At the end of my life, I'm going to stand before
the Lord and give an account for what He put
on my life, and I won't be able to blame the
culture on me. I won't be able to blame my husband.
I won't be able to blame the pastors we served
under. I can't blame anyone, you know? It's nobody's
job but mine to steward my gifts and find a way
to use them. Hey there, welcome to the God's
Guinness Podcast. We are your hosts, Josh and
Shelly Hankins, and we're here to share real
stories of God's power, stories of hope, healing,
and miracles that will strengthen your faith.
No matter what you're walking through, we want
to remind you that God is good and he's still
moving today. Let's dive in. Welcome to another
episode of God's Goodness podcast, where we explore
the profound ways God's grace manifests in our
lives. I'm thrilled to introduce today's guest,
Jennilee Samuel, a remarkable woman whose journey
epitomizes faith, resilience, and divine guidance.
Jennilee is the host of the Java with Jenn podcast,
a platform dedicated to helping listeners hear
God's voice in their everyday lives. As a pastor,
podcast coach, and mother of four boys, she brings
a wealth of experience and insight into integrating
faith with daily living. Our paths crossed when
I sought guidance to elevate this very podcast.
Under Jennilee's mentorship and by implementing
her strategies, God's Goodness podcast soared
into the top 10 % worldwide within just three
weeks. Testament to work, expertise, and the
divine timing of our collaboration. In today's
conversation, we'll delve into Genele's personal
experiences, including the challenges and miracles
surrounding her home's flooding, the evolution
of her ministry through podcasting, and the profound
lessons she's learned about prayer, stewardship,
and embracing one's calling. Join us as we explore
these topics and more. uncovering the depths
of God's goodness through Genele's inspiring
journey. So thank you so much for being with
us. I'm so honored to have you on God's Goodness
podcast today. Jen, you've played such a meaningful
role in my podcast journey. And beyond that,
your heart for God, your boldness and your wisdom
have truly inspired me. Before we dive into your
incredible story, though, would you do us the
honor of opening us with prayer? For sure and
thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here
All right, Father, we just thank you so much
for this interview, for Shelly and for Josh and
the work that they're doing with their podcast.
And I thank you for the listener who's on the
other side of their headphones or their car speakers
right now. And I ask that Lord, wherever you
take this conversation, that you would touch
their heart, that you would touch their mind
and that you would bring them truth that would
bring another level of freedom in their lives.
We are here to just serve and honor you. So Lord,
guide this conversation. We give it to you, Lord,
in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I'll admit from the
beginning, I text Jen more than my husband or
own best friend. She and I have a lot of interests
together. And one of those things is podcasting.
And so if you could tell us like how you came
to that, and because everybody has their own
journey coming to podcasting, you never know
what's going on in someone's life to get them
there. So what was going on in your life and
like how did God lead you to the podcasting world?
Oh, 100%. So podcasting was not anything I dreamed
about as a child because, hi, it didn't exist,
right? And so podcasting didn't really start
until around 2000, like around the millennial.
shift. And so I always pictured myself being
like Lisa Bevere, you know, preaching, writing
books, raising a rock and amazing family and
all of that. And so when I was a teenager and
a young adult, I had leaders in my life that
very much like cultivated the communication gifts
in me, the leadership gifts in me, and the ability
to, you know, just minister to my peers. And
so I had opportunities to speak. When I was 19,
I spoke in a stadium of 85 ,000. the teenagers
when I was, I don't know, younger than that,
16 maybe. I spoke at the Diamondback Stadium
in Phoenix. And so I see that looking back now
as the Lord really like watering and planting
those seeds in my heart of like, this is what
I want to do. When I was in sixth grade, I was
terrified though, of people hearing my voice.
So it was definitely a journey of like finding
my voice. But then when I became married to a
pastor, I thought, Amazing. This is my promised
land. I'm about to step into this where we're
going to preach into the sunset together, you
know, whatever. And really what I found living
in the South was that here, women are pastors'
wives. That's what we are. And I very much felt,
I don't know, like I was behind a window, like,
hello, hello. I want to preach to minister too."
And everybody couldn't see me. They couldn't
hear me. They were like, oh, Stephen, you're
the pastor, you know? And so he was always the
one on payroll. And I fell into this, which a
lot of pastor's wives fall into this space of
just kind of this gray zone where we're not the
hired ones. So it already kind of feels like
we're not there because we're wanted for our
skills or our... calling or our anointing we're
there because our husband is there and so it's
kind of this second hand so you feel kind of
like a side dish a little bit and so I kind of
you know the pastor's wives we oftentimes just
kind of fill needs and fill gaps and you know
we'll serve in kids church we'll serve on the
worship team we'll we'll do the administrative
work we'll sit at the front desk you know we'll
do all these things because it's a need that's
there and we want to be involved and so we're
happy to do it. But many, many pastors' wives,
particularly if they have a ministry call on
their life, end up feeling very overlooked. And
that's how I felt. And so I spent years, like
just crying, probably the 10 or 12 first years
of our marriage, crying because I felt like I
couldn't find my place. I felt lost. And I had
very much as a single person, you know, if people
recognized the certain specific giftings that
were on me and were able to utilize them for
what was on me. But as a married person, I just
felt invisible. And so after a while, I realized
I had some weird ideas around how you can step
into your gifts. And I kind of expected that
doors would just open or invitations would just
come or people would just look at me and go,
oh my gosh, you're so great at this. You should
do blah, blah, blah. You know, and that's a little...
