WEBVTT 00:00:16.869 --> 00:00:19.890 Hey everyone, my name is Austin and welcome back 00:00:19.890 --> 00:00:22.109 to another episode of the unfiltered faith podcast 00:00:22.109 --> 00:00:24.730 If this is your first time tuning in I'm so glad 00:00:24.730 --> 00:00:26.949 you're here. And if you've been here before welcome 00:00:26.949 --> 00:00:30.370 back I am so excited to introduce our guest today. 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:33.369 Her story is just so powerful So I'm gonna let 00:00:33.369 --> 00:00:35.750 her introduce yourself and then we're gonna get 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:42.530 started Well, thank you Austin for having me 00:00:42.530 --> 00:00:45.490 on your show, my name is Carrie Henson I am the 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:48.820 mom's day prepper and I help moms prepare for 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:51.299 the unthinkable in their motherhood and I teach 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:54.280 them how to take their motherhood back. Sometimes 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:58.109 when we are put in a situation where our children 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:01.369 are under attack or in harm's way, or it's our 00:01:01.369 --> 00:01:04.329 family, or it's a natural disaster, or, you know, 00:01:04.549 --> 00:01:06.349 there's fentanyl, there's a lot of things happening 00:01:06.349 --> 00:01:09.129 in our world, and they give moms the strategies 00:01:09.129 --> 00:01:11.310 to take their motherhood back, and I've really 00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:14.250 enjoyed it. I'm a speaker. I am an up -and -coming 00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:17.450 author. I am a podcaster, and I'm a mother of 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:21.049 six incredible, amazing, God -fearing humans. 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:23.989 So for those who are listening, how do you define 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:26.340 a Mom's Day moment? what makes it different from 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:29.879 a hard day. I love explaining this to gentlemen 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:32.319 because y 'all aren't moms. I'm all about motherhood 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:34.939 and a lot of moms especially new moms or young 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.280 moms know that you have hard days. You have babies 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.159 that are colicky and they cry or you have toddlers 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.099 that are throwing tantrums or you forgot the 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:44.019 snacks, you forgot the goldfish and now you're 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:45.780 at the park and everyone's hungry or somebody 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:48.319 has to potty or somebody pees themselves. I mean 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:53.140 those are hard days that moms go through. And 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:57.540 I kind of I liken it to a rainstorm. Okay, so 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:00.799 imagine you're starting your day as a mom and 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.900 you have to get your kids up ready for school 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:05.099 and you got to get yourself ready for work and 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:06.959 you're walking out the door and there's it's 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.099 just oaring cats and dogs outside. And you have 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:11.979 the umbrella and you're trying to get everybody 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:13.639 out there, but by the time you get in the car, 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:16.060 everyone is soaked. You can't go back in. You 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:18.340 can't stop the rain. It's going to keep coming 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:20.180 at you, but you just got to move on with your 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.180 day. And it's very hard and it's uncomfortable 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:24.560 and it just, just sucks, right? It's just a sucky 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.639 day. Well, a mom's day moment is like a hurricane 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.270 or a tornado. Okay, that's what we have in Texas. 00:02:32.449 --> 00:02:34.689 We have tornadoes and hurricanes. We don't get 00:02:34.689 --> 00:02:37.250 the blizzards and the, you know, whatever, but 00:02:37.250 --> 00:02:39.770 we do have these hurricanes and these tornadoes 00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:42.129 that come into our motherhood too. So you imagine 00:02:42.129 --> 00:02:43.810 waking up and you're getting everybody ready 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:45.469 for school and you're getting ready for work 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:47.930 and it's just a normal day and all of a sudden 00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:51.389 the storm comes. at your house, at your home, 00:02:51.530 --> 00:02:54.150 at your family and it's bringing hail and it's 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:56.289 bringing high winds and it's ripping the roof 00:02:56.289 --> 00:02:58.469 off of your house and you don't have time to 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:00.789 get into shelter. You don't have time to get 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:04.110 into that that innermost space in your home or 00:03:04.110 --> 00:03:06.370 in the storm cellar and the house is starting 00:03:06.370 --> 00:03:08.530 to be pulled apart and you're holding on to your 00:03:08.530 --> 00:03:11.129 children as they're flying away from you by these 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:13.610 massive winds and you're doing everything you 00:03:13.610 --> 00:03:18.569 can to stronghold your family together. and you 00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:22.030 get through the storm, but you have no home, 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:25.930 you've been through a severe trauma, you're disconnected 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:28.349 to your motherhood, you're disconnected to your 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:30.889 femininity, all these things just imploded in 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:35.550 your life. That is a mom's day moment. Now I 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:38.969 will tell you my first mom's day moment was when 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:43.469 my nine month old baby, my fourth child, spiked 00:03:43.469 --> 00:03:46.759 a fever. and my kids don't get fevers. And it 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:49.539 was a God wink because my grandma, who was raised 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:51.639 in the Great Depression, you know, before they 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:54.039 had Walgreens and CVS and Walmart that you could 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.099 just run and get, you know, children's Tylenol 00:03:56.099 --> 00:03:58.879 or Advil or whatever. She always told me fevers 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.699 meant something. And so I took him to an urgent 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:03.419 care, a nine month old baby, urgent care, he 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:05.639 had a fever. And that was the beginning of childhood 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:09.860 cancer. It was a complete fluke. It was a complete 00:04:10.460 --> 00:04:13.580 God moment that my child was saved because he 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.980 was probably hours, days away from having a stroke. 