1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,080
Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Faithfully Engaged.

2
00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,320
So today's episode is going to be a little bit different than what you have been used

3
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:13,320
to.

4
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,120
I actually don't have a guest on the show today.

5
00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:22,160
This is just going to be a solo episode and I would love to hear once you are done listening

6
00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:23,320
to this episode.

7
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,400
Love to hear your comments on how this went for you.

8
00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:32,120
If you would like for me to start incorporating some more solo podcast episodes or if by

9
00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:38,320
the end of it you're like, dude, get off the screen, go back to the guests that are better

10
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:39,320
than you.

11
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,080
I don't want to hear your voice so much.

12
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,440
Either which way I want to hear your opinion.

13
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,000
If you've been here since the beginning of where the Truth and Grace Counseling Podcast

14
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,840
was at, you would remember the structure I had for the Truth and Grace Counseling Podcast

15
00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,960
is I had several different segments and I actually really enjoyed doing those segments.

16
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:04,240
It was kind of a way for me to talk out loud a little bit, kind of give some updates of

17
00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:05,320
what's been going on.

18
00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:10,940
So doing these solo podcast episodes, I'm kind of tinkering around with this idea a

19
00:01:10,940 --> 00:01:11,940
little bit.

20
00:01:11,940 --> 00:01:17,200
I might have some different themes that I would like to talk about or have some different

21
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,280
topics, current events, things like that.

22
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,360
So anyways, I would just love to hear your opinion about how you felt like this episode

23
00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:26,360
went.

24
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:31,280
A few things off the bat as far as ways that you can really help support the show.

25
00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:37,960
First thing, I've mentioned this before, simply liking, commenting, sharing this show with

26
00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:42,960
both your friends and family kind of offline and also even just sharing it to your Facebook

27
00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:46,800
or Twitter or X, I guess, Instagram, whatever.

28
00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,280
That really does go a long way towards just spreading the show and like I said, even just

29
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:56,360
hitting a quick like or if you're listening to the audio only version, giving this A5

30
00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:03,840
star review on Apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, wherever you're listening to this.

31
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,800
Those little things, they just go a really long way towards working with the algorithm

32
00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,160
and everything and really spreading the show.

33
00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:11,640
So that means a lot.

34
00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,200
A few new ways that you can help support the show.

35
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,160
These are both different affiliates that I am now working with.

36
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,120
One is called North Arrow Coffee.

37
00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:27,960
So North Arrow Coffee is a really neat pro-life coffee resource.

38
00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,800
So they've got great beans available.

39
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,960
You can either get them as whole beans or as grounded already beans.

40
00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:43,120
And it kind of works like if you've done like Black Rifle coffee or there's several other

41
00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:48,640
coffee places like that where you can also do a subscribe and kind of have your coffee

42
00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,200
delivered to you at a certain frequency.

43
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,400
Now what I love about North Arrow Coffee is their mission.

44
00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,340
They donate a portion of their proceeds to pro-life causes.

45
00:03:00,340 --> 00:03:08,080
They are really heavily invested in babies getting appropriate care and making sure that

46
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,880
we're treating these mothers in difficult spots with compassion and care and yeah, just

47
00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,200
making sure that there are babies that we're being taken care of in this world.

48
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,480
And I think that's just such a great mission.

49
00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:27,320
I think abortion is really the great evil of our civilization.

50
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:35,800
It's evil just in the sense of dismembering unborn babies is obviously evil in my mind.

51
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:41,680
But it's also such a big evil because it's so accepted in our culture.

52
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,320
It's looked at not only as not a bad thing, but it's actually celebrated in a lot of ways.

53
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:54,200
So I love getting to partner with a coffee company like North Arrow and be able to support

54
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:55,440
some really great values.

55
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,580
So I have this link down in the show notes from now on.

56
00:03:59,580 --> 00:04:06,960
This is going to be in all of my show notes and the show notes are listed on all the Audio

57
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:08,160
Only podcast.