Naive, I think, to think that the world works
that way. And anyway, so after about 10 or 12
years, I had this epiphany where we were transitioning
out of college ministry, where I did have some
room to disciple women. So I did have more of
a place there. And we were shifting out of college
ministry into a type of discipleship, pastoring
role at the church. But it was my husband that
was going to be in that position, not me. And
so I knew that I would need an outlet. for mentoring
and discipling and whatever. And for about two
months, I started to believe a lie. And the lie
that I was starting to believe was that men or
not males per se, but just mankind or people
could stand in the way of me fulfilling the call
of God on my life. I thought about women in India
who don't ever get educated or these different
situations where Wow, maybe I won't fulfill the
call of God on my life because of the culture
around me. And it was the most depressing two
months of my life that I believed that. And then
one day suddenly, I think the Holy Spirit just
kind of brought this revelation where I realized
like at the end of my life, I'm going to stand
before the Lord and give an account for what
He put on my life and I won't be able to blame.
the cults around me. I won't be able to blame
my husband. I won't be able to blame the pastors
we served under. I can't blame anyone. You know,
it's nobody's job but mine to steward my gifts
and find a way to use them. And so I decided,
well, then I need to get to work. And so that
shifted my mindset from waiting for invitations
to come to realizing I've got to get to work.
And so I decided to start a podcast. I thought
that sounded like I could go hide in a corner
behind a microphone somewhere and just develop
my skills in the quiet. And then, you know, as
it grew and I was starting to be listened to
around the world, I was like, OK, maybe this
isn't as secret and private as I thought. But
it definitely became an outlet for me that I
had never thought that I would do, you know,
obviously. It wasn't on my life mission plan,
but I realized in looking back that I think the
Lord kept a lot of doors closed because he could
have opened them. You know, he could have brought
those invitations and I think he kept them closed
so that I would be forced to pivot and to look
around and find another solution because he wanted
me in the podcasting space and I didn't know
that. So that's the story. That's how it came
about. So how long did it take you? to get the
idea I'm gonna do this to like release the first
episode yeah I let's see I remember sitting at
my friend's I want to say was around Christmas
time in 2016 and no it must have been 2015 because
let's say we flooded and I don't know, the dates
blur. Our home flooded somewhere around when
I was launching, like the month after I decided
to launch. But anyways, it was maybe six to seven
months. And I was like, I'm going to do this.
I'm going to start a podcast. And I realized,
well, holy crap, I've got a lot of things to
learn. So I got to work online trying to figure
out what I was doing and having no clue what
I was doing. And then the month after I launched
my podcast, our home flooded in Hurricane Harvey.
So that delayed things for a year. And so yeah,
it was a bit of a journey trying to figure it
out, but it was about seven months or so. Wow.
You know, when you had this idea that you wanted
to join your husband pastoring and ministering
to the people, what was the chief drawback? Was
it where you were? Was it most people were thinking
that women couldn't be in that position or was
it more so like that? Was it more of a religious
point of view or is it like the men point of
view that they didn't think a woman should do
it? It was a little bit of both, and when I say
that, it was like... Death by a thousand paper
cuts. It was these subtle behaviors that would
just kind of show up. For example, you know,
if people would want an update on the college
ministry and pastor would, you know, we were,
we were not senior pastors. And so he would,
you know, call us up for the, they would just
always call up my husband and they would never
call me up to say anything, you know, or if we
were showing up somewhere as guest ministers,
they would always hand the mic to my husband.
And usually I would just stand there and smile.
And then that was the end of it. And some of
it was my husband, he came from an Indian culture,
Middle Eastern. And so he had never really seen
well. how to pull your wife in. So I think some
of it was his learning. And, you know, we kind
of default to our natural cultures. And so in
his parents' home, his dad did all the preaching
and mom would show up and just sing and be supportive,
you know. And so I was like, bro, you didn't
marry a backup singer. Like, come on now. And
so he had to he had to learn. But I remember
one time going up to this woman was ministering.
She was prophetic. And there was a prayer line.
She was prophesying over people. And one of the
elders of the church was like, hey, we want you
to get ministered to as a staff member. So there
was moments where there was there was value for
me as a staff member. But then I get up there
and she was struggling to get a word, struggling
to get a word. And then she found out I was Stephen's
wife and she goes, oh, and then she starts prophesying
over me about how my role is at home to support
my husband and all this stuff. You know, so I
was like, I was kind of sick to my stomach over
the things she was saying, not that any of it
was particularly untrue. But it was just suddenly
she was like, oh, or I'd introduce myself to
people in public and, you know, people that the
cashier at the store and they'd be like, oh,
well, what do you do? And I'm like, oh, my husband
and I are pastors. And they would always, always
go, oh, your husband's a pastor. How long has
he been doing that? And they would immediately
just start asking about my husband or, you know,
a friend at school. The parents were like, honey,
come over. Her husband's a pastor. He's in ministry.