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:20.300 His blood pressure was so high because of the 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:24.259 cancer. That is a mom's day moment because in 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:26.860 that one moment when the ER doctor came in and 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:29.439 said, your child has cancer, he will not live 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:35.540 to his first birthday. My life imploded, my motherhood. 00:04:35.790 --> 00:04:38.649 was ripped apart. My children were scattered 00:04:38.649 --> 00:04:42.329 to the wind. And over the course of the year 00:04:42.329 --> 00:04:45.490 through cancer treatments, it was apparent that 00:04:45.490 --> 00:04:47.829 we had just been hit with a mom's day moment. 00:04:48.089 --> 00:04:51.050 I likened it to an atomic bomb, but I think mom's 00:04:51.050 --> 00:04:53.129 day moment is a better analogy. I mean, it's 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:56.370 a better way to label it because it is doomsday. 00:04:56.550 --> 00:04:59.790 It is doomsday for your motherhood. And I just 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:01.329 kept getting hit with these Mom's Day moments 00:05:01.329 --> 00:05:04.350 until finally I was like, y 'all, I cannot be 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:06.569 the only one out here dealing with this stuff. 00:05:07.149 --> 00:05:09.990 And turns out, unfortunately, I'm not. And more 00:05:09.990 --> 00:05:11.930 and more moms are like, yeah, this is a Mom's 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:13.509 Day moment. I'm going through a Mom's Day moment. 00:05:13.610 --> 00:05:16.170 This is my Mom's Day moment. I know it's a new 00:05:16.170 --> 00:05:18.470 terminology out there in the world, but it's 00:05:18.470 --> 00:05:21.589 gaining understanding and popularity very quickly. 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:23.910 And the more I talk about it, the more moms come 00:05:23.910 --> 00:05:25.370 out and they reach back out to me. They're like, 00:05:25.490 --> 00:05:28.029 I know what you're talking about. I feel like 00:05:28.029 --> 00:05:31.209 an atomic bomb just hit my motherhood. So you've 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:33.810 experienced so many Mom's Day moments, from childhood 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:36.689 cancer to hurricanes, abuse and addiction from 00:05:36.689 --> 00:05:39.269 a spouse, and accidents. Which one of those hit 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:42.089 the hardest and how did you first recognize it 00:05:42.089 --> 00:05:46.910 as a Mom's Day moment? Well, that is a complicated 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:49.470 and complex question, I think, for me, because 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:53.529 there have been so many. And I think that the 00:05:53.529 --> 00:05:56.699 one that's the most significant is when my son 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:59.579 was hit by a 110 truck. And he was hit on the 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.959 same day that his brother, seven years prior, 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.540 was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. And it's March 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:09.360 15th, which is the Ides of March. It is not lost 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:13.339 on me this date. And I think it's the most significant 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:17.800 because in that moment, I was furious. I mean, 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:20.819 the rage I felt as a human, I didn't even know 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:24.389 I could. go that deep in anger. And I was very 00:06:24.389 --> 00:06:26.290 angry for a very long time. I mean, probably 00:06:26.290 --> 00:06:29.870 six weeks at least, I was just out of my mind, 00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:33.230 furious. I was furious at his father for allowing 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:36.569 it to happen. I was furious at the man for not 00:06:36.569 --> 00:06:39.550 paying attention. I was just furious at God. 00:06:39.709 --> 00:06:43.329 I was cussing God publicly, like not a private 00:06:43.329 --> 00:06:45.810 person in general, but I mean, I was public about 00:06:45.810 --> 00:06:49.939 it. I was really, really pissed that this tragedy 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:52.240 happened. My son was obliterated, the entire 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.779 left side of his body obliterated, 12 broken 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:57.480 bones, four lacerated organs, road rash from 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:01.560 head to toe, a huge recovery. His eyeballs were, 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:04.939 the muscle connection is obliterated, like we're 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:07.060 having to work with his eyes still. But once 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:10.899 the anger subsided, Austin, I was able to hear 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:14.870 God's word. I was able to hear him speak to me, 00:07:14.870 --> 00:07:17.110 and he spoke to me in a way that only I could 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:19.029 hear, and I'm not gonna repeat it exactly on 00:07:19.029 --> 00:07:22.209 your podcast, but he said, stop messing around. 00:07:22.410 --> 00:07:27.470 You are not living your purpose for me. And I 00:07:27.470 --> 00:07:30.709 heard him clearly, and I said, okay, I surrender. 00:07:30.930 --> 00:07:33.029 What is your purpose for me? And he started to 00:07:33.029 --> 00:07:35.970 open doors, and he started to open my eyes, and 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:39.129 he started to put people in my life. that were 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:41.750 instrumental to not only help me grow this Mom's 00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:44.089 Day Prepper brand and community and the Mom's 00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:47.009 Day Bunker podcast, it was instrumental in helping 00:07:47.009 --> 00:07:50.329 me understand and see the abuse that was happening 00:07:50.329 --> 00:07:53.430 in my own home and how that was affecting these 00:07:53.430 --> 00:07:56.050 children and that I was never going to be able 00:07:56.050 --> 00:07:58.810 to protect them on my own. that I was going to 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:00.850 have to pursue a court of law. I was going to 00:08:00.850 --> 00:08:03.490 have to pursue divine intervention. I was going 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:05.589 to have to pursue outside sources and that I 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.769 can't do it on my own. It was a huge lesson. 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:11.029 You can do all things through Christ. You cannot 00:08:11.029 --> 00:08:14.149 do all things by yourself and you have to learn 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:17.910 to surrender. And I don't like that. I don't 00:08:17.910 --> 00:08:20.529 like surrendering. Who does, right? Come on. 00:08:20.670 --> 00:08:23.310 Nobody wants that. Nobody wants to be like, okay, 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:25.329 you take care of a God. Because first of all, 00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:29.189 has anyone literally met him? It's all faith. 00:08:30.009 --> 00:08:32.470 You have to have the faith to surrender that. 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:34.610 So I would say the most significant mom -to -day 00:08:34.610 --> 00:08:37.210 moment was when my son was hit by the truck. 