1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,140 Hello and welcome back to the Live Out Loud podcast. 2 00:00:07,140 --> 00:00:11,040 This is the space where we talk about intentional living. 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:16,240 We start conversations on what it looks like to be a woman of faith, what it looks like 4 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:22,840 to be alive in this world today, and simply put, what it looks like to be completely human, 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:28,920 dependent on God in our family life, personal life, relationships, and everything else in 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:29,920 between. 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,800 Again, welcome to the space as we start our conversation today. 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:43,040 Okay, before we jump in fully this week, I wanted to recap a little bit about last week's 9 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:49,800 conversation and share a short story with you of something that actually happened for 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,680 us and how we chose to be intentional this past week. 11 00:00:54,680 --> 00:01:01,640 I think it was Tuesday, it was kind of a rough day with some of us in the home, me included, 12 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:07,640 and we just weren't having the best attitudes and kindness towards one another. 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,160 And something that's amazing about something like this happening is it's always an opportunity 14 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:13,660 for growth. 15 00:01:13,660 --> 00:01:20,160 So just remember this next time you're going through a day that's kind of hard or a few 16 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:26,000 days that are kind of hard, it is an opportunity for growth of repentance, of forgiveness, 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,880 of grace, and so our day went on. 18 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,040 We went on with our plans. 19 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:36,720 We had planned a much needed date night and we were recapping our day and I was just mentioning 20 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,720 how it was a really hard day and I needed to make some heart connections. 21 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,620 I knew that by the time we got home, the kids were going to be in bed, but there was still 22 00:01:45,620 --> 00:01:49,280 something we could do to connect with our hearts. 23 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:56,120 So we came up with this quick, awesome, fun plan and that was to find an awesome song 24 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:01,880 and put it on the Bluetooth when we got home and we yelled pillow fight. 25 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,400 Immediately the kids squealed with excitement, grabbed their pillows and ran to the living 26 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:13,680 room where we had an all out pillow fight battle for, I don't know, 15 minutes. 27 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:20,320 It was a moment of beauty, of playing together, of just enjoying our time together and in 28 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:25,600 those 15 minutes, there were true heart connections that happened. 29 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,760 There were no conversations. 30 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:33,640 There was just playing together, laughing together, but so much happened in that moment 31 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,560 and it set us up better for the following days in our week. 32 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:44,120 And so I just want to share that with you and encourage you that heart connections sometimes 33 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,080 can look simple. 34 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:47,580 They can be easy. 35 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:53,880 They can take a few minutes, but if we are intentional, we can stay connected to our 36 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,960 children's hearts and the hearts of the people that matter in our home. 37 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:05,920 So yeah, that's a quick real life story, a real moment for us and I hope you can just 38 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:07,720 resonate with that. 39 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,880 Anyway, for today's conversation, I also want to share another story with you. 40 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,800 It was one I shared a while back on Instagram and it was when adventures don't go the way 41 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:19,000 you planned. 42 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:24,080 I think we've all been there when we have our plans and we're so excited for what the 43 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,440 day holds and things just don't quite go as planned. 44 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:33,880 And I want to talk about what it is we do in those moments, how it is that we reset and 45 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,160 maybe pivot when we need to. 46 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:41,320 So today I want to take you along on an adventure in the Rocky Mountains and what it looked 47 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:49,640 like for us in a real life moment when things didn't go quite as planned. 48 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,200 Come with me on a family adventure in Canada. 49 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,520 Beautiful home to the Canadian Rockies. 50 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,360 This is where we found ourselves this crisp autumn morning. 51 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,440 The views were stunning. 52 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,320 The sun was shining so perfectly. 53 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:10,400 The shadows dancing across everything was quite magical. 54 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:16,960 We had planned a few beautiful stops along our way that were a little bit of a hike, 55 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:21,560 which were going to be perfect for good family quality time. 56 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,760 And you hikers out there, you know what I mean, right? 57 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:31,000 The opportunities, the family bonding that was going to happen was just going to be amazing. 58 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,960 The day ahead of us was full of possibility. 59 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,140 This was an exciting day. 60 00:04:37,140 --> 00:04:42,120 We found the trailhead we were going on, parked the car, hopped out and bundled up because 61 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:43,960 it was a chilly morning. 62 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,860 But we were ready for our adventure. 63 00:04:45,860 --> 00:04:52,440 We started out on the trail up this beautiful gorge that had been formed by glacier waters 64 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,600 over hundreds of years. 65 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:00,840 We were in no hurry because the day spread out before us with possibilities. 