Trusting Your Gut (And What That Really Means)? | Sadie, Christian, Bella & John Luke

All right, so we sat down last week to start this podcast talking about the best piece of advice we've gotten all year and we totally planned to do it all in one podcast but I looked up at the clock, we were at 50 minutes and we still had three pages of advice to go which was awesome because we had so many great conversations if you haven't listened to last week, I highly encouraged to go. We started off a little goofy but we locked it in because the advice was so good. So we're just gonna keep rolling on last year, we literally only made it to May before we got to an hour so we'll pick out here but Jamie McDonald was on the podcast, she was incredible, her life story was wild, like her testimony was so powerful but I love what she said, she said before college, she was talking with the homeless man and I don't remember if the man said it or if it just came to her but it said no matter what happens to you don't harden your heart and that was really really cool so I'm curious in y'all's life has there been a moment that you've had to kind of overcome your heart being hardened because I know I certainly have in life? Anybody want to kick us off? Yeah I would say so. I mean I think that that happens anytime that someone disappoints you or says something mean about you or whatever like especially in a family or friends or spouse or you know girlfriend or whatever situation and you have to decide am I gonna forgive them or am I gonna get over it you know and I think there's always capyhots there's always uni set healthy boundaries and things but I think there is any time you're faced with a disappointment of betrayal you've got to decide am I gonna let this like call us me or am I gonna continue to love this person or be friends with them or whatever? I think about a lot of people going through like hardening their heart towards the church because they've had a bad experience in the past and I think honestly probably most people have had a bad experience in church at some point or another and so it's that choice do you forgive the person knowing that the church is built up of people who are impermanent people who serve a perfect God so not getting your heart hard into like a whole thing because one person or one situation hurt you for me specifically you want to go I don't know if you were saying hey let me let me get in here for me specifically one thing that I have never shared and I might stumble my way through sharing it but you've like watched me go through this I feel like I went through a little period this is this is vulnerable of like my heart being hard and towards things because I felt like like people were like using my name or my face for things like their thing maybe it was even to like promote something or to sell tickets or for this or that or whatever it was and I feel like I kind of got bitter in essence towards that where I felt like I wasn't valued for like who I am or like actually what I bring to it it was just like my name will bring other people so that's why they put my name out there and I felt like I did get kind of like sensitive about that and it actually even kind of made me like question things because I was like are people inviting me to places because I'm really like anointed to preach and like they actually love what I'm bringing to the table or am I just invited because my last name is Robert soon or because you know that and I had to like get down to the truth and be like okay even if people are doing it for bad intention I'm still going to show it with a pure heart like I'm still going to show up and believe that God gave me a word and this word is for somebody in this room and I think about kind of in a different context but you know how Paul says like okay some people preach out of envy some people preach out of robbery but like as long as Jesus is preach it's kind of like okay some people might use my name for ill intention or like some or not ill intention but like just to get something some people might put my face out there for whatever but like I know what I do what I do and that's to preach Jesus and I know the value I bring is not you know just to sell a ticket I know the value I bring is to hopefully impact someone's life with the message of Jesus and so for me not hearting my heart in that case you know it looks like even if they're doing that that doesn't mean that like I don't like that doesn't mean that I have to show up and just be the person that whatever I can show up and still have a pure heart and I feel like that's something that I've had to really like kind of wrestle with and I went through like a little period where that was really hurtful to me and then I had to decide it's okay that's really good thanks for sharing them yeah thanks for listening guys that was good to share yeah I think the thing for me it's honestly something I think about probably daily I think that this one honestly one of my most like common prayers is you know remove this heart of sound to give me a heart of flesh whether it's you know with something I can struggle with cynicism or getting frustrated a situation or lack of patience or those kind of things and I think it's like King David it's like fear from my heart a broken and contrite heart you and not despise them even Jesus teaching you out of the heart and the hearts of the will spring alive so I do think there's a there's a process to heartening your heart over a you know over a quarter of time you look at Pharaoh and Exodus but also think that it can be a daily thing too of like we're humans we are we we we sin we're not hurtful Jesus is sanctifying us but I do think that a daily you your heart can be hardened daily and I think just constantly being aware of that and knowing that you can pray to forgot to remove that heart of sound and give you heart of flesh so I think that's something for me that I pray a lot of times and it happens to be a homeless man situation and I'm a big proponent of if I have something with me and it doesn't seem like too sketchy a situation I always try to give something to a homeless person just because I don't know I think for me it's always a great litmus test of just you know