00:08:37.490 --> 00:08:39.769 I've always found it interesting, frustrating 00:08:39.769 --> 00:08:42.409 even, when people say God won't give you more 00:08:42.409 --> 00:08:44.690 than you can handle. Honestly, that's complete 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:48.460 crap. If God only gave you what you could handle, 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.940 then why would you need him? That mindset makes 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:54.440 it sound like we're supposed to muscle through 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.379 life on our own. God's just cheering us from 00:08:56.379 --> 00:08:58.360 the sidelines. But the truth of the gospel, the 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.720 whole message of who God is, isn't about us proving 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:03.820 ourselves strong. It's about realizing that we're 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:07.720 not. That we weren't made to carry it all. God 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.200 doesn't need us, but he wants us. He wants a 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:13.419 relationship. One where we actually depend on 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:17.289 him. not just survive on our own. And honestly, 00:09:17.309 --> 00:09:20.509 it's in the places where I had nothing left to 00:09:20.509 --> 00:09:23.570 give, where I was completely overwhelmed that 00:09:23.570 --> 00:09:26.909 I saw Him show up the clearest. Well, I would 00:09:26.909 --> 00:09:29.289 go deeper there too, Austin. I don't think God 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:32.690 gives us anything. I think God is in everything. 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:35.590 And I also think that we are in a broken world 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:38.350 and the enemy is coming for us. And I love talking 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:41.629 to, how to put this politely, but misguided Christians. 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:46.399 on this topic, especially moms, because that 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.779 is a phrase that is told over and over and over 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:50.740 to moms when they go through something hard. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.440 Well, God won't give you more than you can handle. 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:55.320 And pardon my French, but that's bullshit. And 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.279 when you tell it to someone who just buried their 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.980 child, it is the wrong thing to say. The right 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:04.379 thing to say is, how can I help you? How can 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:07.220 I serve you right now? Can I hold your hand? 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:10.210 Can I cook you a meal? Don't say, can I pray 00:10:10.210 --> 00:10:11.889 for you? Because you don't know what that mom's 00:10:11.889 --> 00:10:15.309 going through. You can say, I am praying daily 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:19.190 for you, not, can I pray for you? So many people 00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:21.110 ask me, can I pray for you? And I looked them 00:10:21.110 --> 00:10:23.669 dead in the face and I said, nope, sure can't. 00:10:23.870 --> 00:10:25.690 Because what good is God? I was so angry. What 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:28.429 good is it going to do? And it just made me resent 00:10:28.429 --> 00:10:31.470 that person. Instead of inviting their light 00:10:31.470 --> 00:10:34.629 and their goodness into my life, I resented them. 00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:38.590 So I do not believe and I really encourage people 00:10:38.590 --> 00:10:41.149 to stop using this phrase, especially a parent 00:10:41.149 --> 00:10:44.149 who has buried their child, who has lost their 00:10:44.149 --> 00:10:48.490 child to the system and fill in blank whichever 00:10:48.490 --> 00:10:52.009 system you want. Don't say that because God doesn't 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:54.870 give you anything. Our God is good. God doesn't 00:10:54.870 --> 00:10:58.269 give us tragedy and trauma and crisis. God is 00:10:58.269 --> 00:11:00.529 in everything and He will turn your pain into 00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:02.889 purpose, you know, and I think that's apparent. 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:05.440 definitely apparent in my life, but in our short 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.919 conversation before we started recording, it's 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.519 apparent in your life too. And that's why I call 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:12.940 it beauty in the ashes. You know, your house 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:16.200 will burn down in this world because this is 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:18.960 just the world we live in, but there will always 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.659 be beauty that grows from it. You just have to 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:23.519 be in the right mindset and you have to have 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.080 faith. So a lot of people see someone like you 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:30.600 and think she must be superhuman, but what was 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.700 your lowest moment? And did you think you'd ever 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.440 make it through? I know I read that question 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.200 when you sent it to me and I was like, oh no, 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.360 I don't know how to answer this one. Because 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.759 I do get that a lot. You're super mom. I wish 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.500 I could be as strong as you. You're such a strong 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:51.159 mom. And they're right, I am. I am strong in 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.450 some ways, but I'm only as strong as my strategies 00:11:54.450 --> 00:11:56.690 and my preps are. I'm only as strong as my faith 00:11:56.690 --> 00:12:00.149 is. I'm only as strong as my community is. I'm 00:12:00.149 --> 00:12:03.230 only as strong as my strategies are. And I think 00:12:03.230 --> 00:12:06.629 that motherhood is like going to the gym. And 00:12:06.629 --> 00:12:08.970 when you stop going to the gym, what happens? 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:10.909 Well, you know, your body gets kind of long. 00:12:10.929 --> 00:12:12.970 If you don't use it, you lose it. God will put 00:12:12.970 --> 00:12:15.029 people in your motherhood to help you through 00:12:15.029 --> 00:12:19.070 these moments. But you have to use it, you know, 00:12:19.110 --> 00:12:21.509 and I sometimes get flack for this and sometimes 00:12:21.509 --> 00:12:24.669 I get praise for this, but I hope that the younger 00:12:24.669 --> 00:12:27.990 demographic that listens to your podcast really 00:12:27.990 --> 00:12:31.090 hears me when I say this. Social media is not 00:12:31.090 --> 00:12:34.370 your community. It is a tool to reach your community. 00:12:34.690 --> 00:12:36.950 It can be used as a business tool, but it is 00:12:36.950 --> 00:12:39.049 not your community. Your community is someone 00:12:39.049 --> 00:12:42.090 who you give a hug to, have a cup of coffee with, 00:12:42.190 --> 00:12:44.610 go to a movie with, have a conversation on the 00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:48.309 phone with. That is your community. If I leave 00:12:48.309 --> 00:12:50.710 y 'all with anything today, you ought to work 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.850 on building a community of people, faithful people 00:12:53.850 --> 00:12:56.169 who will be there for you. So I've actually talked 00:12:56.169 --> 00:12:59.929 about in previous episodes the illusion of connections, 00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:04.409 FOMO versus JOMO, the fear of missing out versus 00:13:04.409 --> 00:13:07.789 the joy of missing out. So I'm glad you've been 00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:09.990 touching on these subjects. Why do you think 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:14.309 moms feel so alone when catastrophe hits? Because 00:13:14.309 --> 00:13:17.700 it's so isolating. When my son was diagnosed 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:21.039 with cancer, I had only known one other kid with 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:24.000 cancer and he died. I