And it just always was my husband. And so I was
like, And I don't know what I was particularly
looking for, you know, but it was just these
minor little things where I was always like,
am I on pastoral? Am I not on pastoral? Am I
not on this paid salary? So it's just all these
little things that, and I would say it was just
me, except that I sat with so many pastors wives,
younger ones who would come to my office. crying
because they felt so overlooked they felt lost
and it's it's like this it's again i think it's
honor treats people with value and dishonor is
when we treat someone as common and so i think
just a lot of times pastors wives just feel like
this gap plugger and not that we are being valued
for the unique thing that we bring to the table.
And I think that's, that's hard for anyone to
experience. And so, I don't know if that answers
your question. Oh yeah, doubtless. Absolutely.
And doubtless they would experience such things.
When you consider that the wives are called as
the helper, and then you realize through reading
your Bible that God calls Himself the helper,
Jesus is the helper, and the Holy Spirit is the
helper. You realize the awesomeness of what that
helper actually is. So, it really seems odd that
they would minimize that role into a tertiary
non -speaking part and like you know like you're
an extra in a movie he's like i just need you
to walk from here to there and that's what i
need you to do yeah that's a great analogy an
extra in the movie that's what i feel like never
the leading lady always the extra in the movie
that's what it feels like yeah yeah Hey there,
listeners. A while back, I had a brutal four
-day headache while my body was fighting something
that had taken over my house. My podcast coach,
Jennilee Samuel from Java with Jen, commented
on my post saying she wished she lived closer
so she could stick one of her patches on me.
I asked her what she was talking about. She sent
me her podcast episode about LifeWave's X39 patches
and I had to check it out. These non -transdermal
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or prevent any disease, but the stories speak
for themselves. Now back to the show. This goes
along with what you just shared. So what have
you learned about taking action in God's kingdom
and multiplying the gifts He's placed in your
life? So like that podcasting, it's led to more
things than that. But like, what have you learned
about taking action in God's kingdom and multiplying
the gifts He's placed in your life? Okay. Yes.
So, well, basically kind of in that epiphany
moment that I had where I realized I'm not just
going to receive an invitation. I have to kind
of create a pathway that confronted some wrong
thinking, not wrong thinking, unbalanced thinking,
because it's not wrong. You know, I think sometimes
we're taught in the church like that if you You
don't want to get in the arm of the flesh is
a phrase we hear. You know, you don't want to
force something. You want to let God move. You
know, let the Lord do what He's going to do.
And I think because I had that idea, I so strongly
wanted my life to be a spirit led life that I
kind of went to the far extreme of stand back
and let the Lord do all the things. But as we
see in scripture, It is always a partnership.
Man always has to do something to partner with
what the Lord is doing. We have to do our part
so the Lord can do what he can do. And so I realized
that I had a responsibility. To take what was
on my life and multiply it like do something
with it in the parable of the talents You know,
you have those those three servants, which if
anyone's unfamiliar with this parable It's these
servants who were given by the master a certain
amount of money and he was gonna be leaving town
and he said when I come back I'll check in and
see what you've done with the money that I've
given you and the assumption is that they were
going to Steward it. Well do something multiply
it whatever so the first guy gets the least amount
of money and it It's interesting it says that
they were given the amount proportionate to their
skill. And so it's interesting, he's the one
with the least amount of money, but he decided,
you know, he felt the master was a harsh taskmaster.
He was afraid of him. And so he went and buried
his money in the ground so that he knew that
he could return what was given to him. But the
other two went and they took it and they turned
it into a business. And so they were able to
multiply it into twice what they were given.
So when the master came back and checked in with
them, the two that multiplied the money they
were given, he said, well done, good and faithful
service. but the one who had buried it was reprimanded
as evil and wicked and unfaithful. And we forget
that God doesn't expect us to just give back
to Him what He's given us. He expects us to do
something with it, to multiply it. Everything
God does creates more of its kind. In Genesis,
it said that the Lord made plants and He made
animals and He made man, and He gave all of us
seed to create more of our own kind. And so when
you are stewarding the gifts on your life, you
are essentially putting seed into someone else,
whether it's through your wisdom or whether it's
into your business, through strategies of growth,
or whether it's, you know, you're a teacher and
you're pouring into the lives of your students.
But we are always meant because life is the way
of God. The way of life is to create more of
its own kind. And so when we steward our gifts,
it's meant to be multiplied. So by me running
my podcast network, that's a type of me creating
more of its own kind. I'm training people who
don't know how to podcast how to podcast. And
so I think that answers your question, but that's
I realized how much that by sitting back and
just expecting God to open doors That alleviates
us that's the wrong belief because it removes
our responsibility to take action and get to
work, you know You said that after you'd started
the podcast about a month later that you guys
had a flood from Hurricane Harvey And they said
there's a bunch of miracles and I'm kind of interested
to hear that story 100%. Yeah. So let's see.
