Hey y 'all, this is Caroline and this is Maddie
and this is our first episode of Unity Through
Christ podcast. We are so excited to have you
on here tonight or today or wherever you are
in the world. Yeah, so our goal is to make disciples
that make disciples as disciples ourselves and
we are two believers becoming unified as sisters
through Christ. so should we just get into like
how we met yes wait hold on but first i need
to know how was your week what was your highlights
what'd you do um okay so let me just like think
about this i was dog sitting um this was the
end of my the last like dog set sitting thing
that i had i was going from house to house since
january or no december 24th and i just got back
home i think there's like one night in between
that i was like staying at my own house um so
i was just going from house to house um dog sitting
and one thing i bought elevation worship concert
tickets no way i'm so excited that's what i was
gonna tell you wait yeah I want to go. I know,
I know, I know. But it's at the end of February.
So I'm going to Pennsylvania. I'm going to see
my friend. Oh, wait. I want to go see Elevation.
I want to go to Pennsylvania. Yeah. Not at the
end of February. That's too cold. Oh, you're
going to have so much fun. Yeah. I'm so excited.
So I'm going there. I literally dropped like.
I think it was like the tickets were inexpensive.
They're like 200 bucks. But then my plane tickets
were like 350. Yeah. And I was so upset because
I had credits and it said it expired the end
of January. And I thought that meant like it
expired. Like I could still use it before January,
but I could do it at any date. But I could buy
the tickets. Oh, you had to use it by the end
of January? No, I had to buy the tickets before
the end of January. So I was going to end of
February. So it just was like. I don't have credits
anymore. I had like, I could have got like a
free ticket basically. So now I can't use it
unless I book a trip before the end of January,
but I'm not. So it's just like, it went away.
So I can't use those credits, which was like
upsetting. All right, Delta, fix your stuff.
Southwest. Southwest, fix your stuff too. um
but i'm so excited for for that like i'm so excited
first time ever like this is like my second ever
concert i think i went to a taylor swift concert
like way back in the day oh my goodness So I'm
really so excited for that. You know, before
tickets were $1 ,005 a piece. Yeah, exactly.
And then also, okay, I wanted to share this.
So this morning, I told you I had a Jesus moment.
Yes. So it was my last day. I was wrapping it
up at the dog's house that I was sitting for.
i had ended up like falling back asleep i was
so tired like this morning i usually wake up
around seven let the dogs out let them do their
thing and then i went back to bed i was going
to leave around like 10 o 'clock and um the pet
parents were coming home around like that time
or like it was like 11 or something so they were
coming like around that time and so i went back
to bed and i set an alarm for like nine something
and it was like 9 30. and um i wake up to a couple
of texts and they're like hey like we got through
tsa like really fast we're on our way home now
like we're like an hour away i'm like i need
to clean the house like it wasn't like like super
like bad but like i had to like make the bed
like clean up all my stuff like make the couch
all nice after the dogs jumped on it and stuff
like that yeah i'm like oh my gosh take the trash
out i have so much to do so i'm like frantically
running around and then my friend called me and
we're on the phone and i'm like telling her what's
going on and i'm like oh my gosh i can't find
the house key i literally can't find the house
key and i'm like i'm looking everywhere i'm like
i just had it last night i just i thought i put
it on the counter you know so i'm looking for
this house key and i'm like it's probably not
a big deal like they probably have extras but
like you don't want to look like that in front
of a client yeah because then but then they could
be like oh well what if she just kind of pocketed
the house not saying you would yeah like exactly
like you never know how someone's gonna react
yeah it's like that's my responsibility too like
as a business owner i need to you know do this
do these things so I was like, where did it go?
Like it literally disappeared. I swear I had
it last night. I'm looking everywhere frantically,
like sprinting around the house, looking in my
car, packing up all my stuff at the same time
and stuff. And like, they're super nice people.
Like I wouldn't care if like. they came and i
was like home like that was totally fine it was
just the fact of like me trying to find this
house key so i told my friend carly on facetime
i'm like girl like we need to pray right now
i'm like lord please help us find this house
key you know so we're praying on the phone and
stuff and so um she's like hey maria gotta go
and i'm like okay i'm gonna go find this house
key gotta go so he said bye and then we i looked
in the car I was parked in the driveway and I
was looking in every single like door, like in
the back seat, in the front seat, passenger side,
everywhere. And I went to go like reach over
into my stuff that I put, just put into the car,
into like the passenger seat, like through the
driver's side, basically. And I'm like, why am
I doing this? Like, let me just walk around.
And the second I like. like came out of the car
i like looked down and the key was right on the
driveway no and i kid you not i had searched
the car before so i There's no way that it was
there. Cause like I was around, like I was in
the driveway and I didn't hear anything fall.
Nothing had felt like fall out in like my pockets
or anything. And it literally just appeared in
the sunlight on the driveway. And like the sun
was shining off the silver key. And oh my goodness.
It was such a Jesus moment. I'm like, thank you,
Lord. That reminds me literally my entire life
growing up, my grandmother. And as I, you know,
as we continue this and I talk more and more
about my grandmother, she's a phenomenal. First
of all, what do you call her? Nanny. Love that.
My sweet nanny. Um, I, one of the biggest memories
that I have from her, literally my entire life,
all the way up until when I was visiting home,
visiting her for Christmas. If she can't find
even the smallest thing, she will walk around
the house. Jesus, please help me find this. God,
please help me. Please help me. And I used to
like, before I came to know Christ, I used to
be like, Why are you praying to help me find
something? Yeah. And then now that I'm an adult,
I find myself like looking for stuff and like
walking around. God, please help me. Yeah. Please
show me where this is. Literally. And it's just
like, it's so cool. You always find it, don't
you? Yeah. Every single time. And she would too.
And so looking back on it, it would be like,
she'd be looking for like a checkbook or something.
Yeah. And she would pray for it. And then. I
don't know where. And it wouldn't, I mean, it
wouldn't be immediate, but it's just so cool
to see, like to look back and see, like that's
the level of codependency that we need on, on
God. Right. The, the level of codependency of
just like, please help me in this situation.
I know that it seems so silly and frivolous to
ask you to help me find a poop bag for my dog
right now because I'm fresh out. But like, please.
and then you best believe you know if it's his
will you're gonna find one in your left front
door pocket something i don't know that's like
growing up um i was raised by my great aunts
but one of my great aunts um she was like in
a bunch of car wrecks and she was kind of like
not disabled but like she would always like she
had a handicap like sign and stuff so she would
always park like up front near the stores and
she would be like praying and driving she's like
lord please give me this handicap handicap spot
and i swear or she'd be like let me like find
me a parking spot because there's so many cars
and like every time a car just pulled out yes
you get the parking spot like it's just so amazing
and you know what's so cool is like when they
do that and then they pull in the parking spot
the first thing they do is praise jesus yeah
it's like thank you thank you god right and i
think that's just something that we sometimes
like going through the day -to -day it's just
so easy to be like Make a step back, right? And
make sure to give God his thanks and stuff. Exactly.
