Latest / LifeAudio / Hope For The Journey with Monica Schmelter - It's Never Too Late to Reinvent Yourself: Gigi Butler on Faith, Fresh Starts, and Finding Your Purpose S5 E5

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Hope For The Journey with Monica Schmelter - It's Never Too Late to Reinvent Yourself: Gigi Butler on Faith, Fresh Starts, and Finding Your Purpose S5 E5 · LifeAudio

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Hope for the Journey, the podcast for women
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: over 40 who are ready to rise, rebuild, and reclaim
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: their story. I'm your host, Monica, and each week you'll
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: hear real, raw, comeback stories from women who have walked
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: through the fire and found purpose on the other side.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: If you're navigating change, chasing a dream, or simply searching
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: for your next step, you're not alone. This is your
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: place for courage, community, and the reminder that it's never
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: too late to rewrite the ending. Welcome to Hope for
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the Journey podcast, the podcast for women over 40. I'm
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Monica Schmelter, and I cannot wait for you to hear
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: from my guest today.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Gigi Butler.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Her story in life, she's had many trials, she's reinvented herself,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: all kinds of entrepreneur type roles, and she's got something
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: brand new coming out. called In the Kitchen with Gigi. Gigi,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: so glad you could join me today.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. What an honor. I was
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: on your other show and now I get to be
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: on this show. So thank you so much. It's so
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: great to be here. It's so great to have you.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I had you on Bridges and I so enjoyed our conversation, Gigi.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: You know, um, This podcast is for women over 40.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: And I think for most of us over 40, right,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: we're looking for a space to share, to have community,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to cheer one another on. And that's really been so
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: much a part of your story. And really, even the
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: show In the Kitchen with Gigi, it's like, let's get
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: people talking. So tell me about how you came up
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: with this idea.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Well, I moved to Florida and I was going to write,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I have another book that's in the works, but I
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: was going to write a devotional book and all about
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: hospitality and coming to the table and how we don't
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: do that anymore. You know, soccer moms are running their
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: kids here and there and here, but do we sit
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: down to a meal together? Not very often. So I
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: really feel like what is missing in this world and
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: it's hospitality and feeding people, coming around a table, and
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: just communing together. And so I wrote a devotional cookbook,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: and it's 31 days, and it talks about the rocky
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: roads of our life as I'm making rocky road pie,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: or the black forest cheesecake bars as you're dragging yourself
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: through the black forest of life, and what scriptures that
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: I use to get me through that. And then I thought, well,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: why does it have to be just a book? Why
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: can't it be a TV show? So we came up
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: with an idea and it's called In the Kitchen with
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Gigi and it's great ingredients, great inspiration. So the acronym
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: G-I-G-I and ingredients, great inspiration. And it's all about bold
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: faith coming together welcoming someone in your home and talking
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: about the vulnerability and the scary parts of life and
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: your journey, all the while cooking their favorite meal with
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the different stars that I have on. And it's authors
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: or musicians or writers or preachers. So it's a whole
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: different eclectic group, which I love. And it's all about
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: their hard journeys, their bold faith and their favorite food.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: And I think, Gigi, that like you said, hospitality, just
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: getting people around a table is so hard. I've read
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: studies that even show children do better in school if
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: their family has a meal at the table. And one
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of the studies said it didn't even have to be
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: like a fancy meal, just even sandwiches.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: It's just getting together.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: And I think what you've done with this show is
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: that you've kind of pulled from all of your experiences.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: When I think back to Gigi's cupcakes and the franchises and,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: you know, making beautiful cupcakes that people love. And so
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: you're bringing that cooking, that baking, all of that together
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: to open up conversation. Tell me about some of the
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: guests and maybe just a teaser of some of the
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: conversations that are happening.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Wonderful. Well, we have Zach and Williams and Danny Gokey
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and people like John Rich and Pastor Alan Jackson and
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Jodi Messina and Dr. Ming Wang and Brad Stein. I mean,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: just completely different guests from comedians to authors, Karen Kingsbury,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: all of these people with different experiences. And what I
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: learned is when you're with someone, maybe if it's just
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: a talk show, you're going to sit there in front
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: of an audience and you won't get very vulnerable or
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: really the hard times. But if you come into a
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: kitchen and you're cooking someone's favorite meal, it lets their
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: guard down. And the things that they have shared with
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: me has been so vulnerable, so authentic, and so real.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: I cannot wait for people to hear these stories. I
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: would be cooking their favorite meal or we'd be doing
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: it together And they would share something and I would
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: just start crying and I'd be, hey, I need to,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: I need a break. I've got to get a Kleenex.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Like it really touched me. So if it's going to
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: touch me and I learned something from every guest, I
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: know that it's going to reach out to those millions
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: of people that are going to be watching and say, hey,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: if she could go through that or if she would
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: have that trial or she tried to kill herself and
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: and she bounced back, or whatever it is. I mean,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: the stories are, I mean, they're very major. But if
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: people could see that and what they've gone through and
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: how they've been more than conquerors through Christ, I think
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: it's going to touch everybody. I know it is.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: You know, that's part of the heart behind this podcast
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: is comeback stories, being able to reinvent yourself after maybe tragedy, divorce, finances, whatever,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: we've all had something, Gigi.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: And it's hard for us to talk about the hard parts.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: And pieces when we're like thinking about our image and
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: when we're out with other people.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: But like you said, when you're in.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: A kitchen and you're making good food and it's somebody's
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: favorite meal, there's an openness there that's not there at
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: other times. And the diversity of the kinds of guests
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that you're having I guess one of the things that
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I think about Gigi is like, Jesus, look, his disciples
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: were all so diverse, so different, yet they all brought
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: something for all of us to learn about God from.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: They brought something to the table, didn't they? They sure did.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: And they.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: That's why there's fellowship around the table. There's something about
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the breaking of bread. And have you have you left
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: cooking and baking like as long as you can remember?