associating with the lowly you know Romans 12 talks about you know associating with people of of lower position and I think for me homeless people's always like if I if I have something because it's you know I don't know what they're gonna go do with the money or what they're gonna go do with with with whatever I give them but for me if I'm gonna be faithful and you know just so Jesus sorry I'm kind of rambling but well I'm gonna say you want to in that situation you don't want to hold your heart against them you want to think you want to try to have empathy with them say like oh we're we're equals in the situation like what if I was in that position where I'm begging for money on the side of the road you want to have empathy with them instead of hardening your heart and saying I'm just not gonna get easier thing to do is like scoff at it yeah and the harder thing to do is like actually go out of your way and approach them and give them something so I think that's the thing too it's like even if there's a situation like that and the person's not necessarily even asking you for money we're asking you for something I think you going out of your way to show them kindness goes a long way so for me that's on that big proponent of this actually makes me think of going back and I wasn't gonna bring this one up but it's perfect for this Christian Stanford's best piece of advice with second chronicles 69 and it says the eyes of the Lord they range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him and it's really cool to think about like that is a Lord like searching the earth for like whose heart is committed to me you know and even David is a good example of why God anointed David as key he said man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart that's what Sam was I whenever he was going to you know Jesse's voice to figure out which who's gonna be the king he was looking at the heart and it was like the heart of the shepherd in the field and so I think that's why it's so important to pray those prayers like purify my heart don't let my heart get better don't let my heart get hard even if they give me a reason for it like purify my heart because I don't want to start showing up and being you know bitter towards people or I don't want to start showing up and doubting myself I don't want to look at a homeless man and have lost so much empathy because I've reasoned my way out of it like God's looking for the heart and that those are the people he's calling is like those who have a pure heart and so I love that ability when I speak to them yeah I think for me personally I think a lot of people can relate to this but anyone who's walked through a season of infertility it can feel impossible at times not darn your heart but I think to that verse like God looks at your heart and I think that he's looking for people who are committed to him and I think that in seasons of waiting or confusion or anything like that I think that it can feel impossible to not harden your heart but I think if you just trust in God and like it sounds I don't have a perfect device for this because it's just really serious and possible at times but I think you put your faith in God you put your trust in God and you fully believe that he he's holding your hand and he's holding you through the whole journey and that he will fulfill his promise one day and one lawyer another and I think that yeah I think that if anyone's stealing with that right now I'm so sorry and I think that I have a lot of compassion I think that it's it's really easy to harden your heart so like don't feel ashamed if you if you're there right now but I think that you can you can move past that yeah even if the even if your prayers are answered yeah I just trust you in God I don't know like the theology behind this necessarily I've heard other people say some really good points about this and I certainly don't want it to confuse anyone but bring it up but it makes me think of the fear of hardening your heart is like Pharaoh is as like God hardened his heart like he wasn't he was like not in any way submitting to the will of God in the sense of like just letting the people go and look at all the bad things that happen you know look at like what was happening to the people look at the plugs of this like could have been avoided from a softened heart like could have been avoided from his heart and I know that's confusing to say well why did God harden his heart and I've heard people break that down as a good study and I don't think it I don't think the way you read it at first is actually what it's meany someone was talking about it how like if you put I think it was like water on wax like it hardens but if you put like water and clay like it's molded and how like it's not that you're doing something different it's just that one's willing to be molded and one is like going to harden and so like God gives the opportunity for you to like be molded or like for you to harden and so like if he's pouring something over your inner life situation it's like okay God am I gonna allow you to mold me like the potter's hands or am I gonna get stiff and hard in this situation and in the fairest situation like he was hard towards it like unwilling to change what he was how he was leading Egypt and let God lead through him and so like all of that stuff had to happen and so that's like definitely something in the body would be aware of when you're seeing like a hard and hard and that's the outcome he's like okay Lord let's see how it kind of appear hard well look at David look at you know different things in the Bible it talks about having a pure heart what's Romans 1 it's God giving you up to your desire so there's a process of you hearting your own heart and then ultimately God just gives you over to your desires which and it leads to your destruction I remember whenever we started low and I had all the what is what if I fell what if it isn't where I need to be and looking back I can see so clearly that God had his hand and the whole thing starting something new is exciting but it's also very scary and that's why I'm thankful for Shopify Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the US from massive brands to tiny startups team low starts on Shopify