's not you, then reach the one because I for 670 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,280 sure guarantee he's made you to reach at least one person. 671 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:47,360 And it can have the ripple effect too because then they can change someone else's life 672 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:48,760 by being encouraged by you. 673 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,320 You don't know that one is the person supposed to give it to the millions. 674 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:53,600 You don't know. 675 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,480 So you have to be willing to have the one. 676 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,880 And it ties back to the blanket story. 677 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,280 That blanket was for one person. 678 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:07,120 But the story has reached so many people and touched their hearts so much so that they 679 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:08,680 cry every time they hear it. 680 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:09,680 That's right. 681 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,560 And it helps them to realize God's love. 682 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:17,560 But the act of making and delivering the blanket was for one person. 683 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:22,280 I don't know, it's reached the Kleenex and Puffs people because of the tissues being 684 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:23,280 used by my wife. 685 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:24,280 It was so good. 686 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:25,280 I love it. 687 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:26,280 That's awesome. 688 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:35,720 You share other really cool tips in here being the book. 689 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:41,880 So I encourage people to get it because you talk about the different types of prayer because 690 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:43,520 there's different types. 691 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:48,160 And some people might not understand what prayer is even. 692 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,160 And I think it's cool that it's like a beginner's guide. 693 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,520 Okay, if you want something better, read this. 694 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:59,520 And I feel like it's got a lot of practical information in it that you can actually apply 695 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:04,720 to your life rather than just somebody telling their story about what happened to them. 696 00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:11,160 It's actually, I wanted it to be like, hey, metaphorically hold your hand and walk you 697 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,440 through this so that you can get to the same point. 698 00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:20,800 This set a foundation for your relationship with God and He will take it from there. 699 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,040 And who knows what He can do in your life from that point on. 700 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,920 That's the exciting part. 701 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:28,960 Who knows what He's going to do in your life. 702 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:32,680 That is so exciting to me that I look forward to it. 703 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:35,240 I used to, but I try not to anymore. 704 00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:36,840 Imagine what it's going to look like. 705 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:41,080 I used to try to imagine and I was always wrong. 706 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:42,640 Every single time I was always wrong. 707 00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:45,320 I'm not even, and I'm good at guessing plots of movies. 708 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,080 I'm good at guessing things. 709 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,760 I have never once got it right, guessing what God's plan was. 710 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:51,760 Never once. 711 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:55,360 And now I just get to sit back and enjoy it now that I'm done spinning my wheels trying 712 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:56,920 to figure it out. 713 00:42:56,920 --> 00:43:00,840 And it really is something spectacular. 714 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:05,120 I have never related to a statement more because I'm the same way. 715 00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:10,200 I am fabulous at guessing plots to things. 716 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:14,600 And it annoys my friends and family because I'll tell them what happens in a movie before 717 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:17,080 they even know. 718 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,000 And I haven't even seen this movie before. 719 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:26,080 It's really fun, and in fact, he was even telling me this morning that the TikTok and 720 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:30,680 stuff, he said, that's small potatoes compared to what I have for you. 721 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:36,480 Like you can't even imagine because I look at that and I go, wow, this is amazing. 722 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,560 And I'm willing to stop right there. 723 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:44,640 And he has to keep pushing me forward saying, no, we're going big with this. 724 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:49,440 And it's just it is very cool to watch and very cool to be a part of. 725 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:54,680 And you just have to be willing to take one step at a time and then he'll take it with 726 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:55,680 you. 727 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:57,960 He just has to be willing to be obedient. 728 00:43:57,960 --> 00:43:58,960 Yes. 729 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:01,520 It's his love language. 730 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:04,680 Submit to him and you'll have this. 731 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:07,000 And the obedience is better than the sacrifice. 732 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,000 Oh, yes. 733 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:09,000 Oh, yeah. 734 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:12,320 That's for sure. 735 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:15,200 This can hurt, but obedience is always pleasant. 736 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:17,520 Yes, absolutely. 737 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:20,400 Thank you for taking the time to be with us, Caitlin. 738 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:27,560 And I appreciate this book that others can read and just take in. 739 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:31,960 And I hope God speaks to them like he did me with this book. 740 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:32,960 Absolutely. 741 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:33,960 I enjoyed this so much. 742 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,680 This was a great interview, I think. 743 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:37,760 Thank you. 744 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:41,600 And if you'd like to come alongside us, we have a fundraising campaign. 745 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:46,080 If you look up Gipsango.com, you can find God's Goodness podcast in there and make a 746 00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:47,080 donation. 747 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,240 It helps us with the audio expenses. 748 00:44:49,240 --> 00:44:53,000 And if you don't feel comfortable with that, you can reach out to me and we'll find another 749 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:54,800 way you can help donate. 750 00:44:54,800 --> 00:45:12,560 And with that, we'll talk to you next time.