We, I remember I was, it was a Friday morning
and the kids had gone to school and I'm watching
the news. My friend messages me and she's like,
there's a hurricane coming. And I was like, okay,
I'll check it out. So I'm watching the news and
the dilemma living in hurricane alley is always.
Are they being dramatic on the news? Will there
really be death and flooding or do we need to
just stay here? Because it's expensive to evacuate
every time. You got to book hotels and take time
off work and all this kind of stuff. And so it's
always that dilemma. So I remember asking the
Holy Spirit like, Lord, should we evacuate? I'm
sitting there like folding clothes, doing laundry.
And the Holy Spirit tells me, he goes, well,
you can hunker down if you want to. I was like,
uh. That doesn't sound very good. And so I kind
of have this philosophy of if the power is going
to go out and we're going to lose water, I'm
getting my kids out of here because then I can't
get to the grocery store and we can't shower.
You know, it's a whole pain in the butt. So and
usually hurricane season is hot weather. So you
don't want to lose your AC. You got to pick your
heart. Pick your heart. Exactly. And so I decided
to evacuate and I took. three of my four boys,
one of them wanted to stay back with Stephen.
And so we usually evacuate three to four hours
north to Tyler. And so I took them and I took
all of their little like precious stuffed animals
that each had one, you know, that they had taken
from the crib. And I remembered the Holy Spirit,
except I didn't know it was the Holy Spirit.
I had the idea with my oldest sons, he was in
junior high, right? So he's in this phase where
he's like, Mr. Cool, you know? And everything
I do is uncool. And so I had the idea to bring
his stuffed animal. And I just kept thinking,
that's dumb, that's stupid. Like, even if he
catches up with us later, he's gonna think it's
dumb, I brought his dog. So I didn't bring it.
And then later I realized that was the Holy Spirit,
because we flooded. So that was Friday. So the
storm didn't really hit until Monday, but Hurricane
Harvey in 2017. It was like a bad breakup. It's
the storm. It's like the girlfriend that won't
leave you alone. And so it came and it moved
really slow and dumped a ton of water and then
it went out to the Gulf and gained. more strength
and came back through and dumped more water very
slowly and then went out to the gulf and did
it a third time and so we had this insane amount
of water like our home had water to 10 feet it
was and we had just built our home we had been
living in it six months and so Now, the Lord
was so kind. My husband was here, you know, to
continue helping at the church. He ended up sending
our oldest son with his sister to Louisiana.
And so once the storm is happening, we know that
our house is kind of in harm's way. And then
my kid is in another state. I was like, how do
I get my kid to me? But I had a dream. and we
didn't know the condition of our home. We just
knew, I mean, people were calling. It was like
a bad movie you couldn't wake up from. And I
remember feeling like in the morning, surely
things will be calmed down, but in the morning
it was worse, you know? So we were, people are
on Facebook, help, we're stranded, stuck on our
roof. The waters are rising and our dogs are
stuck inside of the trailer or we're all on the
roof and there's no emergency vehicles. Like
no one can get to us, help save us, you know?
And so we see all these like cries for help.
on Facebook, I'm getting phone calls from people.
Is there an emergency line I can call? Yeah,
I mean, it was like literally like a bad movie.
And so I'm kind of playing dispatch from where
I'm at. We had friends from Austin and San Antonio
that had airlines that would help fly things
in. And so my husband and people, everyone in
Texas owns a truck and a boat, right? And so
they would take their trucks and boats, go to
high water and they would literally men. just
showed up and they would grab their boats and
they would float through neighborhoods and rescue
people. And that's what my husband did. He rescued
quite a few people whose homes were just literally
underwater. So we didn't know the condition of
our home until... Probably a week a weekend because
our area was one of the most flooded areas and
honestly It was not even the storm that flooded
us. It was the city They opened the levees and
that flooded our area within just a few hours
anyway So my husband's rescuing people and the
Lord gives me a dream because we don't know what's
going on and in the dream I walked into our home
and the walls were all white in real life. They
were blue like what you see behind me And I walked
in, the walls are white, and I see water lines
above our fireplace, like up to about the top
of the TV. And so I knew that that's, you know,
nine, 10 feet up. And that was all I saw. I saw
the paint was coming off the walls, but I had
total peace, like 100 % peace. And so the next
morning my husband calls and he's kind of stressed
out. He's like, I don't know the condition of
our home, but I can't get back to our neighborhood.
And there's people showing up at the church needing
help. I mean, families everywhere were flooding.
And he was like, just be praying. And I said,
babe, I think there's a good chance that we lost
everything. But we're going to be OK. Like the
Lord's going to take care of us. And he was,
you know, panicked. He feels the pressure of
we just lost everything we just built. You know,
we dumped our life savings into our house and
now we have nothing and no insurance. So anyway,
so we finally the Waco Navy had been releasing.