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: I have. My my grandparents, my great great grandmother in
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: the turn of the century opened her first bakery in
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Oklahoma called Beals Bakery. And so it's in my blood.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: My great grandmothers, my mothers, my aunts, everyone cooked. So
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: at three or four or five years old, I was
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: sitting on a counter watching my aunt roll pie dough
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: or making a cobbler or making a cake. And I
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: never thought I'd be doing it for a living or
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: that I would love it so much because I was
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: always going to be a country music singer, right? That
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: was me. Singer-songwriter. That was her big dream. That was right.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: And Dolly Parton, we just lost her at seven years old.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: I was listening to a Dolly Parton song. I'm like, Mom,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: I'm going to Nashville. I'm going to be like Dolly Parton.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And she was so inspiring to me. And I never
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: thought that I would be, all I wanted was to
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: do a singer-songwriter. I never thought that cooking, all the
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: while I'm learning this from my family and we're sitting
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: around a table and we're feasting together, I never thought
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: that this would be the wonderful thing of my life,
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: a blessing that God has given me.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting, Gigi, isn't it?
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: How we think we know and we have a plan
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: for our life. And God's like, well, yes, but it's
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: going to be a little bit different than what you think.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: But as long as you're open to Him, what I've learned,
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: I've had so many failures. I've so many devastating losses.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: on so many levels. And if people would want to
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: read all my losses, there's a lot of them in
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: this book called The Secret Ingredient, Recipes for Success in
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Business and in Life. And this is out, you can
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: get it on Amazon or anything. But what I've learned
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: with all of my failures is which I thought were failures,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: but really I was falling forward. And I was, I
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: kept remained, even though I was down in the dirt
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: and absolutely just devastated, lost all my money, whatever it
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: was at that time, I remained open and I remained
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: in my mindset. It is never too late to recreate.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: So if I'm thinking, okay, Yes, I'm older. Yes, I'm
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: over 40. Yes, but it's never too late to recreate.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: So God, I'm open to what you want for me.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: And I don't think, I think people after they've had
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: a rejection, they're like, I'm done, God, I'm done. I'm done.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: And God's like, eh, you're still here and you still
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: have a purpose, but you're shutting yourself off. So shame
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: on you. You're not doing God's will. Exactly.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: And, you know, I love that you shared it's never
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: too late to recreate because I think... Sometimes inwardly, but
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: also in this culture, right? We hear that, well, once
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: you're over 40 or over 50, you can't start over.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: But if someone goes out and they get your book,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: The Secret Ingredient, you've started over many times.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Many times. You have embraced reinvention.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: And I think you just offered us the most practical
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and the key tip.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Keep your heart open.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I know rejection makes us, I know I feel that
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: way when I get rejected, right?
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I don't want to take another step. It's so sad.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: It's so hard.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we weren't made for that. But if we'll
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: let God write the story and keep our hearts pliable,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: He will keep writing our story if we let Him.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Right, well, you have to give Him the pen, right?
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: If you're always taking the pen from Him and trying
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: to write, and you're like, God's like, um, hello, can
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: I take the pen and write your story, please? But
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: people are so afraid. And what I've learned, and I
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: speak all across the country to people on faith and
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: stepping out on faith. And what people ask me most is,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: how can you do this? How can you fight this fear?