66 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:07,440 And we took our time looking at the ripples in the water and listening to our voices 67 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:14,800 echo off the canyon walls, reading all the informational signs along the way, listening 68 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:20,520 to the wind blow through the trees and listening for birds. 69 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:25,960 Where we looked, we were surrounded by the glory and workmanship of God. 70 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:31,080 But something happened on our ascent up this mountain that can so often happen in our daily 71 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:32,080 lives. 72 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,640 We forget about the splendor of God all around us and start focusing inwardly. 73 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,400 And that is exactly what happened to us. 74 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,880 We had made it to the top of our hike and the kids took a minute to play on some rocks 75 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:45,560 that we had found up there. 76 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:51,360 These awesome huge rocks that they would climb to the top and play King of the Castle. 77 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:56,880 As their voices floated through the trees back to me, I was finding enjoyment listening 78 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,040 to their little giggles and playing together. 79 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,320 And this is when their voices started to take a turn. 80 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:09,880 I started realizing that instead of playing sweetly together, there was a little bit of 81 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:15,160 selfishness involved in their tones and in the words that they were using. 82 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,920 I picked up on what was being said and it was sounding very selfish. 83 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,360 And how many of us know that it doesn't take much for that to happen because as humans, 84 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,200 we are kind of self-centered a lot of times. 85 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,680 Often in our home situations like this play out where they figure things out on their 86 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:39,280 own and they have to communicate and come to an agreement and fix the problem. 87 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:44,240 But this particular day, I knew that I needed to step in. 88 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:50,400 I gathered the ones I needed and had a little heart to heart right there on the mountaintop 89 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,760 and this was just going to fix the problems, right? 90 00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:01,520 After having a few minutes of heart to hearts and listening to their parts of the story, 91 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:07,840 I realized that no, this situation was not going to just take a heart to heart. 92 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:13,560 We started our descent down the mountain and I was pondering in my heart, what could I 93 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,480 do to help the situation because I wanted it resolved. 94 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,560 I didn't want to leave those emotions sitting in their hearts. 95 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:30,200 Pondering and praying on my way down, I realized, whoa, just take a minute and pray with them. 96 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:36,440 This felt like a breakthrough but it should have been my first response when I first started 97 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,000 talking with them. 98 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,000 But the beauty of life is we get second chances. 99 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:47,200 So I stopped us on the trail and gathered everyone together and took a minute to pray 100 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:54,200 right there on the top of that granite mountain on a walking path in the middle of the forest. 101 00:07:54,200 --> 00:08:00,200 As we began praying over each other's hearts and just the situations that had come up, 102 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,200 hearts began to soften. 103 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:07,860 Tears started rolling down the cheeks as we realized just how selfish we had been. 104 00:08:07,860 --> 00:08:11,000 This moment was by no means perfect. 105 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:16,920 We were not in a perfect situation of being at home, being able to pray just together 106 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,700 with God. 107 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:24,440 We were outside in a public place but we were able to pray together with God. 108 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:29,280 A perfect situation would have looked like walking to the top of that mountain and just 109 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:35,280 taking in the beauty of God and walking back down to our car and again taking in the beauty 110 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:36,280 of God. 111 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:37,480 But it didn't. 112 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:44,520 It looked like selfish moments where we had to stop and ask for help from our Father. 113 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:49,880 I think most of us are aware that life doesn't always go exactly like we've planned. 114 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:56,120 Sometimes external situations get in the way and other times we get in the way. 115 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:01,080 But I think that part of the beauty of living life to its fullest is learning to take one 116 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:06,840 moment at a time and figuring out when I need to press in a little deeper or when I need 117 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,960 to take a step back. 118 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:14,000 Knowing when it's okay to draw a line in the sand and start your day over. 119 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,440 God is a God of grace again and again. 120 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,520 He will show up for us again and again. 121 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:25,680 He will not wait for our day to start over tomorrow but He extends grace right now in 122 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:27,400 this moment. 123 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:34,040 To finish out our story of our hiking adventures, we finished our little prayer circle and then 124 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,480 we took time to ask for forgiveness from one another. 125 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:42,960 The ones who had offended and the ones who had been offended to extend forgiveness as 126 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,080 well. 127 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:52,600 It was just a beautiful moment of taking ourselves out, stepping over so God could step in. 128 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:57,120 As we made our way back to the car, it seemed like the colors were more vibrant on that 129 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,000 mountainside even though I knew nothing had changed. 