58
00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,320
They're also listed on YouTube, Brumble.

59
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:17,840
I'm trying to post these more often on X or Twitter, whatever you want to call it.

60
00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:23,280
Elon Musk, if you're listening to this, which I know you're a big faithfully engaged fan,

61
00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:28,920
the issue of why I don't post every episode there is while they do let you post longer

62
00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:35,400
videos than previously, there is a limit on the gigabyte size and some of these conversations

63
00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,680
that go on for over an hour actually end up going over that limit.

64
00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:45,160
So Elon, if you get up that maximum file size, that would be great because I would absolutely

65
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:51,120
love to have all of my shows posted on X as well.

66
00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:56,040
But that being said, I'm trying to put these affiliate links in the show notes and all

67
00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:00,160
the places I put the show and obviously faithfullyengaged.com.

68
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:05,480
I have a both a newsletter, which you're more than welcome to sign up for.

69
00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,440
I'll talk a little bit more about that in a little bit.

70
00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:15,520
And then also just on the website itself, I have an episode kind of a list there and

71
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:16,920
you're able to watch it.

72
00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,360
Have YouTube link and Spotify link and all that good stuff on there.

73
00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:26,280
But I also have not only the show notes listed for every episode, but also have a transcript

74
00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:27,840
that's that's down there as well.

75
00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:32,000
So faithfullyengaged.com has some cool stuff, but I'm going to be posting this North Arrow

76
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,160
link on there every time.

77
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,720
And when you click on the link I give you, it actually automatically comes with a coupon

78
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,120
code.

79
00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:41,720
You don't have to click on the link.

80
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:48,160
You can go on North Arrow yourself, but the coupon code is engaged.

81
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,760
And when you put engaged in there, when you're checking out, you actually get 10% off your

82
00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,960
order there.

83
00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,920
But if you click on the link I provide for you, you don't even have to put engaged in

84
00:05:58,920 --> 00:05:59,920
there.

85
00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:02,320
It's already in there for you and you get that discount.

86
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,920
So great way to support the show and support a great, a great cause.

87
00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:14,160
Another affiliate that I'm going to start posting on all these shows is through Podmatch.

88
00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,480
Now Podmatch is a really neat website.

89
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:24,960
I have been on it for, oh, three or four months, something, something of that nature.

90
00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,240
And it's really neat for me as a podcast host.

91
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:33,080
That's actually where I've gotten the majority of my guest on the show.

92
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,600
I find them through Podmatch.

93
00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:41,920
And Podmatch kind of works like a, it's almost like a dating site where it matches guest

94
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:47,640
people that want to be a guest on a podcast and people that host podcast.

95
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,960
And it matches similar interests, kind of has like an algorithm and ask you different

96
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,040
questions and things like that.

97
00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,800
And you match with, you know, with guest or host and you're able to message each other

98
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,760
if you feel like that's a, that's a good fit.

99
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,280
So a lot of the guests I've had on either they message me first or I message them and

100
00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:09,280
we decided for a good fit.

101
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,280
And then from there, I get them on the show.

102
00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:18,440
And one of the benefits for me as a host is not only do I get some, some great guests

103
00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:23,840
and have some great conversations, but as a host, be using Podmatch.

104
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,200
I actually get a little bit of a kickback there.

105
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:32,040
I actually turns out where I end up getting paid to have people on the show.

106
00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,200
It's, it's not like a massive amount, but it's a nice little, little perk to find some

107
00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,680
guest and get, get a little bit of commission there.

108
00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,000
Now I don't just use it as a host though.

109
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,360
I also use it as a guest.

110
00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,600
Now if you use it as a guest, you are not going to get paid a commission.

111
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,640
You actually have to pay a little bit more that way.

112
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:58,560
But the wonderful thing of being a guest and why I choose to be a guest on other podcast

113
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,840
is it is wonderful exposure.

114
00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,800
It is a great way to pitch your services.

115
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:11,360
Typically what I do when I'm a guest on shows is I will talk about either counseling.