Just be grateful. Have gratitude. Dude, that's
amazing. First of all, I'm jealous a little bit.
God says not to be jealous. I'm sorry. I'll repent
and ask for forgiveness. But I really want to
go see Elevation. Yeah, I'm so excited. I listen
to them just like in my car, like worshiping.
And I just feel it so much. And I can't even.
like think about being in person in the same
room like with tiffany hudson and just the lord
is everything is gonna be amazing and like even
just like on the treadmill like before my workouts
i like watch tiktoks about it and i'll just like
feel it so much so i know i'm just gonna be like
this is gonna be a whole different experience
so i'm so excited i um got to see i can't even
remember remember it and it was like years and
years and years ago i had just lost my stepmom
and Maybe it was Hillsong. Okay. I want to say
it was Hillsong United back in Birmingham. And
it was right after I lost when Oceans was really
big. Do you remember that? Do you know that song?
No. If I heard it, maybe. You know it. Maybe.
But Oceans was a really big song. Anyway, but
so got to go see them in concert back in Birmingham.
And it was just like. Unreal. Yeah. And I was
going through a gnarly level of grief at the
time. Yeah. And it was just like to feel. god's
presence in an area like that is just and with
everyone else too just like the community yeah
yes yes um that's amazing i'm so excited for
you y 'all just post concert we can talk about
it i'll talk about my experience yes um we're
already getting ahead of ourselves how was your
week first of all oh it was good it was good
it was good um Honestly, I started a new job
this week. How was that? It was phenomenal. I
don't want to get into too much detail, but I
love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. But
Maddie, do you want to tell them how this came
about? okay sure okay so basically let me go
back um so we first met at a bible study that
we did at hope city that's the church that we
go to um and it was like my second i think it
was like my second or third time i went to that
bible study you had already been going for like
a couple weeks right yeah i had already rambled
a lot yeah so fun fact about me i'm actually
very like um wait extroverted or introverted
introverted probably introverted you don't like
to you're not very social yeah yeah introverted
in big groups on like a one -on -one basis if
i get to know you i'm very like i'll talk like
your ear off i'm so annoying sorry um But yeah,
like in big groups, I'm so like, I'm just going
to sit back and listen. And like, if I get comfortable,
then I'll talk, you know? So like at first I
was just like, I think I said like one sentence
in the group. You literally said, my name is
Maddie. And I think that was it. My name's Maddie.
I'm from Pennsylvania. That's all you know about
me. And I'm just kind of sitting there rambling
upon about my entire life story. I probably cried.
Like, who knows? I love that though. Like, I
love that for you, but I'm just not that person,
but I will, I'll get there. Like I can get there.
so i was just like sitting back listening to
everyone i really liked you i was like oh she's
pretty cool like she's very like she's she's
talking a lot and i like what she's saying and
i'm just like a the whole time and so um it was
like maybe like a couple days or like a week
goes by or whatever i don't remember the perfect
timeline but um caroline had texted in our group
chat our bible study group chat being like um
i may or may not be starting a podcast tonight
yeah because they had asked like what everyone
was doing And so, I saw it. Again, like, I'm
not very active in the group chat. Like, why
am I not? Like, I should be. It's okay. I'm kind
of. Like, I'm kind of active. It's okay. It's
okay. I go with tiger days. I heart the messages.
Yeah, that counts. I see them. That counts. I
acknowledge them. The acknowledgement is all
that matters. Perfect. It's the thought that's
there. Perfect. Okay. So, I, like, saw that you
said that. And, like, I was just, like, always.
I listen to Christian podcasts, like, myself.
And I, like, feel so drawn to. them and something
the Holy Spirit was like you should start a podcast
like to me and I'm like oh my gosh she said that
she's gonna start a podcast I bet it's about
Jesus because you are just like so on fire for
Jesus like I could tell but just by being in
the same presence of you right so um I was like
she's definitely starting a podcast about Jesus
so a couple weeks like went by and like we hadn't
heard anything from Caroline about her podcast
so I I felt this in my soul like literally like
a couple weeks it was literally like two i think
it was two weeks ago weeks ago this was like
recent yeah holy spirit's like you should reach
out to her like see what she's did she do it
like you should you be involved yeah so then
i had reached out to caroline i'm like hey girl
like are you still starting your podcast like
what did i exactly say it was probably like i
think it was it was like um I'm so weird on text.
I'm like so lazy. It's okay. I genuinely would
and could type in all caps if it was socially
acceptable 24 -7. It just is. I think you texted
and you were like, Hey, did you ever? No, I typed
in all caps and I was like, Caroline. Yes, that
was it. Screaming. Yes. And you were like, did
you ever, did you ever start your podcast? And
I was like, or you were like, cause if you did,
I like want to be featured on an episode or something
like that. And I was like, um, actually no, I
didn't because I like, you know, wanted to find
a co -host and just. didn't really feel like
a like i don't know i just couldn't figure it
out i don't have enough ideas yeah and i was
like i don't know i don't have enough ideas i
can't just sit here i mean i could sit here and
talk to myself it would just be very boring i'm
not gonna lie and drake being the producer would
sit back and be like i am so sick of hearing
my wife's voice 24 7 but at the same time i was
like girl no then i was like i was like girl
i have so many ideas for you yes i started remember
i started listening yes you listed all the ideas
and i was like done you should host it with me
let's go let's do this i'm like i'm like thinking
i'm like is she gonna ask me to like host it
with her i'm like i i was like hinting i was
like you should make me a guest on your podcast
and then i'm like and you should do all of these
ideas and i'm like okay would you just like to
help do it with me i was waiting you literally
i was waiting for you to ask okay so hilarious
so we originally were gonna do um a podcast about
jesus and cooking but that fell through so it's
now just about jesus yeah which hallelujah hallelujah
he's the only bread we need period amen um so
that's how it came about but literally me and
caroline have only um met each other like three
other times literally yeah so we're not stranger
like we're not strangers to each other no we
sat together and ate some pizza and had a good
laugh had a good laugh and planned a whole lot
but outside of that we don't know any other times
yeah other times we met yeah yeah it was at the
bible study yeah how many bible studies were
you at that i went to i think i went to three
or four maybe three or four okay yeah so because
there was like one or two that i wasn't at that
you were at and then there was like one or two
that one that you weren't at that i was at yeah
from that point forward yeah and so we but also
you can't really like one -on -one connect in
a group study like that so exactly yeah so then
we met up for lunch and we were just like we
both want to do it and I have a good vibe from
you. I can feel the Holy Spirit within you. So
I'm like, let's do it. You know, like we're also
like, I'm like a very much like all in person.
I don't know about you. Same. I'm so all in.
I will be doing this in a year and a half from
now, even if nobody's listening. Yeah, I know
for sure. Because hello, give me an excuse to
talk about Jesus on a national platform, please.