130 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,840 So much had changed. 131 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:09,160 The change was inside and how we saw each other and the importance that we placed on 132 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:10,160 the relationships. 133 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:16,320 It had changed our hearts and it had really changed our entire day. 134 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:23,440 I don't want to forget to hit pause on moments in life because I feel like I have to get 135 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:29,120 on to the next thing or I feel like I don't have time to hit that pause button. 136 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:35,360 Even sometimes that is true, we have to move on but so many times we do have the opportunity 137 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:42,240 to take a step back, to meet the people in our life where we are and be real with them 138 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:48,120 and let them know, hey, I'm sorry, I need to start this over. 139 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:55,520 God is not a God of perfection but He is a God of real and He is a God of hearts. 140 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:01,680 He cares about your heart, He cares about my heart, He cares about our children's hearts 141 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:09,280 and He wants us to take those minutes to say, I am sorry, I need more of God in this moment, 142 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,440 I need to start over. 143 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,400 And that's my story for today. 144 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:18,560 I hope that in some small way you could connect to the truth behind the story. 145 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:23,400 We all have different stories that we could all tell about different moments in our day 146 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:30,640 but I hope that it spurs us on to think about how we interact with the people in our life, 147 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:38,480 how we interact with hard moments and I hope that we can all just grow together. 148 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,880 Before we finish out our time together, I would like to throw out some questions and 149 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,520 maybe we can take those with us this week as we ponder how we go through moments in 150 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,280 life when they don't play out quite like we wanted them to. 151 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,200 So question number one. 152 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,120 Do we often focus on the tasks and forget about the hearts? 153 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,360 An example of for this question is Sunday morning. 154 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:08,360 Take any Sunday morning of your week and for some reason Sundays are usually the craziest 155 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,040 morning to try to get out of the house. 156 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:15,080 We're trying to get to church on time but it seems like we are usually running late 157 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:21,080 on these particular days and I want you to put yourself in any Sunday morning and say 158 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:27,000 for example that on this particular day one of your children comes out of their room with 159 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,600 tears in their eyes. 160 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:34,680 Now getting to a Sunday gathering with other believers is a good thing and because it is 161 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:41,320 a good thing, sometimes as parents, we rush our children out the door and then we quickly 162 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,640 make a mental note that we need to talk about this later on. 163 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:51,280 As we are focused on the task at hand, we miss out on their hearts in this moment. 164 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:56,920 When all it would take is a few minutes to maybe stop and ask what you can help with. 165 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,600 This happened to me a few weeks ago. 166 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,760 One of my children walks out of their room and they had tears in their eyes. 167 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:08,960 My first reaction was okay we're running late, get out the door, we will talk about it on 168 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:14,160 the way or we will talk about it later but I had this urging in my spirit to just take 169 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,440 a minute and stop and listen. 170 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:22,600 So I knelt down in front of them, looked them in the eyes and just asked what was wrong 171 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,560 or what I could help with. 172 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:30,320 I was ready for a long conversation and for us to be really late to church but it turned 173 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,400 out they just needed a little bit of help to grab something off the top shelf that they 174 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,960 couldn't reach and it was important for them to take it with them that Sunday morning. 175 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,600 If I had rushed them out the door, they would have really missed whatever it was that they 176 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,440 wanted, this little item that they wanted to take with them. 177 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:57,120 They would have felt unseen and unheard as we swiftly went on to the next task. 178 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,480 But just pausing for a few minutes lets them know that you care about their hearts instead 179 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,560 of the task at hand. 180 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:10,480 We can insert any situation here but how often do we focus on tasks and forget about the 181 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:12,600 hearts in our home? 182 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:18,360 And question number two, how can we create an atmosphere in our home where we can start 183 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:19,860 over? 184 00:14:19,860 --> 00:14:26,400 Your day might look like having to draw a line in the sand over and over again but we 185 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:32,360 get an opportunity to teach our kids what being human means and what fully relying on 186 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:40,320 God means in our daily walk and in real situations and what a gift that is for them as they grow 187 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,000 up and face their own lives.