didn't even know his mom 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.240 at the time. She's been a guest on my podcast 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.519 twice. Her name is Martin. And I'm always so 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.360 grateful for her son, Dino Jake, passed away 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:37.139 in October of 2014. And my son, Super G, was 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:39.879 diagnosed with cancer in March of 2015. And she 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:43.490 was very quick to reach out to me. Even in her 00:13:43.490 --> 00:13:45.610 pain and in her grief and they were diagnosed 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:48.690 with the exact same childhood cancer of neuroblastoma 00:13:48.690 --> 00:13:50.470 And she was very quick to reach out to me. She 00:13:50.470 --> 00:13:52.970 was very quick to just let me know she was there 00:13:52.970 --> 00:13:55.470 I didn't understand childhood cancer. I knew 00:13:55.470 --> 00:13:57.090 kids got cancer because I saw the commercials 00:13:57.090 --> 00:13:59.629 on the TV Oh look at st. Jude and little bald 00:13:59.629 --> 00:14:02.289 -headed kids and everybody give money, but I 00:14:02.289 --> 00:14:05.269 thought it was rare is not rare It is on the 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:08.409 rise There's a school busload of kids diagnosed 00:14:08.409 --> 00:14:12.779 every day and we are being lied to, quite frankly, 00:14:13.059 --> 00:14:16.159 by the medical community, by the media, by social 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:18.440 media, saying that childhood cancer is so rare, 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:20.019 it's not going to happen to your kid. Well, it's 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:21.940 not. And this is my tin foil hat that I put on. 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:23.639 This is the prepper part, right? Because it's 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:26.759 not rare. And I think we cannot predict if our 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:28.600 children will get cancer, but we can prepare 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:32.100 for it so that if the unthinkable does happen, 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.159 we have a better chance at fighting through it. 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:38.669 So let's talk about miracles. Can you share one 00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:41.230 or two moments where you clearly saw God move 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:43.750 when it didn't make sense, but he showed up anyways? 00:14:44.649 --> 00:14:47.450 Yeah, I love, love, love this question. This 00:14:47.450 --> 00:14:49.490 is my favorite one because I've been talking 00:14:49.490 --> 00:14:52.889 and writing a lot about miracles. I am getting 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:56.570 better and better at seeing the miracles closer 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:58.529 to the present time the miracle is happening. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.200 if not in the present time that the miracle is 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:04.200 happening. Whereas before, I couldn't really 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:07.440 see all of the miracles just going back to childhood 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.820 cancer. Or even if I look at Hurricane Harvey, 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:13.179 that totally destroyed our home. Like in a minute, 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:15.840 a hot minute, our home was gone. And I had five 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:17.559 kids and I was pregnant with my sixth one and 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.889 it was just a disaster. There are so many miracles 00:15:21.889 --> 00:15:24.370 happening in your life that sometimes it's hard 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.149 to see in the moment, but I'll tell you a really 00:15:27.149 --> 00:15:29.230 cool one, okay? This is like my favorite one. 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:33.409 And this one I did understand right in the moment. 00:15:33.590 --> 00:15:37.389 I mean, it was so overt that I was like, wow, 00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:39.990 I can't unsee that Holy Spirit. Like that was 00:15:39.990 --> 00:15:43.240 totally God right there. And I would have never 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.539 known it had all these circumstances and all 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:48.259 these integral. It was like a big web of things 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:50.940 that just led to this one moment. But when my 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.360 son Super G was diagnosed with cancer, I was 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:56.120 pregnant with my fifth child. So I went through 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:57.820 all the cancer treatments with him pregnant. 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:00.460 And then I. had birth right in the middle of 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:02.379 the cancer treatment. So I had an infant with 00:16:02.379 --> 00:16:04.659 me and then I had my one -year -old, they're 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:06.460 15 months apart. So they're very close in age. 00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:09.480 And anyways, when your baby's two weeks old, 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:11.399 you'll take them to the doctor and they'll take 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.179 a blood sample and they'll do all this testing 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:15.700 on them just to see like where you're at. And 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:18.600 I'll never forget this. We were at Texas Children's 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:22.039 Hospital and G was due for scans. Now these scans 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:25.379 are quite... intrusive and they're a two -day 00:16:25.379 --> 00:16:28.580 process for neuroblastoma and they have to put 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:30.720 them under anesthesia to do it when they're little 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:32.840 because you have to be very very still and you 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:34.620 know little guys aren't really still they like 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:38.019 to move and wiggle. So my dad was with me who 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:39.919 was not a believer at that time. We're waiting 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.559 for this hour to pass that G is doing his scan 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.429 and the pediatrician calls me. And he says, Hey, 00:16:45.490 --> 00:16:47.610 I wanted to call you personally because I got 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:49.509 the blood results back. And I'm like, Oh God, 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:51.769 what's going on? I don't want it to be cancer 00:16:51.769 --> 00:16:53.649 again. He goes, No, no, no, I don't want you 00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.350 to panic. I just wanted you to know that he has 00:16:56.350 --> 00:17:00.350 a variant in his hemoglobin in the oxygen that's 00:17:00.350 --> 00:17:03.649 in the red blood cell. And I thought, Oh, that's 00:17:03.649 --> 00:17:06.849 okay. Yeah, because my oldest son had that variant 00:17:06.849 --> 00:17:09.789 and my oldest daughter had that variant. And 00:17:09.789 --> 00:17:12.250 then my third daughter had that variant. but 00:17:12.250 --> 00:17:15.069 I didn't remember if my fourth son had that variant. 