There's a Waco Navy and there's a Cajun Navy
and they're kind of like. Navy armies that are
run just by the people that live and volunteer
in the area, right? And so the Waco Navy was
boating through our neighborhood at rooftop level,
hollering for survivors. And I'm at the hotel
in Tyler and I'm having some time with the Lord.
Still, we're unsure what the condition of our
home is. And I'm listening to this music video
from Jen Johnson. And all the video is like,
it's going to be OK, something like that's playing
in the background on Spotify. And Stephen sends
me a message and he goes, hey, click this link.
It's a video someone found on Facebook of the
Waco Navy boating through our neighborhood. And
so I click the link and the video pulls up. I
still have it on my phone and. In the background
is Jen Johnson singing. It's going to be OK.
And they're like boating through at rooftop level.
Just it's silence. And they're like, hello, anybody
out there? Just hollering for survivors. And
there's our little house up to the roof in water.
And I was like. Thank you, Lord, everything is
going to be OK. You know, like he just those
little tiny moments, little God winks, if you
will. So there was so many miracles throughout
the whole experience, but. It was definitely
something that the Lord just kind of walked us
by the hand into through that dream, through
those little moments. And then every step of
the way, He walked us through it. And so once
we realized our home was underwater, my next
hurdle was, how do I tell the kids? You know,
like... they've lost everything they know and
my my son who had been in Louisiana was brought
to me and Tyler and when he gets out of the car
he's wearing basketball shorts and an old ratty
t -shirt that doesn't match and he has this little
backpack he's wearing rain boots with no socks
and he's got this little backpack and he has
his Kindle and that's all he had and I was like
where's all your clothes and he goes Dad told
me to pack, but I thought we were going back
to the house. And so I just grabbed my Kindle
and the rain boots because it was wet outside.
And I was like, in that moment, I realized this
kid is wearing and holding everything he owns
in the world right now. And so, like, I had to
guard my heart from the overwhelming emotions
that would try to come of, like... You have nothing.
You know, you are technically homeless right
now. You know, it was like really big emotions.
And so I just, I looked at him and I said, we're
going to Walmart. We're getting you a duffel
bag. We're getting you some clothes, you know?
And so, and of course in my heart, we didn't
know how we were going to take care of all this.
We had just spent our life savings on the house.
We didn't have flood insurance yet because we
were in a no flood zone. And so technically we
should have been flooding. And so there was so
many huge question marks. And I was like, Lord,
how do I do this with the kids? Because I was
so aware that they are young and my oldest was
around 12. And so my youngest was around four
or five. And I was like, they're watching to
see how we walk through this. We are programming
their brains right now. How do you respond to
tragedy? And so I was like, oh, man, school did
not equip me for this. And so I was like, Lord,
What do I do? Like, how do I protect their hearts
from this trauma? And he reminded me of the words
of Bill Johnson, who said, I stay encouraged
by looking for what the Lord is doing. And so
that became my mantra. The Lord kept bringing
that phrase to mind. When I did finally tell
the boys about the house, I kind of told them
in phases, like, okay, there's a little water
in the house. Okay, there was a lot of water
in the house, you know, different nights. And
then we would talk about it. And so I just kept
telling them, I was like, hey, boys, God is going
to use this for our good. He's going to turn
this around. He's going to bless us through this
whole process. You watch. And so sure enough,
like There was one day while we were in Tyler
that we had been not doing anything besides swimming
at the hotel and eating cheaply because I didn't
know if we'd have any money to do any of the
things. So, you know, we're trying to scrimp
and save and protect the finances. And so finally
one night I was stressed because I had been dispatching
all those calls, helping airplanes fly into the
airport to send rescue supplies. go rescue this
person they're stuck on their roof you know so
I was kind of stressed in the background and
then trying to figure out the kids and so I said
boys we're gonna go watch a movie we're gonna
go out we're just gonna splurge a little so we
went to a studio movie grill had a great time
and then afterwards there's a marshals or burlington
or something right there and so I told the boys
I said let's go walk through and then I said
but and they go we know we know don't ask for
anything I feel terrible. And so I said, okay,
we'll just walk around. It's whatever. So we
go in there and my son finds this leather jacket.
And he's like, mom, look how great this looks
on me. And it was like $25. It was not a lot.
And I was like, bub, that looks amazing. And
I was like, I don't think we can get it right
now. And if I cry when I tell these stories,
you'll have to forgive me. It was just such a
powerful experience. Nothing to forgive. He's
holding on to it. I was like, just hold on to
it. Let me just pray and ask the Lord like What's
gonna be good? Like what's gonna be wise? and
so as as we're walking through the store and
they're all finding things that they look like
I Asked the Holy Spirit. I was like Lord. I don't
know if we're gonna have like money for what
we need to do I don't know if we're gonna be
able to rebuild our home. Like what do I need
to do? Like what's gonna be wise? And the Lord
says he goes gently I want you to take care of
my babies." So I said, okay. And I just felt
in my heart like he was like, just bless my babies.