every single day for managing inventory and staying on top of orders it just works you can build a beautiful online store with templates to actually match or vibe and their AI tools are game changers they help write product descriptions page headlines even enhance product photos plus everything's in one place so inventory payments analytics and they have a 24-7 customer support it really feels like you have a built-in business partner I think it's so amazing for anyone starting out of business this is the place to do it like I said we do it for low duck commander does it it's just honestly very simple and does everything for you it's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash woe go to Shopify.com slash woe again that Shopify.com slash woe I don't know exactly how it's what it's meaning when it says when your time I like don't harden your heart but I do think that sometimes especially in this season that I'm walking through or seasons similar I think that hardening hardening your heart can look like just always putting on a strong face and not not being not allowing yourself to be sensitive about what you're going through and I think that through years of waiting I think that there can be times where you're just like I'm just I don't care I'm not telling you about it I don't care I'm over it like but I think that you can allow yourself to be sensitive about the situation and you can allow yourself to like feel the emotions and I think in those moments of like raw emotion is when you really will see your need for God and so I think that allowing yourself like Christian said to like or Christian caught out that viable verse that says like give me a heart of flash I think that in seasons where you feel like I just don't even want to deal with this anymore like I just want to like turn it off and turn away from it I think that you can pray that God would give you that heart of flash and like be sensitive and like be emotional because it is like such a hard journey and like in those moments of emotion is when is when God will truly meet you there like he's so near to the broken hearted and I think that in times where you can come base to pace with that and that doesn't mean always like in front of everyone or with everyone but like with your closest people like um allow yourself to be soft in that way so that's exactly how I take it I think that was so well said I agree I totally agree this beautiful um next episode we're talking about is remembering Peppa Phil which was actually the biggest podcast episode of the year for great reason we had such good conversation honoring Peppa Phil and his life um second biggest was Bella sharing her story on infertility and so if you haven't listened to those two they were two of the top because there was so much wisdom and talking about empathy and vulnerability and having a heart of flash in a moment um we were talking about Peppa Phil right after he passed away you were talking about infertility like in a time where you were like I don't really know all the words to share you didn't feel ready for that podcast but you did it and so those are just like beautiful moments of having hearts of flash um but one of the things that well John like you had really good advice in this um I love how you shared Peppa Phil's advice I think if it's good enough for the Doug blind like this gotta just be good enough and not kind of like over analyzing things but I want to bring out what Reed said because uh he brought up Peppa Phil's verse first as verse Thessalonians is it 4-11 I think it is I don't know I could be wrong in that but it's a verse about making it your ambition to live a quiet life and that has been some of the best advice I've gotten all year from Peppa Phil after he passed away going back and watching videos that he did constantly saying that verse and I have pondered that for the past few months like what does it look like to make it your ambition to live a quiet life and still a life of influence um that's just like an amazing thought to me that I've probably talked about too much on the podcast even go into it again um but I love that I was very impacted by that that verse that Peppa Phil because what happens when you what how to follow the verse soon well what the verse says and what's been speaking to me is how it says make it your ambition to live a quiet life and it says work with your hands all the stuff and it says and you will gain the respect to the outside world and you won't be dependent on anyone and I'm like that is so contrary to how the world lives like if we if we think we're going to gain the respect to the outside world the last thing we think to do that is to live a quiet life like we think like no we got to speak enough algorithm with Shadla we got again we got ourselves out there we're going to build this we got to do this we got to figure out a marketing strategy like we got to go for it and we're also like going to depend on so many things so it's going to depend on if I get the book deal it's going to depend on if that person notices me it's going to depend on if I get this many followers and that's like the opposite of what that verse is saying saying no make it your ambition to live a quiet life work with your hands don't be dependent on anyone and then you will gain the respect to the outsiders because they're going to look at your life and be like how'd you do that I'll think about Pebble Phil a man who lived at the end of the river and a twenty seven thousand dollar house who dug kind it every single day and if he wasn't dug kind of he was building duck blinds and he was working with his hands he was living such a quiet life yet when he passed away millions of people were impacted and talking like what a picture of staying true to that verse and also even beyond that kind of a lesson in the lesson is Pebble Phil had a verse he read that he thought about so much and it impacted the way he lived his daily life you know like he had first us luneans on his mind when he went out in the dug blind and was like building something with his hands and and trusting that God was going to use him for the kingdom when he seemed to be in a very remote place yet anybody that came down there got the option to be baptized or