00:17:15.569 --> 00:17:17.809 And I said, Dr. Patel, can you please go look 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:21.190 at G's records and tell me if he has the same 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:23.789 variant? And he goes, wow, he doesn't. He doesn't 00:17:23.789 --> 00:17:26.470 have it at all. I said, well, what does that 00:17:26.470 --> 00:17:28.410 mean? He goes, well, this is a genetic thing 00:17:28.410 --> 00:17:30.529 and it's coming from me. We know it's coming 00:17:30.529 --> 00:17:33.670 from me. And there's no scientific reason for 00:17:33.670 --> 00:17:35.690 him not to have it, to not have this variant 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:38.079 in his hemoglobin. I said, well, what does that 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.599 mean? What does it mean to have this? He says, 00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:41.519 well, if you have it, you're anemic. You're just 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.200 naturally anemic. And I said, are you telling 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:48.420 me that out of my five children, now six, only 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:52.779 one does not have this anemic variant in his 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:55.319 blood? And he said, yeah. And I can't explain 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:58.180 it. Now, here's the significance with that, Austin. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:17:59.880 When you are going through chemo treatments, 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.440 whether you're a child or you're an adult, it 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.539 strips your body of everything good and it makes 00:18:04.539 --> 00:18:07.410 you extremely anemic. so much so that you have 00:18:07.410 --> 00:18:09.809 to have blood transfusions in order to get the 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:13.009 next Joseph chemotherapy. And the way neuroblastoma 00:18:13.009 --> 00:18:17.150 works is that it is a very angry disease and 00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:20.089 they can cure it. Obviously, my son's doing very 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:22.730 well, but if you don't stay on schedule with 00:18:22.730 --> 00:18:25.470 these chemo cycles, it takes, I mean, you give 00:18:25.470 --> 00:18:28.089 it an inch, it takes a mile. And had he had that 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:30.849 variant, he would have been anemic. He would 00:18:30.849 --> 00:18:32.990 have had blood transfusion after blood transfusion. 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.029 The chemo cycles would have been pushed down 00:18:35.029 --> 00:18:37.799 the road. and that disease would have taken over 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:43.880 his body. So God knew to arm that child against 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:47.200 this world and he did it on a molecular level. 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:51.059 That is a miracle. And it makes me think, what 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:54.880 is he doing for me? What is he doing for you 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.759 on a molecular level that we can't see? It is 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.259 total fluke that I even found that out about 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:04.579 him. I only found it out because his brother 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:07.079 was born and his brother came back with the variant, 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.539 a positive variant in his hemoglobin. He said, 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.940 no, you got to see this. You got to trust me. 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:17.079 You got to keep following me. You got to have 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.079 faith in me. I am protecting you. I'm protecting 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:22.400 your children. And that is the coolest, coolest 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.119 miracle. And that was the turning point for my 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.369 dad. It took him a few more months, but... He 00:19:28.369 --> 00:19:31.250 eventually came to know Christ and he was baptized 00:19:31.250 --> 00:19:34.950 at 72 years old. Praise God for that. It's amazing. 00:19:35.009 --> 00:19:38.289 And I have so many stories like that. And like 00:19:38.289 --> 00:19:40.170 I said, I'm getting better at recognizing them. 00:19:40.190 --> 00:19:42.950 And when I do consultations with moms and they're 00:19:42.950 --> 00:19:44.869 pouring their heart, they're scared, they're 00:19:44.869 --> 00:19:49.349 crying, they're angry. I'm really good at seeing 00:19:49.349 --> 00:19:51.710 and picking out the miracles and showing it to 00:19:51.710 --> 00:19:54.849 them and the light bulbs that go off and the 00:19:54.849 --> 00:19:57.529 joy on their face. It makes my job worth it. 00:19:57.559 --> 00:19:59.539 Even though it's hard to hear some of these stories, 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:02.680 it's like, listen, God is here. And I've talked 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:05.059 to women who aren't believers. I've talked to 00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:07.000 women who were believers and now they're not 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.420 because they're so angry. I've talked to women 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:12.140 who were never a believer and now they are. I 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:15.740 mean, miracles are here. I just hope your audience 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:18.539 hears this. And whoever is listening, I hope 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:22.079 it reaches them. I had a mom who was not a believer. 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:24.039 Her family was not a believer. Her daughter was 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:27.509 hit by a car and she passed away. And her daughter's 00:20:27.509 --> 00:20:30.690 organs were donated. She was brain dead. Her 00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:34.390 liver went into a man who was a pastor. The pastor 00:20:34.390 --> 00:20:36.670 reached out to them and that family is now a 00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:39.529 believer because their daughter died. That is 00:20:39.529 --> 00:20:43.390 how powerful our God is. That is how good our 00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:46.210 God is. And I want to tell you how powerful Satan 00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:50.329 is too. I had a Catholic mom come on. Daughter 00:20:50.329 --> 00:20:53.170 took fentanyl. died. She found her daughter dead 00:20:53.170 --> 00:20:56.569 the next day. She cannot even think twice about 00:20:56.569 --> 00:20:59.410 God. She doesn't want to believe in God. She 00:20:59.410 --> 00:21:02.509 doesn't love God. She's so angry. That is how 00:21:02.509 --> 00:21:06.490 powerful Satan is. So I tell moms, you have to 00:21:06.490 --> 00:21:09.589 have a foundation of faith. You have to arm yourself. 00:21:10.269 --> 00:21:13.710 I give out Ephesians 6 a lot to people, and it's 00:21:13.710 --> 00:21:17.269 all about the armor of God. Because like neuroblastoma, 00:21:17.329 --> 00:21:19.589 if you give the enemy an inch, he will take a 00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:22.019 mile. Those are the moments we hold on to when 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:25.160 everything is falling apart. So Romans 5, 1 through 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.660 5 is a core verse for you. Why that passage? 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:31.299 What did it teach you about pain, endurance, 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:35.119 and hope? Friend of mine at the time sent that 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:40.019 to me. I was, like I said, very public with my 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.480 anger towards God when my son was hit by the 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:45.039 truck to the point where people were very, very 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.339 worried for me. You know, they were like, wow, 00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:51.549 this is not Carrie. This is not, like, she's 00:21:51.549 --> 00:21:53.990 really a faithful person. Like, this is something 00:21:53.990 --> 00:21:56.609 we need to support her. And again, I had already 00:21:56.609 --> 00:21:59.430 been putting these strategies and preps in place. 