And so I said, okay. And so I said, okay, boys,
the Lord spoke to me. Here's what we're gonna
do. All y 'all go and pick out a toy and pick
out some piece of clothing that you like, pajamas
or jacket or whatever. And the Lord told me.
that I need to take care of y 'all. Y 'all are
his babies and he's going to take care of us."
And so they said, okay. They were all excited.
And so they all picked something out. And no
sooner do we get in the car. I haven't even left
the parking lot and I get these alerts on my
phone. And someone that I had babysat for growing
up said, he sent you a thousand dollars in PayPal.
And then another alert said, your mom sent you
$500 in PayPal. And so before we even left the
parking lot, there was fifteen hundred dollars
sitting in my account to take care of my babies,
you know, and so I was like, oh, Lord, you're
so good. And so the whole process of recovering
was stories like that of like the Lord would
just bring these little moments where someone
would step in and and I would pick up the boys
from school when we finally got back in town
and finally got back into a routine while we
were rebuilding. And there's so many stories
I could tell you for an hour, you know, where
someone paid off their school tuition for the
rest of the year, so we didn't have to worry
about it, where they paid lunches so that we
didn't have to pack lunches for the rest of the
year. And then someone at church gave us his
rental house to live in, and he paid for the
utilities and the water, and we didn't have to
pay rent. Like, he just took care of it because
he's like, I want to make sure that you guys
are taken care of. And, you know, there was another
day that when my husband was shortly after the
storm, Our church had become like a distribution
center and my husband was running it and we still
hadn't seen the house yet. So it's like right
after the storm and I was still in Tyler and
there was a gentleman who came. Jay Hall was
his name and he was from out of town, but originally
from Orange and he met Steven. Of course, you
know, checking in on how everything was going
and he's just talking and finds out that our
house was still underwater. We didn't know what
condition was, but my husband is helping the
people in the area. And so Jay looks at him and
he goes, I own a high end furniture store in
Tennessee. When you guys are ready for furniture,
I want to furnish your whole home. Wow. Yeah.
And I was like, that's expensive. Yeah, and celebrities
celebrities shop at his store, you know, and
so sure enough, I mean, I, I was when no matter
if it was big lots of all your whole home with
four children, that's that's a lot of furniture.
It's expensive. It's a lot of furniture. Yeah,
exactly. And so I, you know, it's like, OK. That's
so sweet. We'll see. You know, people get very
moved emotionally. But then when the time comes,
the commitment's not always there. But sure enough,
nine months later, we were ready to find furniture.
And I was on a FaceTime call with Jay walking
around his warehouse picking out furniture from
FaceTime. And he had it sent down here. And it
was so many miracles like that. And I would tell
the boys every time I'd pick them up from school,
guys, guess what God did for us today? Guess
what God did for us today. And so we kept looking
for what God was doing. And at the end of the
year, it was New Year's and we were reflecting
on the year. And I asked the boys, like, what
was the best part of this year? I know it was
a hard year. You guys lost everything. But what
was your highlight of this year? And they all
said, Hurricane Harvey. And when they said that,
I was like, What? How? And they were like, because
we got new bikes and new toys and new beds and
new clothes. We got new everything. It was awesome.
And I just felt like the Lord was like, you kept
looking for what I was doing. And that's what
they saw. So it was just it was only the Lord
could take. Sorry, I don't normally cry this
much over it. We'll blame the sunburn. It's the
Holy Spirit. But the Lord was like, I just was
like, Lord, only you can take what's devastating
and turn it into a blessing. Only you can do
that. And so anyway, so I took a very long time.
No, no, that's okay. You know, I think of how
Jesus says we have to be like these little ones.
And what did the little ones do? They don't worry
where their food's coming from. They don't worry
where they're going to sleep. They don't worry
what they're going to wear, right? They just
trust implicitly to their parents, right? And
so you got a nice little lesson when you're out
in Burlington or Marshalls or whatever it was,
and he's telling you to take care of his babies
because he knew he was taking care of you. He
wanted you to learn the lesson that they had
already known. They didn't have that fear of
where things were coming. They just trusted their
parent. And then he made you, he developed that
trust. Further with you and him. Yeah, and as
a result, I think you were probably a little
bit more keen on spotting When he says things
when he moves in your life than you were before
that event, you know You say why I realize it
now is the Holy Spirit that told me to do this
But you know had this idea and I've realized
later, right? But I bet you realize sooner now
That the Holy Spirit's talking to you Yeah, I
think, well, I mean, I think hearing the Lord
being led by him was a normal thing for me. But
I think in that whole experience, I definitely
learned to look for what just to look for what
he's doing, because so often it can be easy to
get our eyes on the storm. Right. And to and
to get distracted by what's not happening. In
fact, there was one point in that process that.
It was like we hadn't seen a lot of movement
as far as the Lord stepping in and intervening
and things were starting to pile. I needed a
vacuum. I needed this. I needed that. And I was
starting to feel stressed because I was focused
on what was not happening. And I remember I was
driving, running errands, you know, picking up
things that we needed. And I was kind of stress
praying to the Lord like, oh God, I don't know
what we're going to do. And then I just, it dawned
on me and I was like, I haven't told the Lord
thank you for what He's done. in a couple weeks.