was baptized by him because of the impact of his life and so there was just so many layers to that being good advice to me it was like someone really practiced him what they preached someone living out someone reading the word doing the word and also I just never heard that verse like I'm sure I've read it I've read the Bible but and it didn't stick out to me like it stuck out to him and now it does yeah that I've always kind of struggled with that idea of living quiet life in that verse because we don't live quiet lives you know comparative to other people you know we're most of what we're doing is out there and it's loud and you know there's there's that there's good aspects of that like we want to share message I mean I think for Pebaw Phil it was the idea that he never strife for it and he never wanted the fame for the fame itself like he lived his life exactly how he wanted to he the message that he was speaking he taught every Sunday at his small group at church 30 people and you know he do that on Sundays and then on the weekdays he would be on the podcast or he would be on you know the top talk shows in the in the nation but it wasn't that to him it didn't care whether it was on national news or whether it was one person's house you're gonna live share the same message and do thing he didn't strive for that that's what it is because it's like letting it think about Psalms 127 unless the Lord builds the house the labor labor labor is in vain and it's like you work with your hands that you work for the Lord and if the Lord builds the house that you know they've been stepped into it it's like some people say I want to do what you do and I say what I expect and then I'll do conferences I'll do pukets it's like that's that's great and that's beautiful to have that ambition that maybe one day what it would be would turn into a conference but it doesn't start as a conference it starts with the Bible study it starts with sharing the word it starts with that and if the Lord builds the stage and if the Lord sets up the microphone by always one of my favorite stories think about when we went to Israel this what impacted me the most when we set on that mount where the mount of the attitudes where Jesus like preach that message on the sermon on the mount and I just start got to thinking because we do so many events I'm like no one set up that event you know there's thousands of people that came to listen to Jesus preach no one set up the event there's no sound equipment there's no microphone there's no um okay you're going to go on stage at this time and this giving the microphone and sound check and you got 30 minutes like to talk no like Jesus came people gathered and Jesus spoke and they heard and the way that the mount is actually shaped it's it's wild because it amplify sound like by the shape of it so remember how people were like down at the bottom and you could actually hear them talk and I just felt like the Lord told me in that moment if I want a message to be heard it will be heard if I want a message to go out it's going to go out and nothing's going to be able to stop it so whether you have a microphone or you have a stage or you have the platform you're not dependent on somebody to get my message out I'm going to get the message out and when the wind of God is on it the wind of God is on it and that's been something that I've really taken because it's like I'm going to do what I can I'll write the message I'll show up in the morning like lazy as he's 11 so you're seated in the morning don't be idle with your hands in the evening it's not up to me how God uses it it's up to me to be a beading into what he gave me to do yeah but I think to circle back a little bit on what when we first started talking about this I think that this verse is so well aligned with the conversation we were talking about earlier with social media and I think that a lot of times I feel like a few years ago I had this like big epiphany and it sounds so simple but I just had this big epiphany that like everything that God tells us in the Bible all the rules all the laws all the all the commandments like they're all God being kind eyes and really and truly he sets these in place for us to live a better life and he wants us to live the best life and the most abundant life we can and when we follow his commandments that is how we live such an abundant life and so a few years ago I feel like I really had that epiphany like wow like none of these rules are just made up for no reason they're all to for us to live a better life and I feel like I've really seen the fruit of that verse exactly in my life not that when I decided I wanted a lot of social media I was thinking about that verse in my head or anything like that but I think that through that I've seen so much like I've just felt so much more confident and happier and I've heard God's voice so much more and not that you can if you are on social media by any means but for me personally logging off stepping back living a quieter life has had so much fruit in my life and been so good for me that verse even though it wasn't my intention at the time knowing that God set that said that just tells me like wow like that's so true like when you live like that you do you do live a more fruitful life so and they're set so like certain scenarios where again everyone's quiet life is going different you might look at my life and be like doesn't look quiet but they're like like right now I'm writing a book okay there's so many hours going to this that no one's seeing and that no one needs to see that's like my quiet time with the Lord and and that's the time I'm working with my hands and I'm doing what God's calling to do and again it's like I don't need to be to pin on anyone so I'm not going to say okay this book has to come out this time if it's going to hit and it's got to come out and the publishers have to do X, Y and Z and I got to get these interviews and I got to it's like no I have to write the book I got to write what the Lord puts them are I got to listen for the right words to say and then when the time comes if the Lord sends it out like it'll gain the respect to the outside world you know and so I think it's like situation my situation parenting my