116
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,560
So I'll talk about truth and grace counseling, or I'll talk about this podcast, talk about

117
00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:17,920
faithfully engaged.

118
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:24,400
And it's a really cheap way to kind of have yourself exposed to different podcast audiences

119
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:30,160
and to get, yeah, just a pretty, pretty cheap advertising dollar there.

120
00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:31,480
So I love it.

121
00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,840
I love it both as a host and as a, as a guest as well.

122
00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:38,000
So I have a link down there.

123
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,800
It's again, another affiliate link.

124
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:46,800
So if you go on there and sign up as either a host or as a guest, I get again, a little

125
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:52,480
bit of a percentage of that kickback, but I'm not plugging this solely just for the affiliate

126
00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:53,480
links.

127
00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,520
Like, yeah, I mean, I like getting affiliate kickback.

128
00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:57,520
Don't get me wrong.

129
00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,000
That's why I'm discussing it.

130
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,600
But I actually really, I believe in both of these products.

131
00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,680
I believe in North Arrow and their mission.

132
00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:05,800
And I believe in Podmatch.

133
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:12,200
I think Podmatch has provided me great value already, just as a host and a guest.

134
00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,360
And if you're out there, particularly if you're a guest and you're like, hey, I've really

135
00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,520
got this cool idea out there.

136
00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,120
And I don't want to float it or I've got a book that I want to promote my, my mom's

137
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,200
actually on there.

138
00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,400
And she's out there promoting her new book that's about to come out.

139
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,960
So all sorts of cool things that you can do with that.

140
00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:34,320
And it's really neat.

141
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,640
You can, if you don't want to be on a show or whatever, you can just hit decline and

142
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:40,120
then they won't bother you anymore.

143
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:41,320
It's just a really cool format.

144
00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,040
So I got those links down there.

145
00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,240
Feel free to check those out, another kind of quick update on other ways to help support

146
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,000
the show.

147
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,200
You can always get some March.

148
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,040
I've got those, those cool shirts.

149
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,240
I, I don't have my shirt on right now.

150
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:56,240
It's in the dryer.

151
00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:01,400
I had it planned to have on for this episode, but life happens also there in the background.

152
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,160
I've got my mug also have a hoodie in the shop.

153
00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,160
So that's always a great way to help support the show.

154
00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,560
And then another good way, like I mentioned before, I have my newsletter.

155
00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:17,200
This is part of why I like to do these solo episodes.

156
00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,800
I like to kind of think out loud a little bit to the audience.

157
00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,800
I'm considering expanding the newsletter.

158
00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:30,000
Right now the newsletter I will send out on Monday mornings to kind of announce the new

159
00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:35,960
show that airs every Monday morning and have little, just little blurbs in there about

160
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,120
the current show and about past shows and things of that nature.

161
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:41,760
I'm considering expanding it.

162
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:48,640
I still want to have the announcement newsletter, but considering doing kind of like a blog style

163
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:55,280
newsletter about different topics, different ways that you can engage the culture, things

164
00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,320
of that nature.

165
00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,280
So let me know if you're interested in that.

166
00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,120
I'm thinking of, yeah, doing it.

167
00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:07,000
Is that a blog style, maybe 500 words or so once a week or something, but if that's something

168
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,800
you're interested in, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

169
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,400
And if so, what are some topics you would like to be covered?

170
00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,440
Do you want me to talk about more current event things?

171
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,680
Do you want to talk about mental health issues?

172
00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:25,160
Do you want to talk about ways that you can use social media for positivity and not for

173
00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:26,160
negativity?

174
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,240
Anyways, I'd just love to hear your thought on that.

175
00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:34,000
Another perk of being on the newsletter is if you're interested in merch, I do have some

176
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:40,240
exclusive codes there to be able to discount your purchases there.

177
00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,800
And I would love to kind of expand upon that, maybe come up with some other member newsletter

178
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:45,800
member perks.