Exactly. And this is so fun. Like we're hanging
out. Absolutely. I love this. anyways to sum
up the whole story to sum up the rant to sum
up this rant we tend to go on rampages we need
a hand signal when we're just ranting too yeah
please tell us like when to stop we're getting
off topic um this is how we came about like this
is how our name came about because we were like
we're literally strangers like you know to talk
christ uniting through christ wanting to talk
about jesus so we just want that for everyone
and i think too a lot of it came from um Truthfully,
we read about building community with our fellow
Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
What does that look like from a stranger to doing
life together and serving others together? And
doing the things that God calls us to do in the
Great Commission, like making disciples that
make disciples as disciples ourselves. It's really
just looking at, you know, how do we take two
people from completely different backgrounds,
completely different states, completely different
areas, and quite literally put us in a room and
learn how to do the whole sister in Christ thing.
community in christ serving other people through
jesus's name together yeah and and we're just
gonna see like our relationship just like grow
from these episodes because we're just in a way
that we're able to to you know speak to other
people and and serve other people and what we're
able to do through it and i'm just excited truthfully
that you know If anybody knows me, y 'all know
I could talk to a literal brick wall, sell ice
to an Eskimo, talk to a brick wall, do just about
anything. So when it comes down to it, you know,
this is something that I have always had a passion
for. I have always felt, not always, since podcasts
became a thing, I have always felt, you know,
a calling for a podcast. And I think this past
year just truly solidified it through me. You
know, like, and I'll, I guess that is a good
segue. I'll dig into a little bit about myself
and a little introduction of myself and, you
know, where I came from, where I'm going. And
only Jesus knows where I'm going. But the, so
I'm, of course, Caroline, mom. Carol for short,
if you would like it. I do love a good Carol.
But you can only call me Carol if you say it
exactly like that. I don't like Carol, so it's
okay. If you want me to, I can call you Carol.
It's okay. We can do a little bit of both. It
sounds like an old lady name. It is. It's okay.
Just a smidge. Sorry. You can call me Mads if
you want. I will. I actually will probably. See,
we're just getting through this thing and we're
like learning together and it's fantastic. So
I think a little bit about me, right? So mom
of three children, wife of a handsome, handsome
human. I'm quite literally obsessed with him
as many people know. Full -time employee, just
serving at the church, loving, living, and, you
know. Breathing. Breathing and praising Jesus.
I'm just finishing your run -on sentence. That's
it. Anyway, a little bit about myself. So, as
many people probably did, I grew up in a church.
Um, so when struggled with abandonment from a,
from a pretty young age, my, uh, one of my parents
decided to, to, you know, need to, um, maneuver
their life elsewhere, uh, and just for their
mental health, for their, you know, what they
needed to do. And that's, that's a, you know,
that's their, that's their decision. That's their
prerogative. And I respect that. It did a little
bit of damage on me, so dealt with abandonment
from a pretty young age, kind of all through
high school. However, I was in church. Southern
Baptist Association. Every Wednesday night, church
choir. Oh, you sung? Yeah, girl, I sung. What?
Can you sing for me? No, I cannot. Church choir.
What happened? No. I'm going to get, I'm going
to get rosy cheeked. So, um, yeah. So Wednesday
night choir, Sunday night service, Sunday morning
service, um, GAs, um, all the things. Right.
So was there every, every week, nonstop. Right.
Ended up, um, going through high school and ended
up leading a, a pretty promiscuous lifestyle
in high school um I didn't really dabble a whole
lot in like drugs or or of course I would drink
occasionally in high school but like I didn't
really do a whole lot of that it was very much
I looked for love in all of the wrong places
um and I think that that was a a big aspect of
what led to a significant amount of of quite
literally insecurity that i have you know just
about myself internally um and i think it also
led to a significant amount of um what's the
word i'm looking for doubt of myself esteem very
low self -esteem yeah i didn't have respect for
myself you know yeah i i looked at myself as
uh you know just Not important, not worthy, right?
Not, um, not beautifully and wonderfully made.
Right. So, uh, ended up, you know, leading a
promiscuous lifestyle like that ended up with
me 17 and pregnant. So got pregnant with my oldest,
uh, while I was a senior in high school. So,
uh, 17 pregnant, had my first child, the sweet,
uh, boy of my life. um ended up later on having
a daughter as well she is also a light in my
life very similar to me as a person which is
scary but also amazing and beautiful and awesome
and gorgeous and just awesome and then uh leading
to our youngest who of course is she's my child
actually as rambunctious But also as dedicated
and has a work ethic like quite literally my
husband. So I like to say that she's a good,
fantastic 50 -50 mix of me and Drake. So Jesus
met me about three years ago. No, I'm sorry.
Four years ago. Around about this time, four
years ago. And I will give a very brief synopsis.
i so what happened like before like when you
were going to church and stuff like you you believed
but you weren't following yeah basically um so
i i believed i went through the motions of believing
and i went through um you know everything that
was that was everything physical that a christian
could do on this earth right i had not fully
surrendered and i had given my heart to Jesus,
very, very young, was baptized, all of the things,
right? There was no full surrender. There was
never a point where I basically took my hands
off the wheel and was at rock bottom and said,
God, I can't do this without you, right? So probably
about four years ago, I went through a pretty
significant mental health period, right? And
during that time frame, you know, Drake and I
had been married for a little over seven months
at this point. And, you know, I just, I was not
living my life for the Lord. And I was not living
my life in any way that my kids would be proud
of me. I was not living my life in any way that
my husband would be proud to call me his wife,
right? And I was just going through a significant
mental health journey. Right. So I hit rock bottom,
a pretty significant rock bottom. I did not want
to make it out of that rock bottom. Right. Yeah.
So, yeah, I was just going through the motions.
So I had gotten saved. You know, when I was really
young, you know, did a public profession and
was baptized and everything. But it was never
a full surrender. Right. So probably about four
years ago during this this. Mental health stuff,
I quite literally hit rock bottom. Right. And
it was a scary place. Yeah. And. I think that's
probably the number one thing that is the fact
that our minds themselves are so scary, right?
But one of the things that like I kind of took
away from that and it's stuck with me is that
the creator that created my mind is the one that
can help me. manage it. Right. He's the one that
has the strength to help me manage it. Right.
So during this time, um, I of course started
going back to church and, and really just dove
into it. And, um, so we were at a church in Alabama
that, that Drake had, had grown up going to and
had played the drums in the youth band. And,
uh, and so we were going there and I, I just
realized one day, quite literally my family's
faith. the fact that you know my grandparents
are were massive christians and my dad is is
an amazing christian and um just the fact that
i had all of these great influential people in
my life that did not earn me a spot in heaven
right so um it was very clear and so four years
ago uh at the beginning of excuse me the beginning
of march i um gave my gave my heart to Jesus
over the phone with our pastor at the time and
and then very very shortly after um spiritual
warfare kicked up right and I I didn't have a
community I didn't have um a group of people
to lean into when that spiritual warfare hit
so we started traveling as a family um and we
would move once a year for the past four years
and you know, kids were in a different school
every year. And, you know, I just was, I was
working full time as I, you know, as I have been
the whole time. And, and so I was just like,
so busy. Yeah. Right. And we went to a new area
and like, it was so difficult to find a church
and like, it's hard to make community when you
know, you're going to leave in nine months. Yeah.