kids no one's seeing this moment this is not about people seeing this is about me and the kids you know this is about what God's doing in our life right now and then maybe people can learn from the way that I'm doing this maybe they don't maybe the Lord wants to show it maybe he doesn't you know and so that's it it's not like he said you know it's not like he didn't want fame for the sake of fame fame came and he used it but he was doing it on Sunday morning anyways the next advice as we continue down really good kind of similar I think what we just talked about we don't have to land on this or even talk about it I just want to bring it up this was whenever a cost in mayor was on which is so fun to have them on because I have loved their insert videos from afar for a long time I love their dances and I love what Meredith said she said if it doesn't work out you'll just come home and do something else what's the worst that can happen it all far as a part and you just do something else and she said that in reference so where she was really wrestling with if she should move to New York or LA like where should I go and this is such a crippling decision for some of people where should I go to college where should I what should I do should do this or should I do that should I take this job should I take that job and I love how she just kind of like took the pressure off and was like what's the worst thing that's going to happen you move there you don't like it you move back I was just talking to a mom the other day who was like very much so in that struggle of should at homeschool my kids should at sims kids to school and I said look sim school and if you don't like it homeschool them or homeschool them and it's not going good put them in school like it's not like you're making a decision right now while they're in first grade that you have to stick with until they graduate high school you can make a decision halfway through first grade and say never mind I think I want to change you know and it's like no and you have the freedom in your life to take authority of your life you know like God gave you free will God gave you the ability to make decisions and so I think that is like a beautiful thing I think so many times we're like why just want to do the will of God and I think the will of God is a little bit more broad than like this or that most of the time it's like okay Lord I'm going to go to New York that's where I feel you know I know you're going to be with me here or there I said to someone the other night like this they were wondering if they should go just on this small little trip and she was like I just don't know where God would want me to be and she's like should I be there should I be here and I said I just want to give you the freedom to know God's going to be with you whether you're here you're there he's with you and you're coming he's with you and you're going it's not like you're going against the will of God to go on this trip to go to this concert or be home that one night with your kids like sometimes God's really specific sometimes we talked about peace in the last episode if you don't peace don't do it but I think for the majority we do overthink like yeah is this the wrong decision and I'm like you're not going to make the wrong decision let the Lord lead you and if he's leading your different direction go the other direction you know yeah yeah I was just going to say I think that like um I I feel like young people really always feel like they have to you know commit to something and stick with it and I've been guilty of that before too especially when it comes to school and different things like that but um I think that even seeing other people do something and always doing it you started a little when you were so young and like stuck with it for and have been doing it for what 10 years now less now I guess I wrote Libergian or I was like 15 and I'm 20 16 years and like John Luke you've had few career changes I feel like for me I was doing social media one day I was like oh I just wasn't wanting to do it anymore and mom was like well you can come help out of that commander I was like okay I'll do that for a little bit and just never thought this would be something that I would do um but I'm I'm so glad that I wasn't so stuck in my way that I wouldn't try something new I think that a lot of young people feel like oh I have to do um when I started and I have to continue to do what I do especially when you have a college degree and that's what it's for and you feel you have to do that um but our dad always talks about like in his 20s he was a camp director in his 30s he came to duck commander in his 40s duck died he started in like in his 50s now he's doing so many speaking things and like his life has changed so much he's had career changes almost every decade and probably more in between that and I think just don't be scared of that like you can you can always change your path and do something different and I'm like you are a good testament of that I think yeah I've had multiple career changes whenever I was in Bella's role and I hated it and then Bella wanted to do my job that was a good choice on both of our parts no I I heard it mom actually had to go before I didn't make that decision because you were not liking your job then I was not liking my job but mom was like I think we should do a switch here mom always says know your kids yeah it was a good switch yeah no I heard a piece of advice recently and and it was don't let a single decision define you and because that's good sometimes you can make the wrong decision and I think that goes along with her advice of if you make a bad decision you can make another decision yep that's better yeah I mean you still have to live with the consequences of your actions you have to let the consequences play out as they do but you can turn your life into a new direction yep you can move you can just make the next right decision that's so true Jenny Allen gave me some really good advice I caught her after I had cut and I was like I don't know if I'm able to go back into it again because I'm like now I'm just loving being a mom being at home and like you know I'm struggling that should I keep saying yes is speaking of it should