And so I stopped myself and I was like, you know
what, Lord, you have done so much for us. And
I just started listing all the things he had
done to that point. And then at the end of that,
I felt my heart felt full. You know, I was focused
on what he was doing. And I remember praying,
I said, Lord, if I can ask you for one thing
right now, I would love for you to not just meet
our needs, but we have 40 to 50 families in the
church that lost everything. And I said, I want
you to show up in a big way and provide finances
for all these families in like a way that moves
the needle. Like I need big money. Like I need
you to bring big money for all these families
in our church. I don't know how you're going
to do it, but you're pretty awesome. So you can
figure it out. And then no joke, the next morning,
our church got a call from Good Morning America.
And they said, we heard that your church has
undergone a lot of loss and that there are a
lot of families who are struggling to make things
work. And so we've partnered with Home Depot
and we're going to send, I think it was $3 ,000
gift cards to everyone in your family or your
church that has suffered loss. And we're doing
a pop up where you guys can come and anything
they can fit in their car, they can take for
free from this Home Depot pop up. and literally
the day after. And so what I learned in that
moment again was... look for what the Lord is
doing. If we stay focused on what He's doing
and has done, we stay in faith. But when we look
away from that, we get into fear, we get into
lack, we get into stress, and prayers that are
not in faith are not answered. Those stress prayers
don't move heaven. It's the faith prayers that
move heaven. And so that was really my biggest
takeaway from the whole experience. It was pretty
life -changing. You know, I don't share just
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It's a wellness company founded by a Christian
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I truly believe it could be someone's answer
to prayer. Now back to the show. I was just having
a conversation today with someone and in a video
where this girl sees in the spiritual realm God
was showing her that whatever she focused on
got bigger. So when she focused on Him, His light
radiated kind of off of her as well as she focused
on Him, and that pushed away the darkness. So
whatever you focus on grows. So when you find
things to be grateful for, you'll find even more
things to be grateful for. So it's really important
on what we focus on. Yeah, for sure. Wow. So
what advice would you offer To those feeling
a nudge from God to step into a new venture or
calling. You know, like when you were going from
the volunteer fire department slash pastor's
wife, you know, not getting paid, underappreciated,
but always there to fill a need, you know, to
the calling that you have. Yeah. Honestly, be
willing to do it afraid. That's my biggest advice
to people. Be willing to do it afraid. But as
a pastor, I can say, do it like. A lot of people
get ideas from the Lord and get inspiration that
they don't realize is actually the Holy Spirit.
And, you know, it can be confirmed again and
again and again, but people's default is to stay
in the fear because it's new, stay in the fear
because it's intimidating, it's overwhelming,
it's scary. But hi, newsflash. God's never going
to call you to something that's in a size that
you can manage. Like, He's going to call you
to something that... is so big that only he can
achieve it through you. And so if it scares you,
if it intimidates you... It's more likely probably
the Lord because that's what he does. And so
be willing to do it afraid. I did podcasting
afraid. I started a podcast network afraid. I
started coaching people afraid. Like I ran a
podcast. I don't know how many panic attacks
I had after I started my podcast and I would
launch an episode and I wake up in the middle
of that night like, oh my gosh, I need to take
it down freaking out. And you just got to keep
going because your brain is programmed to keep
you safe. And if your brain is unfamiliar, with
where you're headed, it's going to translate
that as danger. And so your brain is going to
send all the signals, run away, this is scary.
And so you just have to push through and realize,
no, on the other side of this is exactly what
I've been praying for. And so do it afraid. Even
do it when you don't know what all you're doing.
Exactly. Yeah. But I would recommend if you're
starting a podcast, get a coach like Jen, because
it will expedite the process of going big. That's
true. Oh my gosh. I wish I would have found you
so much sooner. Oh my gosh. So for listeners
seeking to discern God's voice in their lives,
what practices or insights could you share to
help them in that journey? Yeah, you know, it's
funny I actually asked my kids this the other
day because I did I did an episode online Top
four or five ways to hear God's voice going into
2025 and so I asked my kids I was like, what
would you tell someone who's trying to learn
to hear the Lord? I was so proud of them the
responses that they gave but all of them Gave
some some combination of responses of they've
got to read their Bible and they've got to spend
time praying, which sounds so fundamental. It's
boring. It's not a sexy response, you know, but
it's like if you're not reading your Bible, you're
not conditioning your spirit to the sound of
God's voice. You know, your Bible is his voice
written down. It's like if I wrote letters to
my husband, if we were in different locations,
he would learn my voice through my writing. You
know, you can tell. You can tell when I have
chat GPT'd something. and put that on my blog
versus when I have written it. We have different
voices, right? And it's written. Scripture is
the same way. It's God's voice written down.
And so you learn the types of things that He
asks us to do and the attitudes He asks us to
have. And so you have to be reading the Word.
And if you are struggling to hear God's voice,
I find that sometimes the Holy Spirit allows
you to not be hearing Him. until you get the
discipline of reading scripture. And it's in
the reading scripture that you're feeding your
spirit and you're training yourself to discern
His voice, because the Word of God says that
the Word of God is the more sure word of prophecy.