You know what I mean? So, so just kind of fell
out of it. Never fully like. went back to what
i was doing the fire was just yeah the fire was
just super small right it wasn't as big as it
was so then um this past year right so fast forwarding
because i can literally talk for 12 hours um
fast forwarding into this year 2025 yes thank
you we're in 2026 now 2025 um july July 16th,
we moved here on July 18th. So July 16th, we
had gotten our moving van. We had gotten our
moving truck. And my father -in -law and my brother
-in -law were here to help us move. And we were
gearing up ready to make the trip from Jacksonville
to here. And I got a phone call that... something
had happened to my grandfather and they weren't
sure that that he would make it um and so I I
remember it like I can remember it like it was
literally yesterday um I was driving to Publix
my brother -in -law was in the car with me and
got the phone call from my dad and I had just
talked to my grandfather the night before and
it was um very sudden very quick um and he was
gone and that was i'll try not to cry um that
was a big big big big uh i don't know why grief
makes you really just see yeah dependent and
see things for what they truly are i think it's
so hard when When, or not hard. I think it's
so easy to get caught up in. I know I get to
talk to that person tomorrow. Right. And, and
not. Taking it for granted. Yeah. And, and I
think that's so, so in losing my grandfather
and this man raised me, helped in my raising.
He wasn't the only one, but he helped in my raising
tremendously for 29 years of life and poured
into me and my children and my marriage. And
he just, everybody that he met, he poured into
everybody. And so it very quickly made me realize
that not only was I taking advantage of the fact
that he was here, I was taking advantage of the
fact that God gave me my salvation and he gave
me the gift of his son. And I was taking that
for granted. Almost like you don't expect to
die until you meet Jesus face to face. You know
what I mean? Like you're never sitting there
expecting to die. You're never sitting there
waiting, right? And so I think that's what it
just catastrophically in my brain opened up was,
You are taking your salvation for granted. Yeah.
Tomorrow's not promised. Yeah. You're, you're
taking the blood that Jesus shed for you. Talk
myself. I was taking the blood that Jesus shed
for me. Um, and, and not appreciating it. No.
And I wasn't doing what he was calling me to
do. And then, you know, shortly, shortly after.
And so I went through a period of about three
months of just. heartbroken grief um not three
months i'm sorry it's two months almost to the
day of just heartbroken grief and um about two
days after the the um charlie kirk assassination
i was sitting here working in my office like
i do every day and i just had such Such sorrow
in my heart, such grief in my heart. I think
like we all, I felt that and it's just, everything
was going on in the world that was just horrible.
And yeah, it was bad. I felt the same way. And
it was like, but it, and it was like the grief
for my grandfather and the grief from, from that
and the. Like piling up. Yeah. And the, the,
uh, the, um, fear of raising children and, uh,
and to, to be bold and courageous in their faith.
And, you know, in that. Stuff like that. So I
was sitting here and I just was working at my
work desk and I just cried out to God. And I
said, I have no clue. I have zero clue. I have
zero idea of, number one, how I'm going to do
this. Number two, what you want me to do. And
number three, how can I be bold and courageous
in my faith? Because I'm sick of thinking. That
I am not meant for more. That you do not have
a purpose for me. And directly after I prayed
that prayer. And I'm not a cuckoo bananas person
by any means. I promise. Only slightly. But right
after I prayed that prayer, I looked out my window.
And I had a rush of peace pass over me. Peace
that surpasses all understanding. He's from the
Holy Spirit. And I look out my window right behind
me and I see a monarch butterfly. And I've never
seen one before in my life. That's crazy. I see
a monarch butterfly, which butterflies represent
change. And the monarch is known as the king,
right? Butterfly. And to me, that was, you know,
Jesus and God being the king. the change that
was happening within the world, right? The turning
point that was happening in the world and the
shift back to Jesus that was happening. And then
directly after that, and this is like just small,
but directly after that, I'm not even joking.
They were like succinct one after the other,
the monarch butterfly, and then a hummingbird.
And so the hummingbird is, you know, a representation
of joy and resilience and love. hope and so at
this point it just peace that surpasses all understanding
washed over me and uh I very much so was I was
done running I was done I mean call me the prodigal
son running back into the father's arms right
it was that moment for me of okay I'm done taking
my salvation for granted. Use me the way that
you, you need to use me and for your glory and
your glory alone. And so that leads me to this.
That's amazing. I love that. It's been a long
time. So when did you join like the Bible study?
so was that like another thing that like jesus
like told you to do like led you to do or like
yeah so i ended up going to uh there was a women's
night which we we have another women's night
coming up that i am actually working on uh it's
the 30th of january oh okay yep it's a women's
night um at the church and basically what we
do there is um there's a group of signups or
a small group signups and they'll have tables
set up so you can see like read about different
small groups and so the the small group of course
that we met in was the one called daughter of
the king and it very much spoke to me because
I had always always always struggled with well
i'm not worthy god can't use me i'm i'm nasty
i'm you know i did all these terrible things
like he doesn't want to use me i'm i'm filthy
i'm quite literally unclean and that was who
couldn't have been further from the truth right
so um ultimately god placed it on my heart while
i was reading that that that was absolutely a
group that I needed to be in and it just so happened
that Gina was leading that one and um she was
also leading the one that Drake and I were doing
together for the the um first eight chapters
of Romans okay and and so I just knew that Gina
I don't know it's just a thing like I just looked
at her and God was like yes yeah and um so I
I joined them both And Gina had to deal with
me and my husband and my kids for two nights
in a row every week and bless her heart. But
she sure did it. And it was an amazing group.
It still is an amazing group. I love every single
lady that's in there. Yeah. So. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.
Yeah. Amazing. So Miss Maddie from Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Where is it? Where is it? Yeah,
Pittsburgh. Yes. Not Philly. I will confuse them.
Yins. I say y 'all, she says yins. Yinsers. So,
tell me about you. I want to know about you.
I want to know about myself. So, obviously, I'm
from Pittsburgh. Well, not actually Pittsburgh.
It was like outside Pittsburgh, but I just say
Pittsburgh because no one knows where Manor,
Pennsylvania is. That's like me saying I'm from
Birmingham, but it's really Chelsea, and it's
like... Like, what is that? Exactly. Everybody
knows Birmingham. Nobody knows Chelsea. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. um so anyways um i grew up going
to church um as a little kid i was raised by
my great aunts so um they're sisters they're
my mom's aunts but um my um mom she passed away
whenever i wasn't even one so um i was raised
by my great aunts and my dad he lived in florida
my whole life um in west palm beach and um so
um Me and my brother would go – I'm not an only
child. I have a brother, by the way. Oh, I have
lots of siblings. I just didn't include them
in anything. I have a brother. His name is Gio.