179
00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:51,520
You recently had that giveaway for Soad's journal that she had released.

180
00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,440
So I'm always loving new ideas.

181
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:58,240
I want to not just have you have your guys' emails and spame you all the time.

182
00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,160
I want to bring you value.

183
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:05,000
And I would love to hear some ideas from you of ways that I could help bring you value

184
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,360
through those emails.

185
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:12,520
So all that being said, for today, I wanted to talk a little bit about a word that I think

186
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,700
is very important and that is gratitude.

187
00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:24,560
So when I hear that word gratitude, I immediately think about a situation that happened with

188
00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:25,940
my daughter.

189
00:12:25,940 --> 00:12:30,880
So my daughter is almost four years old as of this recording.

190
00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:39,360
And when my daughter was born, she had issues that it's a medical condition known as jaundice.

191
00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,560
If you have had a baby that had jaundice, it's fairly common.

192
00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,040
I don't know the statistics on how many babies have it.

193
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,040
I actually had it as a baby myself.

194
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,160
You can, the skin gets a little bit more yellowed.

195
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:59,640
It's an issue with your liver and something called bilirubin.

196
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,760
Essentially your bilirubin count is too high.

197
00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,480
Relatively minor as long as you catch it and you get it treated.

198
00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,600
When I was a baby, the course of treatment was to put me like in a windowsill, get a

199
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,760
lot of sunlight.

200
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:19,200
With my daughter, we called it when she was in the hospital and to have like this fancy

201
00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:25,320
ultraviolet lamp essentially and she had to wear these specialized sunglasses type of

202
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:26,320
thing.

203
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:31,040
Kind of looks like what you put on your eyes if you go to a sun tainting place or whatever.

204
00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:37,040
Anyways, so she had to do that and we were thinking that it wasn't going to take that

205
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:42,120
long and eventually we were going to get to go home and obviously we did go home eventually

206
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,720
but not when we wanted to.

207
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:49,180
We had to stay another night or two longer than we would have liked to in the hospital.

208
00:13:49,180 --> 00:13:52,480
So my daughter, she was our firstborn.

209
00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:58,600
We were ready to go home, sleep in our own bed to have our daughter back home, start

210
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:00,840
our life there with our baby out in the world.

211
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:02,480
We're just kind of bummed out.

212
00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,520
Bummed out that we had to stay in the hospital a little bit longer.

213
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:11,760
I don't know if any of you listening to this have either one had a child or just have had

214
00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:13,160
to sleep in the hospital.

215
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,680
It's not a restful spot.

216
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,920
Nobody likes having to sleep in the hospital.

217
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:26,560
So during the story, I ended up going back home for a short while just to grab some more

218
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:33,160
clothing, get some tulip tree items because we weren't planning on staying in the hospital

219
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,320
as long as we did.

220
00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:42,120
And when I'm driving out of the hospital, I see this helicopter that's flying out.

221
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,400
It's a medical helicopter and that's fairly frequent.

222
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,320
That wasn't that out of an occurrence.

223
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:54,960
So what was odd as I'm driving out here, as I see this young lady that looked to be in

224
00:14:54,960 --> 00:15:01,920
her 20s or something like that, but she was out there in a hospital gown and she's kind

225
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:03,640
of the positioning of her body.

226
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:11,600
She's looking up at that helicopter and as the helicopter flies off, she is being assisted.

227
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,680
She had like a nurse or something out there that was helping her and was assisted back

228
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:17,400
into the hospital.

229
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,280
I just thought at first glance, it's like, that's weird.

230
00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,440
Why is she out there?

231
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,000
And I pieced this together.

232
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,160
Now I could be wrong.

233
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:29,800
I don't know this lady.

234
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:35,000
Nobody ever told me what happened, but just using context clues, I'm pretty sure what

235
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:42,360
happened is that lady that I saw was a new mom or at least a mom of a new child.

236
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:47,320
And that was more than likely her child, her baby that was up in that helicopter.