I not right now like just kind of getting her wisdom on that and she said you know this is going to be a balance you're going to carry for the rest of your life you know and it's not just ministry it's just motherhood and any job you have like you're going to want to just be home but then also maybe you have something specific you forgot called you to or you actually have to go back to work for practical financial reasons like there's so many reasons why you have to carry the tension and the balance of it I want to do this but I need to be here too and she said you know Sadie she said just give yourself the freedom she's like you're gonna say yes to many things sometimes and you're gonna say no to too many things sometimes you're you're probably really gonna be like right in the balance of like oh man this year I crushed it like the calendar was exactly how I want it she said you you might say yes to a tour and you go on it and halfway through you go oh man I should not have done this that isn't mean you made the wrong decision it just means you're tired and now do something different next time take a few you know weeks off whatever that looks like and it is true like you got to live Miss Tara says to our councilor like live in the ebb and flow like get in the ebb and flow and be comfortable and confident and like the ebb and flow of life that like it's okay to say yes sometimes kids know sometimes it's okay to be here it's okay to be there like just give yourself the freedom that yeah one wrong decision or good decision doesn't define your whole life let's be real fam most of us don't wash our sheets as often as we probably should but here's a thing traditional sheets need to be washed more often because they can hold more bacteria than a toilet seat okay disgusting right well that is why I want to tell you about miracle made there's silver and fuse fabric spiced bacteria and keeps your sheets cleaner and fresher for up to three times longer and right now with the newborn in the house that is a lifesaver between sleepless nights and extra laundry loads having sheets that stay fresh and soft your longer is just everything their 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sometimes to like make a decision because you're like what if I can't go back to what I liked before you know or what I did before and that's like real I mean mom just gave me the same advice because we're in so long story but we're in a process of moving right now and there was like so many times I'm like what if we move and then we want to go back to our old house like whatever we want to go back and mom was like well like we've moved you moved I've moved to like when we were kids we moved and mom was like we've moved so many times and like you're always there's something better for you on the other side and like it's not even though you love your house and you love the memories that you've made there you'll make new memories at your next place and you'll you'll love your next house too and you'll love it you can move back yeah and y'all give it an area we could move that I know but I'm just a general for most people you can't move back to your house I think what I'm saying is I loved the memories at my house I loved my house but we're gonna make new memories and we're gonna have new experiences and love that too but sometimes in life hold on to it sometimes sometimes in life I think it is the hardest decision when you actually do have the option to go back because it's like it's like the Israelites whenever they finally got out of Egypt they finally are no longer slaves and what did they want to do when it got uncomfortable I want to go back and even though it wasn't what was best for them it was what was comfortable to them and so sometimes in life it's actually really hard when you have the option of going back to what was comfortable but you know you need to keep moving forward and so it's like and I want to talk about this when it comes to peace because we keep saying like where where you have peace and actually the last piece of advice I wanted to bring up is from Bailey how do you say your last name Christopher and I love what she said if you put your peace in people they had the power to get away if you put your peace in anything of this world then whatever it has whatever it is has the power to take it away and must be rooted in your foundation and Christ and I think we've been talking about peace a lot like do I have peace to do this job do I not have peace I remember when I first started hanging out with people who use that term a lot like do you have peace I wasn't used to that like we didn't really grow up in our family even though we're believers and follow God and went church on Sunday that wasn't like our vocabulary like do you have peace and that I feel like is so ingrained in our vocabulary now peace doesn't always mean peace really actually it means like you don't have fear or everything's comfortable and I think when you think of peace sometimes you think like that means no fear that means everything's working out comfortable it's like this deep innocence of knowing even though it's hard I'm where I'm supposed to be even though it's a change in a transition I know I'm supposed to go it's like a confidence in the midst of chaos it's going I probably should be really afraid of this but I still feel leaning towards it and I know that God's going to give me the faith or the strength to keep going in this or I know God's going to give me a joy that's a strength that doesn't make sense in a situation I shouldn't have you know and so I feel like it's like an inner confidence and an inner assurance that that's where you're supposed to be even if the circumstances don't seem to make sense for that and so that's why like the Israelites they're like I want to go back I want to go back to what it's comfortable but there's like a deep assurance in knowing I got to keep moving forward because there is a promise land it's just going to take me a minute to get there you know and I think for anyone who like is struggling with that idea of like what is that what is that peace I think that as a Christian I recently had a situation where I had a really big decision to and I felt so strongly that I