Gio. Love him, by the way. But anyways, so we
would go to West Palm Beach and Naples for the
summers growing up to visit my mom's side of
the family. So I have a lot of cousins and uncles
and aunts here. I would visit them in Naples,
and then I would go to West Palm Beach for –
Like one month in Naples, one month in West Palm
Beach with my dad. So you basically, you would
get super tan every summer. Kind of. I would
come back with a bunch of mosquito bites and
I still have so many mosquito bites. I'm scared
to wear shorts. I get made fun of. Okay. So anyways,
I would go there, visit my dad and come to Naples.
And I was raised in Pennsylvania. I went to church
with my great aunts every week. And as I got
older, I just like stopped going. Like I was
just like. you know i just like grew out of it
i was just i was going because you know like
you're a kid and you go like it was routine that's
not i was made but like that's like who they
just took me to church right i wasn't learning
anything i was just sitting there writing notes
on the back of the like little thing and just
drawing pictures as a kid so i didn't learn anything
i did sunday school and stuff and um my aunts
they would you know like pray before meals we
would do that um like here and there um she would
always you know talk to me about jesus and angels
and stuff like that um but i was never like this
is my full life you know like i was just a kid
and so i grew up i was like prioritizing other
things like i was like morning time is my gym
time yeah i i'm going to gym i'm going to the
gym in the mornings like i was so obsessed with
the gym and stuff like in high school um So I
kind of just stopped going to church and I just
thought it was really boring and I didn't learn
anything from church. Like when I was there,
I wasn't listening. Like I said, I was just kind
of going cause I had to. And I just like had
really no idea about like, like having a relationship
with Jesus. Like I had no idea that was a thing.
Yeah. And like what that actually looked like
on a day to day. Yeah. I didn't know. and so
i went to like one bible study in my life of
like a high school student and again like it
was just like i kind of went because my friend
went it wasn't like i didn't take anything away
from that yeah yeah um so also to my dad um he
passed away like maybe four uh four or five years
ago i don't know so both of my parents gone from
drugs um i was born addicted so i have always
been I think it could go one of two ways. It
could be like you, you kind of get that from
your parents and you do drugs or like in my case,
I like see what, what happened. And I'm like,
I will say as far as possible, like from that.
Yeah. So growing up, never did drugs. I think
I got drunk once in my life. I don't like alcohol.
I don't even drink alcohol. even just like to
have a drink i'm just like like i will like maybe
but like it's not like my main like this is what
i want to do you know which is so good so good
so good so good for you to to have that that
willpower and that tenacity yeah because that
is such a slippery slope exactly um but like
i said i think it just comes down to like i see
what it does like see what it did to you know
my parents you know but yeah it's it's kind of
like weird because i um obviously like it's a
super sad thing and um it's very unfortunate
that that happened but I never had like a close
relationship with my dad when he was alive because
he lived in Florida and I was living in Pennsylvania
yeah and when my mom I don't even remember her
I don't even know who she is so um not that like
I was like heartbroken you know like it wasn't
I was like daughter father type thing like I
I didn't really, I was upset obviously, but I
never even saw, he would not even tell me happy
birthday growing up or, or like Merry Christmas,
nothing like maybe a couple of times, but like,
it was just like, I saw him in the summers. That
was it. Yeah. Which is like sad. Um, but that's
kind of like my background of growing up and
stuff. Um, but anyways, so, um, again, I didn't
know anything about Jesus and I was always like
a morally like good kid again, didn't do drugs,
didn't do alcohol. And don't plan on doing any
of that in the near future. I'll help you stay
away from it. I'll hold you accountable. I was
like super into the gym. And I moved here three
years ago from Pennsylvania after I graduated
high school. And my goal was to become a fitness
influencer. Yeah, girl. I wanted to do that so
bad. I wanted to bodybuild. I was so into fitness.
I still am into fitness. I love fitness. I know
your gorge. thanks queen so anyways i moved here
and i had just gotten out of like a high school
relationship for two years like it's like a long
high school relationship right oh yeah girl i
know my high school girl my high school relationship
was like three and a half years on and off i
i got you exactly so like we were i thought i
was gonna marry that boy exactly we're like we
are so in love we're gonna marry praise jesus
for the man i ended up marrying So yeah, it was
like two years long. It was pretty long. And
like it was serious for a high school relationship.
Like we were like obsessed with each other. And
then I just, like, kind of, like, grew out of
love with him. I was just, like, moving to a
different state. I ended up breaking up with
him and stuff. And I moved here. And I'm, like,
I'm going to focus on myself. I'm going to get
my career started. I was in school for exercise
science. Doing online school. Just, like, being
so productive. We were boss babing it. I was
boss. I was such a boss girl. Boss babing it.
Boss lady to the. Girl, I had 12K in the bank
saved up at 18. I was, like, let's go. Literally,
girl. i don't know where did that come from i
don't know honey at 18 i was taking my last like
20 bucks out of the savings account to go buy
formula at the cbs okay we had different 18 year
old okay so no i was like doing so well i'm like
i'm so independent you know i'm about to um become
a personal trainer like do all these things in
naples and stuff like that and i was like so
ready to start my life and so i ended up meeting
this guy and um He became my boyfriend and we
were with each other for two and a half years.
We just recently broke up in October, I believe.
And so basically, again, at this time, I still
don't. have a relationship with jesus i we go
to church maybe like we try to go to church because
like we just wanted to you know but we didn't
know why we were like we should go to church
you know um but again i never i never wanted
to go out i never went out i was just focused
on my gym stuff doing that stuff and anyways
again didn't know jesus and looking back at the
relationship that i had with him um i was literally
being a wife to my boyfriend i was doing all
of the wrong things and i didn't know anything
i didn't know that that was the wrong thing i
was like oh like this is what love is like we
lived together for two and a half years we moved
in together like he was my everything i was literally
worshiping him like he was like a god i was obsessed
with this man i was conforming to him like before
i was such a goody goody i started like cursing
i started like being getting so judgmental he
was like very like like judgy i guess you could
say like i would just talk about people and i
was like in love with this man like i knew he
had a good heart but i always felt like something
was off like i don't know you were conforming
to the pattern of the world exactly so worldly
girl so worldly it was and i knew it and I lost
myself so bad, girl, so bad. Like it was like
I was distancing myself from my family. I stopped
going to family events in Naples. I stopped really
reaching out to my Pennsylvania friends. And
like, you know, I didn't have friends. Well,
your world at the time revolved around him and
your relationship. Exactly. And that was all
that mattered. The only person I hung out with
was him. His friends were my only friends. because
that's all I knew. And he was the person I knew
ever since I moved here. And I was not myself.
I didn't go out and try to make friends. I didn't
have friends. It was just literally him. I had
some friends, but it was just like, they weren't
like true, true friends. But you would, and you
would have rather spent your time with him. Exactly.