237
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,840
I say that because just basals off of her age, her looking up at the helicopter, the

238
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:57,720
fact that somebody was out there assisting her, where she was going back into the hospital

239
00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,240
is kind of where the birthing wing is.

240
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:09,080
And also at my local hospital, it's not that uncommon for a baby to be taken into the medical

241
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:10,080
helicopter.

242
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,560
I just say that because our local hospital doesn't have a NICU.

243
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:20,560
So if there's any type of treatment that is a little bit more serious in nature, they

244
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:27,560
play it pretty safe and send most babies to OU medical and they just do that on the helicopter

245
00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:28,560
there.

246
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,360
So I have no idea what happened to that baby, what happened to that mom.

247
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:38,320
I hope that everything went fine, but I'm sitting there in my car driving.

248
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,280
This is all going on in like 15, 20 seconds in my head.

249
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,440
And my mindset changed.

250
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,120
I'm still annoyed.

251
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,400
I'm still disappointed.

252
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,640
I still want to go home.

253
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,880
That desire didn't change.

254
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:59,240
But now all of a sudden my perspective changes.

255
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,880
I become grateful.

256
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:06,800
I become grateful that my wife is okay, that she wasn't having any major physical issues,

257
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,600
became grateful that my daughter was okay.

258
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:10,600
Sure.

259
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:11,600
She had jaundice.

260
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,040
I'm still annoyed that her level, Billy Rubin levels were higher and she had to stay in

261
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:21,520
the hospital a little bit longer, but no point was there ever a risk of her having to be

262
00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,400
metaflighted or anything.

263
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,040
I was grateful.

264
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:33,920
And it took me seeing something outside of my own pity, outside of my own discomfort

265
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:41,440
and just being stuck in my head took me seeing outside a little bit for me to get more perspective.

266
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:48,240
Now, before I go further on this, I want to clarify that there are going to be times in

267
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,320
life that you are just in a big despair.

268
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,640
Maybe you have lost a loved one.

269
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,520
Maybe that is your kid that's being metaflighted.

270
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,680
Maybe you're just really dealing with massive hardship in your life.

271
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,880
There's one book of the Bible that I think is always a great one to go back to when you're

272
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,800
facing strife like that, and that's the book of Job.

273
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:21,720
Job is such a story of perseverance and trust in God.

274
00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:29,320
I don't know anybody on earth that went through quite what Job went through.

275
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:36,120
His story of grief and despair and trust in God through it all is incredible.

276
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:40,680
So I don't want this story for me to say that, oh, just get over it.

277
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,560
If you're going through problems, just get over it.

278
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,320
It's no big deal.

279
00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,800
And just think positive all the time.

280
00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:48,800
No.

281
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,040
It's more so what do you do with your grief, with your loss?

282
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,840
Who are you going to with it?

283
00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:01,000
Are you just saying, whoa, it was me and making it all about yourself and that you've got

284
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,040
it the worst?

285
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:04,200
I can understand that temptation.

286
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,600
I'm not going to say I haven't ever done that.

287
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,160
Obviously, in that story there in the beginning of it with my daughter, I had some, whoa,

288
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:12,800
it was me attitude.

289
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,200
But it's important that when we are disbared that we give it to God, that we don't hold

290
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:19,400
on to ourselves.

291
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:25,440
Job, he said, that the Lord giveth and the Lord takeeth away, blessed be the name of

292
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:26,440
the Lord.

293
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,720
That amount of faith that he showed is incredible.

294
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:35,320
We also see some of the Psalmists that whether they're in exile or whatever it may be, they

295
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:41,480
feel God is distant from them and they still cry out, God, why are you distant?

296
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,320
Why do I feel like you've abandoned me?

297
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,600
Blessed are you, blessed are your name.

298
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,720
That amount of faith to even go to God when you don't feel him, that's incredible.

299
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,640
That is some incredible faith to show.

300
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:59,160
So again, the point of me saying all of this is not to say that you won't experience despair

301
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,440
just to quickly get over it.