knew exactly what decision even though months before I really didn't know what the decision was I just one day I felt so like I just know what to do and it was almost easy for me to think in my head at first this kind of I guess secular way of saying it like I just like and listening to my gut and like my gut is telling me but it's not your gut it's the Holy Spirit and I think that I had that realization a few months ago I was having this situation I felt so strongly I knew what decision to make and I was telling my friends about it and it was so quick for me to just be like I just had a gut feeling and it's not a gut feeling if you're a Christian like if you're a Christian and you trust in God like that's the Holy Spirit giving you peace and that's what peace is so if you've ever felt like you have a gut feeling about something or you're listening to your gut or something like that I think that's that's what we're talking about I saw I saw this meme this past week and it was saying the trust your gut and it was like trust your gut and then it was this person it was like oh the same gut that like I was like blowing up the bathroom all morning like like when you're in the hospital the last soul that before it's like I mean yeah yeah yeah it's like oh just trust your gut it's like I'm in the bathroom like my bowels are messed up I'm not trusting my gut I can't put them at trust some I get for sure I just filled them that I started drinking some coffee recently because like I go three times where I drink coffee three times where I don't drink coffee I'm pulling over on the side of the room I can't like I'm living life on the edge on drinking coffee because my gut cannot handle things like that with pizza I know I just how can I get to decide my decisions in my life I'm good that can't eat a piece of pizza I can't get enough time what to do but okay to back it out with some theology and theology is simply talking about the word of God it's not something crazy it's just time at the word of God it says the fruit of the spirit love joy peace peace is a fruit of who God is so it is a characteristic of God so when you have peace that's God telling you this is the right decision this is where you're supposed to be I'm with you in this moment you know and again like you think about the stories in the Bible where God told them to be oh one of my favorite examples of this after Jesus is baptized it says he's led by the spirit to the wilderness to be tempted now that's crazy because you might look at that and go oh I'm not where I'm supposed to be I'm being tempted by Satan I'm in the wilderness but it says led by the and the whole time Jesus was there he remained steady fast and he made it the whole time he had a clear mind I assume he had perfect peace because he's God and he also this could it's quoted scripture throughout the whole thing so it can look like a bad situation and that doesn't mean that you made the wrong decision God still could have led you there and if you have peace then you have God and if you don't have peace then ask God where he is and ask God to help you through that I I will say because we're through the advice one example of this from recently so people have been asking me so often like share your birth story with kids share your birth story with kid and I haven't shared my birth story with kid because I've been discerning like I don't want to share my story and it'd be like someone here with the wrong years and someone here with fear you know because people have said after I share my birth story with honey a lot of people have been like so so thankful for it and that's how people keep asking me to share my birth story because I love that past two but some people have said like oh my gosh your birth story was kind of like really scared me and I'm like oh that would never I would never want to scare anyone or make them feel fear going to labor is labor hard yes it's intense it's wild it's crazy um but at the same time like just how you said gods near the bergen heart of like gods gods with you in every scenario so when you hear someone else's story and you think I could never do that well you also don't know the feeling that it feels like when gods with you in it so it's like yeah it might seem impossible to you but that wasn't your story and so don't fear that that's going to happen to you because it happened to me and if it did happen to you you're going to be okay and actually someone told me someone was like I was so scared after I heard that was about to have a baby and I was like what if it happens to me and she was like and then it did happen to me and guess what she got through it you know and so it's like I that's why I haven't really shared my story with kit because I didn't want it to like bring fear to anybody but this was like a true story of having a piece about something because I was making a decision on an induction day because I was having a C-section and the choice to decide was freaking me out like I don't want to have to like choose what day it is I would rather it just be spontaneous however that's just not the way our situation was unfolding like it was going to be a choice that I was going to have to decide this is the day we're going to have the C-section and because my doctor was going to be out of town for a week it felt like a big decision like what if what if she comes to early what if she comes to late and I'm deciding between like this week difference and so I prayed about it and I made her some both prayed about it was like God give us a piece to know when she's supposed to come you know when her birthday is you have known her name you have as you've been forming her and noting her together my womb and like just give me the right the right call on that and one day I fell a piece and I texted our doctor how is this food to you he said let's do it and we went in and I was able to have kit and it was actually the perfect time and I won't share the details to that because it was a perfect time because she actually did have something require her to come but I don't want anybody to hear that and go well I need to schedule my induction for today because what if my baby has something wrong with them and what if I didn't catch it because I made the