Yes, exactly. So it was this whole like thing
that I didn't even realize at the time. You don't
realize it in the moment. No, no, no. So like
you said, I had to hit rock bottom. when i say
rock bottom girl i'm telling you right now rock
bottom i had zero dollars in the bank 12k went
to who knows where who knows where no money left
were you still in college were you still doing
online school i did pay some but that was like
maybe like 2k out of pocket well yeah but like
at the time when you were in this relationship
and the relationship was ending like were you
still in college were you still no um no i was
kind of like i don't want to do this i don't
want to do exercise science anymore because i
had gained 60 pounds girl but not a chance i
had gained so much weight in the relationship
again losing myself rock bottom i wasn't like
60 pounds up at that point like i lost weight
and stuff but i was like so far from who i was
yeah um well you lost sight of who you were as
a person without him exactly and like small caveat
even in a marriage to become one flesh and everything
you do together is is is as a team however you
still have your stuff like you still have your
your roles and your yeah your purpose and and
and y 'all's combined y 'all's marriage purpose
right whenever you get married y 'all's marriage
purpose might be Whatever God calls it to be.
To raise a family together. To do these. But
you still have your purpose. Your own purpose.
And your thing in God's plan. Drake still has
his. I could never play the drums. Could never
in my life. And I'm like. maybe i could carry
a tune but like not mine no so i was just saying
like i hit rock bottom like no money like yeah
my body goals were like out of the window like
i was like my dream body when i first came here
worshiping him and just it was i was in this
funk of just like depression and just like being
so confused of why like i'm in this great relationship
but nothing is like inside like yes like something's
off yeah right yeah um And I felt that for like
two and a half years. You were missing something.
I really was. Right. So this these past like
three months have literally been life changing.
And my life has done a complete 360. Like when
I tell you like it's been insane how much my
life has changed. But basically back in October,
the breakup was very bad. It was very messy.
And it just was like. it just showed me like,
that is not who I thought you were. And, and
I'm not claiming to be perfect. Like I was not
in the right mindset or headspace either too.
Like I didn't, I probably could have dealt with
it like better and stuff, but it was just like,
I got, I felt the one person that I thought was
going to be with me the rest of my life gone.
Yeah. Like literally we're done. We're done.
Right. And so I tried so hard to hold onto it.
Like I was, I was like, i broke up with him and
then i um like a week later was like let's just
try to work it out and i tried so long to hold
on to it we i we both knew i knew inside and
that it wasn't working out so within that time
of me breaking up with him so after i broke up
with him i was like just saying to myself like
i want to focus on my relationship with god and
i like had no idea what that looked like i didn't
know what that meant i just would like be like
okay like i went to target and i bought this
thing that was like um read the bible one year
oh like the 365 day bible yes it's like 52 weeks
in a year 52 yeah read this like like listen
you gotta start somewhere honey you gotta start
somewhere jesus listen that's the thing god meets
you where you are meets you where you are so
i bought that and um i did it for a little bit
like i read it i didn't even understand what
i was reading i was starting with like genesis
like as everybody does in the beginning exactly
um but i think that the real turning point was
um So, you know, Dana, she's amazing. She's like
such like a big like part of my testimony, I
feel like, because she had reached out to me.
So originally I met her. She's my client, my
dog sitting client. I also dog sit. I run a business.
I'm a dog trainer and dog sitter. Hit me up for
all your dog sitting needs. So I met her because
she has three dogs. I just remember like talking
to her and just like, I don't know, something
about her was different. She's such a nice lady.
I'm like, I was like thinking about her after
the meet and greet. I'm like, I just love meeting
nice people. Like, what the heck? So sweet. So
I don't know. Something about her was just different.
And I remember when we first met, we kind of
talked about church and I had gone to church
with my ex a couple of times. and we were talking
about church and she was like saying how she
goes to hope city and um i think she said that
or she was going to a different church at the
time i don't know but we were just talking about
church right so i knew that she had gone to church
basically is my premises um so once me and him
broke up um i had so sorry okay Dana had reached
out to me because she was like hey Maddie I'm
going somewhere for like a month I think it was
like Minnesota and she was like can you watch
my dogs for that long and I was like I can't
really do that anymore because I was doing a
lot of overnights in my clients homes and my
ex at the time would watch my dogs so i had no
one to watch my dogs yeah so i was like i can
but i'm gonna have to do a lot of back and forth
yeah and i have also have like a overnight in
between like those days so i would have to like
not be with your dogs for like those amount of
days right yeah and so i had mentioned that we
had broken up and i remember talking to her about
him because um when we first met like I had a
promise from him and everything. Like I had all
this, like my background, like everything was
him, like I said. And so I told her about him
and like, oh yeah, we're doing so good. He's
amazing, you know, and stuff like that. And then
I had said that we broke up in the text and she's
like, oh my gosh, like I'm so, so sorry, right?
like saying, that's so sad. And we got to talking
because I had asked her, I was like, at that
point, again, I had no one, like I just asked
everything. Well, and you, you moved down here
three years ago and then very quickly got into
a relationship with somebody that like, that's
who you became like rock solid with 24 seven.
Right. So it's like, exactly. Who do you have?
Right. Who can you reach out to? And, and you
know, you don't. you don't have anybody yeah
and i was like this lady's so nice like i feel
like i could like bring this up even though she's
my client like yeah i was like oh should i like
i don't know like maybe this is like crossing
a line like this is like a business thing you
know what i mean yeah but i was like no she seems
really sweet like i think she would be cool so
i was like i ended up texting her back and i
was like do you have any like advice like for
me like to go through this and stuff? Yeah. And
she like sent like all these voice notes. We
love a voice note queen. I love a Dana voice
note. We love them. With the second she sent
the voice note, I'm like, oh, I'm done. She's
like my mom. Amazing. Amazing. So it's like that.
What's that meme? It's like. it's like glorious
give me 12 of them right now what is it you know
what i'm talking about it's not that but it's
like um something fabulous give me 12 yeah i
don't know either way literally that um so she
just like started talking and then um she invited
me to come to the bible study yes and stuff like
that and i feel like i'm kind of going everywhere
with the time zone or the time frame yeah But
anyway, she invited me to the Bible study. She
invited me to go to church with her and stuff
like that. So at this point, I was still thinking
that like knowing Jesus was like reading the
Bible and that's it. Like I didn't know. Doing
things for him. Yeah. I didn't know anything.