302
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:08,760
It's simply to say that when we're so focused on what's going wrong, we miss the blessings

303
00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:09,760
around us.

304
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:15,080
Because the fact of the matter is the fact that we are here, the fact that I have this

305
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:20,960
microphone that I'm talking into, talking into my camera as my iPhone, I have a cell

306
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:21,960
phone.

307
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:28,400
Can you imagine what somebody 50 years ago that was looking at a cell phone, especially

308
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:29,400
a smartphone?

309
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,720
What kind of witchcraft is this?

310
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:34,560
It's incredible technology.

311
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:40,720
Again, the fact that I'm just able to get up, walk around, the fact that I have now three

312
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:47,160
kids, I have a newborn son, time of this recording was born two weeks ago.

313
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,600
So much to be grateful for in my life.

314
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:54,800
And I guarantee you, even if you are listening to this and you've gone through heartache,

315
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,000
you have things you're grateful for too.

316
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:02,600
It doesn't discount that you have struggles, but again, it gives you context.

317
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:08,040
And that is a big challenge I have for you is regardless of what you have going on in

318
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:15,800
life, regardless of what stage of life you're in, find something ideally daily that you're

319
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,600
grateful for.

320
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,760
I've challenged this with some of my clients before, some of my counseling clients.

321
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:28,600
And what I love about making a daily gratitude challenge is eventually you lose some of the

322
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:29,600
big ones.

323
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:34,120
Like I mentioned, I'm grateful for my son that was just born.

324
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:35,120
That's a good thing.

325
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:36,360
I should be grateful for that.

326
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,080
And I love him to death.

327
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,320
But if I'm going to say things I'm grateful for every day, I can still say that.

328
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,080
Like I'm grateful for my son, grateful for my kids, my wife.

329
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:47,520
I can still say that daily.

330
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:48,520
That's a good thing.

331
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:53,800
But I want us to go beyond that, to not just be grateful for the big things.

332
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:55,720
What about the small things?

333
00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:01,200
Again, time of recording this, it's been a very hot summer, especially in the later

334
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:02,200
summer.

335
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,960
And the fact that we have air conditioning here is pretty incredible.

336
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:13,440
Another thing in the grand scheme of all time human history, air conditioning is a very

337
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,080
new invention.

338
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,000
Have you been grateful for it?

339
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,840
Have you been grateful for the fact that you are breathing today, that God gave you another

340
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,520
day to live, another day to breathe?

341
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,020
Are you thankful for socks?

342
00:22:27,020 --> 00:22:31,800
The fact that you're able to put them on your feet and not blister your feet when you wear

343
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:32,800
shoes.

344
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,000
Again, another thing to be grateful for.

345
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:40,240
Are you grateful for the fact that more than likely you did not go hungry or thirsty this

346
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,640
day?

347
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:47,120
There are things out there that you take for granted every single day.

348
00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:53,440
And when things go wrong, again, it's okay to recognize that things aren't right and

349
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,680
that we want to correct some things and deal with that.

350
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,600
But are you missing the context?

351
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:04,240
Are you missing all the blessings that you have there in between?

352
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:06,280
You're not ever going to be perfect at this.

353
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,360
We're all sinful, sin impacts every single one of us.

354
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:16,720
But especially those of you that are listening that have been given that grace by God to

355
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,640
be set free from our sin, to be forgiven for that.

356
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:26,480
My goodness, there's nothing bigger in the world than to be grateful for having a God

357
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:32,000
that loves us so much, that sent us His Son and died for our sins and saved us from that.

358
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,240
Boy, that's a lot of gratitude.

359
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:35,640
That's huge gratitude.

360
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,040
So we need to practice that.

361
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:38,480
We need to model that.

362
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:43,600
If you're a mom, if you're a dad, model that for your kids to show that there's so much

363
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,720
to be grateful for.