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.309 Without calling them preps, without calling them 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:04.910 strategies, I knew the importance of community. 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:07.910 And my community really showed up for me. And 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:13.009 she just felt moved to send me that verse. And 00:22:13.009 --> 00:22:17.470 I do not necessarily find my faith through Bible 00:22:17.470 --> 00:22:20.390 verses. or reading the Bible or Bible studies. 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:22.609 I find it through experience. And so she sent 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:25.849 that to me and I, for whatever reason that day, 00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:28.349 I opened my Bible and I read it. And I thought, 00:22:28.470 --> 00:22:31.009 this is what God is telling me to do. This is 00:22:31.009 --> 00:22:33.849 a promise to me. This is a promise to all of 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:37.369 us that you will suffer because this world is 00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:41.009 broken. That is a promise. And you will persevere. 00:22:41.369 --> 00:22:44.250 You will build your endurance. There will be 00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:46.900 hope. You will get to the light at the end of 00:22:46.900 --> 00:22:49.900 the tunnel. You will get through it. And the 00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:53.980 promise ultimately is he will walk with us. He 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:57.220 is in it with us. He has not thrown us to the 00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:59.720 fires. He has not given us more than we can handle. 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:03.339 Okay. He is in it with us and he is fighting 00:23:03.339 --> 00:23:08.559 with us. He is fighting for us. And that's what 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.559 that means. And it's kind of my mom's day prepper 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:17.049 motto. That's a great transition into our next 00:23:17.049 --> 00:23:18.630 question. I don't know if that was intentional 00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:22.650 or not You've created six moms day preps practical 00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:26.009 and spiritual tools for moms from facing chaos 00:23:26.009 --> 00:23:29.769 Can you walk through what they are? Sure, and 00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:31.769 I've already talked about a few of course faith 00:23:31.769 --> 00:23:35.309 is important If you don't have a foundation of 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:37.950 faith, you don't have anything. Walking on the 00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:40.609 pediatric oncology floor and just observing the 00:23:40.609 --> 00:23:42.769 other families, and there were 36 families on 00:23:42.769 --> 00:23:45.049 there at all times because they only had 36 rooms, 00:23:45.069 --> 00:23:47.549 you can tell which ones had faith and which ones 00:23:47.549 --> 00:23:50.190 did not. And it didn't matter if it was a Jewish 00:23:50.190 --> 00:23:53.509 faith, a Muslim faith, a Christian faith, a Hindu 00:23:53.509 --> 00:23:56.910 faith, it didn't matter. The ones that had zero 00:23:56.910 --> 00:24:00.410 faith, their children were sicker, the parents 00:24:00.410 --> 00:24:04.490 were sadder. Their skin was gray. There was no 00:24:04.490 --> 00:24:07.130 happiness. There was no smile. In their suffering, 00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:10.329 there was no hope because they did not have faith. 00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:12.630 And I've talked about community and how important 00:24:12.630 --> 00:24:15.890 that is. I mean, I live in a military town. There's 00:24:15.890 --> 00:24:17.829 a military base here and these military moms 00:24:17.829 --> 00:24:20.170 are fluttering in and out all the time. And they 00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:22.769 have like mom support groups on base, but I think 00:24:22.769 --> 00:24:24.960 they need to go bigger than that. They need to 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.920 go bigger than that. At one point, I had every 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:29.460 single continent on this earth praying for my 00:24:29.460 --> 00:24:32.160 cancer kid. Even Antarctica, because one of my 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.859 friends was traveling on a trip to Antarctica. 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:38.279 I had a person on every single continent praying. 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:41.849 Like, build your community. Make it a good community. 00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:44.430 Briefly, we talk about finances. There is not 00:24:44.430 --> 00:24:47.210 a dime you will not pay to save your child. Get 00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:49.890 your finances in order. Awareness. Understand 00:24:49.890 --> 00:24:52.490 what you are in with your child, whether it is 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:54.589 cancer, it is fentanyl, it is mental health, 00:24:54.670 --> 00:24:56.549 it is the school system, it is the court system. 00:24:57.369 --> 00:25:01.789 Understand the law. Understand the contracts. 00:25:02.630 --> 00:25:05.180 Understand the language. You don't walk into 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:07.819 a school screaming and demanding things. You 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:09.779 need to walk in the school speaking the language 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:13.160 they can understand. And healing is a big thing. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:15.819 And healing is the one that nobody wants to do. 00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:18.420 When I do my workshops, they're like, oh, that's 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:20.960 hard. Oh, that hurts. Oh, I don't know. I don't 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:24.400 want to go there. But you have got to start to 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:27.059 understand what happens to you in these traumatic 00:25:27.059 --> 00:25:30.140 events. A trauma happens to your brain. Your 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.230 brain, in layman's term, fractures. And you have 00:25:33.230 --> 00:25:35.849 to bring that together. You have to help heal 00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:38.849 those neurotransmitters and those neuro memory 00:25:38.849 --> 00:25:43.029 pathways, your amygdala, your polyvagal nerve. 00:25:43.289 --> 00:25:45.289 Like there is a whole physiological thing happening 00:25:45.289 --> 00:25:47.509 to your body when you are under these high stress 00:25:47.509 --> 00:25:50.269 moments that you have to be one step ahead and 00:25:50.269 --> 00:25:52.650 heal. Otherwise you're a sinking ship and your 00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:54.690 children are watching you. They are following 00:25:54.690 --> 00:25:57.460 you. So those are some of the preps and the strategies 00:25:57.460 --> 00:25:59.440 that I've put together for moms, and it's very 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.980 personalized. When I do consultations with these 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:04.500 moms, like you're in debt, okay, well, let's 00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:06.359 look at our finances. What can we do? How can 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.160 I encourage you? How can we support you? What's 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.160 the plan? It's about putting a plan together. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.220 Because a lot of the times the moms I talk to, 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.519 they're already in it. They're in the mom's day 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:17.640 moment. So these preps are now strategies to 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:20.819 surviving. So how can moms start building these 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:23.460 preps now even if their lives feel peaceful at 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:26.680 the moment? They can reach out to me at momstayprepper 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.599 .com and they need to send me an email and I 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:32.440 have some resources that are free to give them, 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:35.079 so not everything costs and I get it. I'm a mom 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:37.299 and things are expensive, but then one -on -one 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:41.119 consultation and coaching is very helpful. But 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:43.420 I think first and foremost, easiest thing you 00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:45.799 can do is pray. It's free. It doesn't take a 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:49.029 lot of your time. Just pray learn to pray learn 00:26:49.029 --> 00:26:51.849 how to pray learn how to ask for things specifically 00:26:51.849 --> 00:26:54.269 your prayers need to be very specific So it's 00:26:54.269 --> 00:26:59.130 so to the mom in the NICU or the mom Bearing 00:26:59.130 --> 00:27:03.250 a child or the mom silently dealing with addiction 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:06.549 in their home What do you want to say to her 00:27:06.549 --> 00:27:09.369 today? This is when I say fight like hell You 00:27:09.369 --> 00:27:11.369 gotta fight like hell right now mom and you can't 00:27:11.369 --> 00:27:13.450 stop fighting. You are not gonna go quietly in 00:27:13.450 --> 00:27:16.059 the night You are not going to lay in the street 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:19.740 and die. You are going to stand up because you 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:24.019 are a lioness in motherhood. Ezekiel 19 to what 00:27:24.019 --> 00:27:26.880 a lioness your mother is among the lions and 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:29.099 you are going to fight. How can friends, churches 00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:31.819 and communities better support moms going through 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:39.279 mom's day moments? It's so easy. Just make a 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:42.630 meal, send a door dash like. We ain't got time 00:27:42.630 --> 00:27:45.069 to cook food when we're trying to save our kids' 00:27:45.390 --> 00:27:48.369 life. Are you kidding me? Like, that is the best 00:27:48.369 --> 00:27:51.329 thing you can do. What does taking back your 00:27:51.329 --> 00:27:54.990 motherhood mean to you? Keeping these children 00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:57.289 on a path of salvation. What it means to other 00:27:57.289 --> 00:27:59.650 moms, I don't know. But I know that every time 00:27:59.650 --> 00:28:02.990 I tell a mom that, tears come down their face. 00:28:03.049 --> 00:28:05.109 Because I don't think anyone's ever told them 00:28:05.109 --> 00:28:07.910 that before. I don't think anyone's ever said, 00:28:08.210 --> 00:28:11.140 fight like hell. Take your motherhood back. And 00:28:11.140 --> 00:28:15.460 they're like, oh, I have that power? Yeah. It 00:28:15.460 --> 00:28:18.539 has been instilled in you by the Father, the 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:21.980 Son, and the Holy Spirit, justified through death. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:25.059 Like, you are the power. There's a reason why 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:27.559 he is attacking moms. There's a reason why he 00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:29.920 is attacking motherhood. He does not want the 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:32.880 next generation to grow up in salvation. My kids 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:35.700 are amazing kids, and they've gone through very 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:37.779 hard things, and they continue to go through 00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:41.400 very hard things. And yet we are keeping Jesus 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:45.599 at the center of it. That's what it means to 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.279 me. That makes me tear up, Austin. You made me 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:55.480 cry like three times, dude. So you have an upcoming 00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:58.920 book called Look Both Ways. What inspired it 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:01.819 and what do you hope moms get from reading it? 00:29:02.299 --> 00:29:04.339 Well, I hope they just get that they're not alone. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.420 I mean, it is a true memoir. It is about all 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:09.799 the Momsday moments that I've gone through and 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:13.539 sprinkled in with like my origin story and how 00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:15.900 it all just comes together. I mean, I look at 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:17.500 my life as I'm writing this out and I'm like, 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:20.019 wow, God has been with me every step of the way 00:29:20.019 --> 00:29:22.359 and the enemy has attacked me every step of the 00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.480 way. And there have been times in my life that 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:28.200 I'm a sinner like anyone else. I'm not perfect. 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:30.960 I ain't Jesus. I make mistakes. I've broken all 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:32.519 the commandments, I suppose. I don't think I've 00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:35.099 murdered a human, but I've murdered a couple 00:29:35.099 --> 00:29:38.180 of cockroaches. Hey, whatever. I don't know how 00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:41.059 far you go with your theology. Listen, it's a 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:44.839 hard road to travel, and I think it's an interesting 00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:48.140 story. I have an interesting story, and I have 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:50.980 a powerful story, and God has gifted me with 00:29:50.980 --> 00:29:54.869 a voice. There's this video of Steve Harvey who 00:29:54.869 --> 00:29:56.769 comes out. He always came out and talked to his 00:29:56.769 --> 00:29:59.410 audience after his show. I love him. And he's 00:29:59.410 --> 00:30:02.069 saying, you know, God put it in my imagination 00:30:02.069 --> 00:30:04.730 that I was going to be on TV. And he talks about 00:30:04.730 --> 00:30:08.029 all the, you know, trials he had to go through 00:30:08.029 --> 00:30:10.309 to get to where he was. I was like, you know 00:30:10.309 --> 00:30:13.490 what? God put it in my imagination to be on stage. 00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:16.480 I knew I was going to be on stage. I didn't know 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:18.640 at what capacity. I always kind of pursued acting, 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.119 but I think speaking, he gave me a voice. He 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:23.940 gifted me a voice. He gifted me the ability to 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:25.880 stand in front of thousands of people and be 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.480 totally comfortable with it. Like I shine on 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:30.660 stage. I shine in front of thousands of people. 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:33.500 Like it is so good for my soul. And that is the 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:35.799 gift he has given me. And he put it in my imagination. 00:30:36.119 --> 00:30:38.680 at a very young age to be where I'm at today. 