Yes. I just was just like confused and looking,
you know. Yeah. And so anyways, I went to church
for the first time. with dana and i had gone
to church before that by myself i was trying
to find a church that i liked yeah and at that
point i started to pray i started to actually
have a relationship with god and um just everything
that i prayed about was just like coming to life
so fast and like god was working in my life so
insanely fast it was insane um and so after the
first church sermon that i went to the sermon
was about always always the sermon was eric's
whole topic of a godly family and it was talking
about a godly man in the marriage listen literally
nothing from nothing like who i was yes and i'm
like oh my gosh thank you lord for like taking
this is my first sermon and this is what i'm
hearing and i'm just like wow like this i remember
that shout out eric literally love him guess
what too i have a side note about him but keep
going well me too so when i first went the first
day i was grabbing coffee first time ever i was
by myself waiting for dana to come and um I met
Eric and I was watching the online sermons before
I came and stuff. We did that too. Yeah. Just
to see like what it's about, you know? And so
I saw him and stuff and he came up to me and
he asked if I was new and he gave me a hug. And
I was like. oh I went to shake his hand he gave
me a hug I was like that was so sweet he is um
genuinely just a amazing yeah yeah yeah stand
up godly human and I remember sending that sermon
to my ex on text that day no acknowledge of it
at all like I don't even think he watched it
and I'm just like I mean that's okay god will
meet him where he is i knew it was not it was
not gonna work at that time i don't know if we
were trying to work it out or if he had like
ended things but i was like praying that he could
end things and he did like he was like basically
the last text was like i am um let's take a break
for two weeks and see where right we just both
knew that yeah it's not it's not gonna work like
we just both knew yeah so um It was messy. Yeah.
It was messy, girl. So anyways, after the whole
going to Hope City, I absolutely loved Hope City.
Like, it literally changed my life. was in the
same situation as you as where i didn't have
any christian community at all my friend from
pennsylvania actually she is a big christian
loves jesus and um i was able to talk to her
a lot she helped me shout out carly i love you
so much um but she we would facetime so much
i started talking to my friends back home more
i started talking to my family more yeah being
like i remember who i am again you know But I'm
like, I really want Christian community because
I have no one and stuff. And if you don't have
Christian community, you will just fall back
into. It's hard. It's so hard. Exactly. Exactly.
So I literally, I remember praying to the Lord
for Christian community. And I remember one day
as well, I was saying how. I hope that he can
bring anyone into my life, like back into my
life who who may need to be in here. And I was
thinking about my old friend, Lloyda. I remember
her telling me about how she was a Christian.
So I was kind of thinking about her, but like
not really like it was just kind of like, you
know, prayer and stuff. And I wasn't thinking
anything of it. But anyways. He answered so quick.
I went to the Bible study. found amazing group
even though like i'm the youngest in the group
but that's okay everyone is just so awesome for
just me just listening to their stories and stuff
but just like sitting i don't even i didn't have
to say anything just being there and listening
to everything all of my prayers were being answered
i was finding christian community i found you
guys i found um a christian community that was
in fort um myers i went there for once it was
so far though but literally love those girls
well yeah girl love those girls um Just super
far from me. And then it was like my friend Lloyda
had come back into the equation. She literally
texted me out of the blue one day. That's amazing.
Who brought her to me? God. Not only other than
God and Jesus, literally. That was literally
insane. And I was just seeing all of my prayers
being answered. Like I'm telling you right now,
I was doing dog sitting and it was, it wasn't
like a consistent pay. Like it was just like,
I was getting, you know, here and there. I was
kind of like struggling financially, like a little
bit. But you relied on other people going out
of town for you to have work. Exactly. So I didn't
know when I was getting paid next. It was kind
of stressful. I was praying to God. I was like,
I need something. I love dogs. I want to do something
with dogs so bad. I was getting really into dog
training with my own dog. that's when you came
into the small group because I remember you telling
us that yes exactly and I prayed about it and
um again like Jesus just answered I got a new
job um and it was perfect like it literally is
like conforming to my schedule I get to make
my own schedule I still get to do my drop -ins
my dog sitting my boarding and it was just like
everything has just been so amazing career wise
I I know that I want to do I know I want to do
dog training I know I want to continue to do
boarding dogs and like I literally say like my
dogs are my angels like dogs are literally angels
to me I love them so much they bring me so much
joy um so that happened like just like prayer
after prayer just like being answered and I was
just being too good to not believe yeah exactly
I was shown too much yeah I was feeling such
a peace like you said um I I didn't know how
I was getting through this breakup it was the
worst thing that ever happened to me like it
felt like and I was like you just had such peace
so good I was doing so good and I'm like what
happened like i just handed it all to him right
like i was just like this is so amazing and like
you said like too good not to believe and so
um just i've been working on just like growing
my relationship with god and he's just working
in my life so much and so i have a question for
you when did you fully when did you fully choose
to surrender and just like give it all to him
it was like right before i went to church with
dana yeah it was at a different church i went
to um first no it was just called naples church
yeah by myself one time yeah and i was just like
kind of embarrassed to go by myself but i had
no one and so that was like the first like kind
of step and um and yeah like i said i i i just
changed too so much like i used to curse a lot
i don't swear at all anymore and i started just
like um unfollowing so many people on social
media like things that don't serve me things
that i didn't even know weren't serving me like
i was following all these people like jacked
people on social media like fitness accounts
and i'm like i'm literally comparing myself and
i don't even know that yeah and so just surrounding
myself with number one christian community number
two christian content all on social media i unfollowed
so many accounts like i said and started following
like christian stuff and number three i only
listen to worship songs now um Or maybe like
a country song here and there. I was about to
say, me and the fans are quite literally some
metalheads over here. We listen, but we'll jam
to the goodness of God all day long. Yeah. I'll
tell you right now. But we might also jam to
some rock music. But yeah, I just like started
listening to worship music, podcasts, like podcasts
and stuff. So like everything now has just been
like God, Jesus, everything. And it's just so
crazy. And I talked to my friend Carly about
it, just how fast he's moving because. Even just
like my other friends that. aren't christians
i i've seen them like come to me and ask me questions
about stuff and i feel like i'm like i'm not
qualified to give you like answers and stuff
like i'm so new to this but he's working in my
life so fast it's just like i can't answer this
and i can like tell you and i want to help you
and like that's why i'm like so drawn to this
and so like i want everyone to feel the peace
that he's given me and i'm like that's why i
reached out to you like the was talking to me
and like it's just so incredible like i said
like such like a 360. yes like three months how
much my life has changed um and i ended up blocking
my ex on every platform right because i wanted
to post again on social media but i didn't want
to post you wanted to post it and and and feel
like it wasn't being judged when it was being
looked at yeah and also i didn't want to see
any type of his content or anyone else's content
because like i don't want to be so um so so like
involved in like the life of him now and stuff.
And I wanted to make sure that when I was posting,
it was posting to honor God and no one else.
I don't want to have to fear man. I don't want
to please others when I'm posting and think about
what others are doing. Think about what he's
doing in his life. So that has also helped me
moving, like moving on tremendously. Just doing
that. And it wasn't like a hateful, like I'm
blocking you and everything. It was just like,
this is for God. This is for me. Like I need
to just. Complete that. I went through that.
So when I was going through four years ago, I
cut out TikTok. I mean, I deleted everything.
TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. I deleted everything
off. And I still, so we're doing the fasting
and the prayer right now at Hope City. And one
of the things that I, you know, you and I, we've
chatted about a bit, but one of the things that
I cut out was. doom scrolling yeah because like
where yes my my my social media is now i don't
i still don't really get on tiktok ever i do
have it but i it's only because like my family
will send me videos and i want to be able to
like actually watch it yeah but i'm like an instagram
reels and a facebook reels girly okay um but
it's like always stuff it's either stuff about
doing nails or it's stuff about like um christian
like it's like christian stuff or it's you know
philip michael anthony like a good little sermon
clip from either him or josh howard or pastor
eric or joey martin and like um so it's like
a good amount of that but i found myself like
just not being productive right and so you know
ended up cutting that out you know doom scrolling
uh for for fasting as well as soda the soda is
kind of in the hardest part I don't even drink
sugar soda. It's just diet soda, but it's so,
it's still so good. The bubbly, the carbonation.
It is what it is. But yeah, no, I get it, dude.
Like the, during when I was going through that
four years ago, I was on such a poor side of
social media. And I do think that there's good
in social media and the fact that we can use
it to reach people. Right. And, but I was on
such a poor side of social media that it was.
It's sending me down like rabbit holes of paganism,
bro. It's so true of what you consume your mind
with is how you're going to act and what you're
thinking about. Yes, yes. That is so true. That's
why I was like, I need to clear all of this out.
I need to do a factory reset. I can't see these
models on Instagram and compare myself to them
every day. Even when I say I'm not doing it,
I am. You best believe I am, right? I also was
listening to a podcast too. And she's, it's,
do you know Madison Pruitt? Yes. Stay True podcast.
Yes. So she brought this up and I thought it
was just like, so like, this is just, I can relate
to this so much and so many people can. But when
I started to make my main focus following Jesus
and God and just wanting to be more like Jesus.
And that was just my everything, right? Like
that's my focus in life. Like everything else
follows. Like I used to be like, oh, I'm going
to focus on myself. Like I'm going to do this
and all that. But that is just like what comes
with it. Like my life, I feel like more like
feminine. Yeah. Like I feel this in the gym.
I'm doing better and stuff. And just I'm being
like my. my whole character is just like changed
and stuff. Well, and I think also too, like my
heart. Yeah. And I was going to say like the,
the, the, the number one thing that people don't
realize is that when you, when you surrender
your life to Christ and maybe people do realize
this and they just quite literally don't care.
But when you do surrender your life to Christ,
your heart is cleansed you quite literally it
the psalms say created me a clean heart oh lord
and renew a right spirit within me you are literally
your sin debt is paid you are washed white as
snow from that baptism to the the resurrection
of the holy spirit right or your resurrection
into then the holy spirit coming and living within
you right so You are quite literally made clean,
made whole. Made new. Made new, yeah. But your
heart is still and your mind is still your flesh,
right? Your body is still your flesh. You still
have to fight it. You still have to fight it.
And the thing about it is like spiritual warfare
is the hardest when the devil knows that he's
just lost somebody, right? And so like. Hell
lost another one. Yeah, girl, we are. I love
it. So, but the thing is, is like the, it just,
either way. So, so what has, what you want to
do then as a Christian, when you give your heart
to Jesus and what you have to fight for, well,
you don't have to fight for it. Jesus fights
it for you. And the devil's already been defeated,
but he just thinks he can like, and smack his
little whip at you every now and again and irritate
the crap out of you. Out of there. Literally.
I'm so competitive, girl. This is why I'm just
like, I want to win. Exactly. Like, get away.
I want Jesus to win. I don't want to win. I want
Jesus to win. Yes, yes. But it's like, the thing
is, is like the devil keeps trying to crack his
little whip at you and Jesus has already like
defeated him. He's just like. Trying to like.
Yeah. For some reason. So the thing is, is like,
you have to choose to follow Jesus and when you
choose to follow Jesus and you choose to do the
things. You know, the spiritual disciplines that
are talked about in the Bible, reading scripture,
prayer, fasting, all the spiritual disciplines
that are talked about in the Bible, you start
to see the fruits of the Spirit. What are the
fruits of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self -control. And all of those things culminate
to just a posture of thank you. And it's just
gratitude. When you're sitting there, you're
no longer wondering, you know, what is this person
thinking of me? You're saying, thank you, Jesus,
for everything. Yeah. Like, how can I spread
the gospel to this person? Yes. Right? And it's
just such a posture of gratitude to where, like,
you are. Just love. Yeah. And, like, dude, I
struggle with irritation. and anxiety and anger
so bad sometimes. And, and I know my husband
is in the back going, yes, she does. But like
it is there. And there's days where it flares
and I have, I'm just, I'm, I'm ill and I'm irritated,
but you know, what can change my heart real quick.
Exactly. literally praying and asking jesus asking
for yeah to to put on that full armor right and
and to cover me from any of the anxieties that
the devil's trying to throw at me any of the
insecurities and it's just a heart and it's so
real yeah i feel it so much and that's how you
know that's how you know that he is real because
we've literally like i felt that if somebody
feels like i'm just gonna say it once and this
is this is just me if somebody feels the love
of God and loves and feels the Holy Spirit, how
can you not? Exactly. Right. And how can you
like, and if not back to, yeah. And if not, how
can I help you get there? Yeah. What, what can
I plant the seed? What can I pray for? Like,
how can I plant the seed? Like, let me just sow
and God's going to grow because that's, that's
what I do. right and that's why we're here yes
look at that segue that's why we're here oh i
love that that was we went in really deep yeah
we did and i loved it i think it was a great
first episode maddie do you mind if i close this
in prayer oh my gosh do you have anything you
want to say last minute i'm just so grateful
honestly i mean I feel like I say that all the
time, but I remember like crying in my car one
time because I was just so grateful for what
the Lord has done. Oh, dude, I do it all the
time. I'm getting emotional. Me too. Don't let
me get emotional. I'm not going to cry. I'm not
going to. I'm an emotional chicken. Close us.
Close us. Yes. Father, I thank you for just community
and friendship and callings that you put on our
life, whether they are difficult, whether they
seem so far out of reach. or whether you just
say jump and we say how high. Dear Lord, I thank
you so much for friends that you bring together,
stuff that you put together, and ideas that you
place in our brains last minute. And dear Lord,
I just pray for whoever is listening to this
right now, whether they are in their car, whether
they are at home, whether they're cooking dinner,
whether they are just... chilling. Lord, I pray
that you would just be with them, allow them
to feel a nudge from you, allow them to just
wrap, wrap your arms around them, God. And just
let them know that, that we come to them through
these microphones with just the utmost love and
prayer and obedience to you. This is, as you
know, so far out of. both of our comfort zones
and we're just here doing what you tell us to
do so dear lord i pray that uh you would be with
both of us as we continue on this journey and
as we continue to get to know one another i pray
that everything we do and everything we say always
and forever brings glory to you and i pray for
the person that's listening that um if you are
needed in their life they will take that step
towards you god So I just thank you so much for
the opportunity to sit here tonight and to be
together and to just worship and fellowship together
and just build a community. And I ask all of
these things in your name. Amen.