wrong decision because as parents we think like that as moms like you overthink that but I say all this to say you can't find your piece through someone else's story by someone else's decision you have to find your piece by the spirit of God speaking to you as well when we talked about Pete Richardson's advice in the first episode he says it is a jungle out here but if you learned to discern the voice of your father you will be able to navigate anything in the jungle and then he says this gave him the gift of inquiring of God and discern the voice of God and the gift was going on a walk and asking God God what do you want me to do and so in my life I'm responsible for finding my piece through saying God what do you want me to do what's your timing on the situation where do you want me to move where do you want me to go God okay I'm not hearing you fully is it okay if I move to New York no checks go to New York God if it's not send me back you know I always say if it's your will give me green lights if it's not give me red lights even when we travel places if it's not your will would we not even be able to get on the plane and then guess what when all airports go crazy and you know TSA workers don't show up you can't get mad and say oh traveling's the worst you just have to go thank you God you gave me a red light on that one and so hopefully that's helpful when discerning peace and discerning how to hear the voice of the Lord because that's a tricky thing to explain to someone yeah I was just gonna say it makes me think about too like you just never know why things happen the way that they do sometimes and I think that in our journey of infertility there's there's times like you said where you can overthink like did I do something is this why or did I do that or something wrong with me is something wrong with you I don't know what what was it is it that is it because of this is because of that and a lot of times with infertility you just never know why it is the way it is and so when you were talking about Jesus going into the wilderness I was thinking about that and how like we'll never know why our story is the way it is but I think that maybe maybe the spirit is leading us through a journey so that we could grow in ways that we never would without this and and maybe that's the case and maybe it's not but I mean I find comfort in believing that and that that the Holy Spirit has a plan and God has a plan and that there's a reason why we're going through this and it's for us to grow and we've grown so much this journey so I think that like you said you never know why things happen the way they do but sometimes if there's no answers sometimes that's the answer that's true God has planned you know and even though that seems like what God has what's the plan you know but God has a plan is is the plan you know that's so true and that verse like those who weigh on the Lord show renew their strength I think about that a lot when it comes to hearing God answer it's like just know that like a weight is not useless it's purposeful it run like it renews strength actually and trust and faithfulness and we want answers so fast sometimes you just don't get them but like your strength grows through that as your faith grows yeah I'm some reigning this book right now it's called The Strength of a Few and it's a fiction book and the two characters this scene there's a scene two characters are playing this game like the similar to chess and the one character like the main hero loses and the guy he's playing says do you think if do you think you would have won had you have made all the right decisions and he says no just like life you can make every right decision and still lose wow and I don't actually think that kind of think you can win and lose in life necessarily but I do think that you can make all the right decisions in life and things not go your way and there are inconveniences and challenges and twists and turns that are entirely out of your control that you just have to deal with even if you did all the right things it just doesn't go the way you thought it would based on nothing that you did and in those scenarios I think that's the the magic of God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus and what he gives us is that we don't have to tie our inner peace inner life inner joy all the through the spirit to our outside circumstances that we can find everything we need in ourselves no matter through God in ourselves no matter what is happening on the outside and you can cry but still have joy and not be depressed you can be proud of something and something workout but not fall into pride and not face your personality on that you can be angry about something but not feel that loss inside of you you know because you know that your life your emotions your worth your purpose is not tied to the things that you can't control the anything in the outside world it's good man that's so good whoa whoa that is great I don't know this one of my favorite well it's good episodes ever I think this is probably one of the most advice filled wisdom packed episodes we've ever had and it wasn't the one we planned to do which praise God for that what a year whoa that's good thank you to everyone listening it blows my mind how this podcast continues to grow year after year seven and a half years are doing this podcast and with a lot of people starting to podcast now this definitely could have just got lost in the crowd but thank you guys for choosing to listen for choosing to grow in your faith through this podcast it blesses me so much when I get to meet y'all and you guys hug me and tell me that you listen to the podcast every day and it gives you confidence and it's taught you about Jesus or this one episode when this person came on and it reshaped your life like I will never get over just the privilege and the honor that I get to do this and that you guys choose to listen to thank you for that next year's going to be a great year we are already recording so many amazing episodes that I can't wait for you guys to listen to another year a great advice thanks for hanging with us and I pray today you're encouraged but everything we talked about and you go learn to discern the voice of your own father