And God wants us to begin there, because it just
lays a really healthy groundwork. But beyond
that, I would encourage them, if you're not taking
time to slow down and be with the Lord, God has
high standards in that He knows His worth, He
knows His value. And just like, you know, when
I was dating, I wasn't going to go cheapen my
value just so I could get a date. I would expect
a guy who was worth my time to show up in the
way that I was worth. And God knows His value.
He's not going to... He does meet us where we're
at, but He also calls us higher. and he knows
his value. So he is not going to reduce himself
to quick, cheap little shots of his voice when
he actually has more for you in the deeper places.
That's not to say that you won't hear Him in
those quick little moments from time to time,
but that's not where He wants us to live. He
wants us to live in fellowship. He's after a
relationship, you know. You can't have a relationship
with your spouse if it's always coming and going
and passing and high -fiving, you know. At some
point, you have to slow down and really truly
connect with each other's hearts. And it's the
same way with the Lord. So that connection, that
time of just taking time to worship and listen,
hear His voice. I started finding that I had
more fruitful quiet times when I would just show
up and say, Holy Spirit, what are you in the
mood for? Like, what's going to touch your heart
right now? And sometimes he'd say, why don't
you worship me a little bit? Or sometimes he
would prompt me to read a scripture. Sometimes
he'd prompt me to just be still. I think one
time the Lord was like, why don't you paint your
nails and listen to Frank Sinatra? And I was
like, Okay, and I did and the Lord touched those
lyrics and I was in tears because he was ministering
to me from Frank Sinatra You know, and so he
thinks outside the box, too So reading your word
making sure to have that time pulled away and
it doesn't have to be hours and hours start with
five minutes But it's just the intentionality
of connecting that makes the difference I love
how you said he thinks outside the box. Of course.
He created it He stands outside the box. Of course
he thinks outside of it. His ways are not our
ways. His thoughts are beyond ours. And I'm very
grateful that I am not the god of my life because
I am horrible at it. Yeah, right. I know. And
he's so good. Like if people are like praying
about like a heavy decision, you know, who to
marry? Do I take the job? God, what do I do about
my wayward child? You know, things like that.
I do think that there's definitely an element
of seeking counsel from the people around you
that are God fearing and hear the Lord. There's
also an element of like, what's the word, confirmation.
Like when you feel like you're hearing the Lord
on something. I don't always need confirmation
when I think I'm hearing the Lord, you know.
Not everything is that weighty of a decision,
but when I am weighing a heavier decision, I
will oftentimes ask the Lord for confirmation
through people or through dreams or through,
you know, whatever He chooses. And that's a way
to kind of add some safety to the process as
you're learning to hear the Lord, especially
when it's a higher risk decision. That's awesome.
So before we wrap up, Jen, can you share where
people can find you, your podcast, Java with
Jen, and all the amazing things you're doing
to help others hear God's voice and step into
their calling? Yeah, so they can find my podcast
anywhere you get your podcast at Java with Jen
is the name of it. It's Java with Jen hearing
God's voice for everyday life and I love if anyone
that's listening has been wanting to start a
podcast feeling unsure, lost, overwhelmed, totally
relate. Those are all the feelings I had. And
so that's why I coach podcasters so they can,
you know, come check things out. JavaWithJenPodcast
.com is my URL. And so I've got some freebies
on there if they're interested in getting some
free tools to kind of get the journey started.
But there's also some tools on there for those
who are learning, wanting to deepen their ability
to hear God's voice and grow in that. So there's
some free things over there that they can grab
and connect with me on Instagram. It's a great
place to hang out, Java With Jen. Thank you for
that. You have some exciting things coming up
to the podcast community Did you want to share
about that do a little thing about? Yeah, so
Imagine Media Podcast Network is for all of my
students slash podcasters They already have a
show but they want to continue to grow in community
and and grow with some mentorship from me some
coaching But I just partnered with Adam Curry
who is the original Podfather is the original
podcaster that he played a part in getting the
Apple Podcasts app on their phone to make podcasting
a thing. And so he has a new tool called Godcaster
and we're pulling that into our network help.
It's kind of hard to explain, but it's a great
thing and it's going to help. help those who
are in my network work together to grow their
shows in a cumulative way as a community. And
so it's it's excellent. If nothing else, I'm
like, it's just great to be connected to Adam
Curry. He definitely knows what he's doing. He's
like the original. So awesome. Well, I'm so glad
you got to come on the show. And then we got
to share your light with others because you bring
joy and light to others, all that know you. If
they get to know you, it is. they'll be blessed.
So I'm glad that people got to hear your story
and some of the miracles that God was working
through you. And I hope they can be blessed by
this episode. Well, thank you so much for having
me. It was an honor. You guys are awesome. Thank
you. Thank you. Well, if this has blessed you,
we ask that you pass it along and we will talk
to you next week. Thanks for tuning into today's
episode. Listen, let's stay connected. Come follow
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