364
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,280
If you listened to, again, the Truth and Grace Counseling Podcast, which proceeded faithfully

365
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:57,920
engaged, one of my last episodes, I was kind of explaining the change of going from the

366
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,720
Truth and Grace Counseling Podcast to faithfully engaged.

367
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:10,720
And one of the big reasons why I made the switch is I see so much content out there

368
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:16,800
that is either conservative in scope, more political in scope, or even just being more

369
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:18,280
Christian in scope.

370
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,000
That is focused on what's going wrong.

371
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,360
Again, there's nothing wrong with that.

372
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,760
There is lots going wrong in our culture.

373
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:26,760
No doubt.

374
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,440
You won't hear me say otherwise.

375
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:36,200
The issue is so much of that just leaves you listening to it, feeling down, feeling depressed,

376
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,560
feeling angry, feeling apathetic.

377
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,000
And then you just go into woe is me or even worse.

378
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,240
What's the point?

379
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,680
What's the point of me trying?

380
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,640
I don't believe God made us to feel that way or to be that way.

381
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,920
He wants us to be engaged in our lives, to make a difference in our lives.

382
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,840
And you personally probably aren't going to save the United States.

383
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,320
You're not going to save the whole world and change everything yourself.

384
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,960
But can you impact your kids?

385
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,400
Can you go say hi to your neighbor?

386
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,760
Can you be grateful for what God has gifted you with?

387
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,200
You can do those things.

388
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:21,240
And that's what I want to emphasize here is some real practical ways not to act like

389
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,360
nothing is wrong, but to actually do something with your life.

390
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:31,520
And you practicing feeling grateful for the things you already have, not coveting what

391
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,960
you don't have, not coveting what your neighbor has, but being grateful, being thankful for

392
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,400
what you do have is a really big deal.

393
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,080
And that's something in your control to think about every day.

394
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,240
Now again, wrapping up, let me know what you think of this episode, a little bit of a different

395
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:49,240
feel.

396
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,200
It's just me, a little bit more kind of casual in nature.

397
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:57,320
Where I might have themes like this kind of harkening back to Truth and Grace counseling

398
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:02,760
of the, the last word segment where I took a word.

399
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,640
That's kind of where I got this idea from using gratitude.

400
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:07,840
Let me know what you think of that.

401
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:09,720
Do you want a topic of the day?

402
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:14,960
Would you like to do solo podcasts half the time and interviews half the time, maybe once

403
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,160
a month for solo podcast?

404
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:18,600
Or what did you just say?

405
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:19,880
Again, Johnny, get out of here.

406
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,400
I want to, I want to talk to the cool guest that you have on and just be more of the interviewer.

407
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:25,400
Let me know.

408
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,320
Again, check out North Arrow Coffee.

409
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,880
Keep on code engaged, pod match.

410
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,720
If you want to start a podcast and have some guests on there, or if you have a really cool

411
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:42,680
product out there, a good book or want to advertise your company or something, go on

412
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:43,800
there, be a guest.

413
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,280
There's all sorts of podcasts out there.

414
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,720
It's really cheap, good advertising.

415
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,520
I'm actually going to be trying to pop up on some podcast here in the new future for

416
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:53,520
Truth or Grace Counseling.

417
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,280
I've got a new continuing education course that's coming out.

418
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:04,920
It's about evangelicalism and ways that counselors can be better for those that are evangelical

419
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:06,960
and in the counseling field.

420
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,320
I'm going to be talking about that hopefully soon on some podcast.

421
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,320
I might even talk about it a little bit more on this podcast later.

422
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,760
As always, thank you so much for listening.

423
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,120
Feel free to check out those links.

424
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:21,800
Please consider giving this a like, subscribe, share.

425
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,040
If you're listening on audio, give it a five-star review.

426
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:26,920
I know it doesn't seem like much.

427
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,280
It's really not, but it does add up quite a bit.

428
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:32,280
Thanks again for listening.

429
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:33,880
I hope you all have a great week.

430
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:47,400
I will talk to you guys soon next Monday.