00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:41.839 I'm just going along and God keeps opening the 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:44.339 doors and there will be a day, I have no doubt, 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:46.940 where I am on one of the largest stages, maybe 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:49.500 a Ted Talk, maybe one of these, I don't know, 00:30:49.579 --> 00:30:52.319 like Tim Tebow or Dave Ramsey or whoever, where 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:54.559 they're just having tens of thousands of people 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:58.240 listen to these speakers. It will happen because 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:01.220 God has given me that gift. So you're also the 00:31:01.220 --> 00:31:04.180 host of Mom's Day Bunker. What kind of conversations 00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:07.140 are you having on that show? We're having hard 00:31:07.140 --> 00:31:09.859 conversations on it and they're important conversations 00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:11.799 then they're all about mom's day moments there 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:14.460 It's mostly other moms coming on and telling 00:31:14.460 --> 00:31:17.559 their story, you know Every once in a while I 00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:20.180 pop in and I do an episode, but I'm not as interesting 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:22.359 as other people I'm not as interesting as they're 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:25.680 they coming in being like, you know This happened 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:30.980 funerals Austin cost so much money They are so 00:31:30.980 --> 00:31:34.099 expensive and you do not want to even think that 00:31:34.099 --> 00:31:37.190 you're gonna bury a child But the truth is, sometimes 00:31:37.190 --> 00:31:40.650 you do. And then when you do, you realize, I 00:31:40.650 --> 00:31:42.789 don't have the money to bury a child. I don't 00:31:42.789 --> 00:31:45.769 have an extra 20 grand sitting around to buy 00:31:45.769 --> 00:31:48.329 the spot, to buy the coffin, to do the funeral. 00:31:48.829 --> 00:31:50.990 And they're put in these really tough situations. 00:31:51.450 --> 00:31:55.769 And I mean, it's been incredible. Because I thought 00:31:55.769 --> 00:31:56.930 it was going to be like, you know, my best friends 00:31:56.930 --> 00:31:59.289 and my mom listening to the podcast. And then 00:31:59.289 --> 00:32:02.410 it launched and it's all over the world. It's 00:32:02.410 --> 00:32:06.559 really powerful what's happening. with this podcast. 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.559 The podcast is under attack for sure and we just 00:32:09.559 --> 00:32:12.519 keep trucking along. What does beauty from ashes 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:18.559 and unfiltered faith mean to you? Unfiltered 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:21.240 faith is a great title by the way. It is a great 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.259 title because when you are unfiltered that is 00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:28.900 when you are the most honest and your faith is 00:32:28.900 --> 00:32:32.640 not always sunshine and joy. It is not always 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:36.779 unicorns and rainbows. It is hard You are tested. 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:39.920 You are pushed. Your boundaries are pushed. Sometimes 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:41.740 your boundaries are broken through. Like when 00:32:41.740 --> 00:32:44.759 my son was hit by a car, that boundary was obliterated. 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:48.299 I was really angry and that is the beauty of 00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:50.839 faith. That is the beauty of God's love for us. 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.779 He gave us these emotions. He created us to have 00:32:53.779 --> 00:32:57.059 all these emotions and these emotions mean something. 00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:00.539 Anger is probably my favorite emotion because 00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:03.420 it tells you when a boundary has been broken. 00:33:03.880 --> 00:33:06.619 It tells you when something is wrong and you 00:33:06.619 --> 00:33:09.079 need to pay attention. Like, why am I angry right 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:13.180 now? Anger is a band -aid to fear, okay? And 00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:16.440 that fear, as we know, is a tool from the enemy. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:18.559 I'm afraid, but why? What is going on? I need 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:21.160 to look at this. I need to examine it. I need 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:24.160 to be curious about it. So I love the unfiltered 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:28.660 faith. podcast title. That is so cool. And through 00:33:28.660 --> 00:33:30.779 your journey with your faith, you will continue 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.299 to find more beauty in the ashes with all these, 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:35.440 you know, disappointments, just basic disappointments 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:37.519 in life. You didn't get the job you wanted. That's 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:40.200 really disappointing. But guess what? Two months 00:33:40.200 --> 00:33:41.720 later, you get this other job and it's like, 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:43.640 wow, that was a beauty in the ashes moment. I'm 00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:46.220 so glad God shut that door because he's opening 00:33:46.220 --> 00:33:48.349 this door. Or maybe all the doors are closed, 00:33:48.390 --> 00:33:50.009 but there's a window that you gotta crawl through 00:33:50.009 --> 00:33:51.549 that's maybe a little uncomfortable, but once 00:33:51.549 --> 00:33:53.630 you get through it, it's like, here's the rest 00:33:53.630 --> 00:33:55.809 of my life. You know, you gotta change your mindset 00:33:55.809 --> 00:33:57.990 and it's about perspective too, but you gotta 00:33:57.990 --> 00:34:03.109 walk in faith and trust. And I'll tell ya. My 00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:05.990 faith is miles deep and sometimes Austin, my 00:34:05.990 --> 00:34:08.170 trust is inches deep. Like it's a journey with 00:34:08.170 --> 00:34:10.190 God. It's the unfiltered faith journey with God. 00:34:10.369 --> 00:34:12.969 Like, okay, let's look, God, I strongly believe 00:34:12.969 --> 00:34:14.869 in half faith and I'm still having trust issues 00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:17.389 with you. So let's work through this. Wow. What 00:34:17.389 --> 00:34:20.150 a conversation. I just want to say a huge thank 00:34:20.150 --> 00:34:23.429 you to Carrie Hansen, not just for showing up, 00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:26.150 but for showing up honestly. I thoroughly enjoyed 00:34:26.150 --> 00:34:28.309 this episode and I hope so many of you do too. 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:30.980 These kinds of conversations are what unfiltered 00:34:30.980 --> 00:34:33.940 faith is all about. Real stories, raw moments, 00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:37.460 and the reminder that even in chaos, God is indistant. 00:34:37.739 --> 00:34:40.039 He's present and he's faithful. If something 00:34:40.039 --> 00:34:42.219 in this episode spoke to you, please share it 00:34:42.219 --> 00:34:45.860 with someone who needs to hear it. Lihiva rating 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:48.579 or a review if you haven't already. It helps 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:51.239 get these stories into the hands and hearts of 00:34:51.239 --> 00:34:54.579 more people. Until next time, keep seeking those 00:34:54.579 --> 00:34:57.019 fresh perspectives and keep having those unfiltered 00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:59.340 conversations with someone to better understand 00:34:59.340 --> 00:35:00.280 the world around us.