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: And what I tell them is that fear is the
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: number one stumbling block in the world for you not
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: living up to your full potential. Because you're afraid to fail.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: You're afraid to be embarrassed. I've never truly been afraid
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: to be embarrassed. I don't care. I'll keep cleaning houses.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, it really doesn't matter to me. I just
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: want to keep going. And whatever it is, I'm going
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: to keep recreating. But people are so terrified of rejection
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: and a feeling of making people feel like, oh, I'm
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: not all that. But you have to get over yourself
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: because sometimes, no, you're not all that. And that's okay
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: because God knows who you are. So just open yourself up.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Keep moving forward.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: And we've got to take a break here in just
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: a moment. You said something on your website that just
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: really goes right along with this. Like, we don't have
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: to be perfect because we're not.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: No. Not original. Original.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Like ourselves. If we can just embrace that. So we've
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: got to take a quick break. Be right back after
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Now, Gigi, we are talking about your new show. In
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the Kitchen, Hospitality, Reinvention, all of these stories bringing people
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: to the table. So when does your show, when does
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: it come out?
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Well, it airs this Saturday, September 5th at 11 a.m.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Central Time. And I am just so excited. We have
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: 15 episodes ready and ready to go. And we're on CTN,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: but then we also air. go on Roku and Apple TV.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: And there's many ways to watch it. Yeah, there are
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: all kinds of streaming platforms. If you have Roku, you
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: can watch the live stream. People can really watch In
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the Kitchen with Gigi all over the world, which is
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: so exciting.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: And I'm excited.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: You know, I work at CTN. I'm excited to have
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: us have this show. Because, you know, it is wonderful
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: to have all of the preaching and all of that
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: going on. But this is something that also shares the gospel,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: but it's in a different way. It's in the kitchen.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: And have you found that there's something about, you know,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: in the kitchen that people are more receptive once you've
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: fed them or you're making something?
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. And the thing about it is, is this show...
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: What it says on my website, by the way, it
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: says life isn't about being perfect. Life is about being original.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: So you have to keep being original, not perfect. God
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: doesn't expect perfect. But what I really what was so
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: original about this show is no one's doing it. Like
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: there's talk shows. There's Christian shows. There's a lot of preaching.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: There's cooking shows. But there's not a show. which comes
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: together talking about vulnerability, authenticity, and bold faith while I'm
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: cooking their favorite meal. So I think when they come
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: into this beautiful house, it's like a farm house. It's
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: gorgeous in Franklin. We film in Franklin. And the lady
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: who owns the house is probably one of the most
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: hospitable humans I've ever known. So you come into this
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: house and it's just the vibe is so cool already.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: And then I personally bake and cook all of for
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: the craft service table because I really want it to
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: be special for people. So people walk in and there's
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: all this spread of food and quiches and breads and
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: all of this. And then we're like, okay, we got
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: your favorite meal ready. And they're like, they're so excited.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: So we're cooking their favorite meal. They feel at home.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: We have a great warm crew that we just love
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: on everyone. And I know you know my producer and co-creator,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Sandra Lee. And so we just have this warm family
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: type of vibe. So people eat, we have a good time,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: we talk about their life, and then we cook their
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: favorite meal. I mean, who else... Who doesn't want to
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: see Zach Williams cooking his chicken piccata?
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I do. I do, too.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: He's adorable.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, he is. And I love his music and would
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: love to hear more about his story. And I didn't
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: know that his favorite meal was chicken piccata, but I
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: like that, too.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Well, what people don't know is he's a chef. I
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: didn't know that. What? He's amazing. So what people don't
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: know is when he would go out on the road,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: he had a huge thing where he would cook for
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: all of his people and they would come, his meet
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: and greets, and they had special backstage. He would cook
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: for all of them. His love language is food. He
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: is the coolest. So and then we had Terrence K.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Williams on and he has his own pancake mix and
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: syrups and his love language is food. So it's just
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: so fun. I think everyone's love language is food. I mean,
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: who doesn't love food? So if you can make someone's
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: favorite meal, you're already 90% there.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: I think also with the show In the Kitchen with
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Gigi is we're so far away from this hospitality and
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: people eating around a table that it will ignite in
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: moms and dads and kids and people. Hey, we can
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: do that. We can make mom's favorite dinner. We can
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: make dad's favorite dinner. We can, you know, of course,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: we all have to do takeout food or go out
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: to eat once in a while. We understand that. But
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: we can have the best times in our own home
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: At our tables, cooking for the people that we love
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: and having conversations about what was school like today? What's
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: going well, right? What isn't going well? How can we
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: help as a family? I just think, like you said
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in your devotional book that you're putting together that will
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: be available soon, that's what we need. There's so much
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: coldness and divisiveness. We need a safe space.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Right. In this cold world, we need something homemade. We
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: need something that we can sink our teeth into and
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: talk about our feelings around the table. My goodness, please,
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: let's get back to cooking for our families and being
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: the women of God and providing a soft place for
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: someone to come home to. That's not a bad thing.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: When you were thinking about all of the cruel things
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: going on right now with all of the trials and
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I won't even go there. What about being a kind mom?
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Why not just be a good mom and say, I
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: love my kids. I'm going to cook for my kids.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: I'm going to cook for my husband. And that is
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: a beautiful thing. And I think if we had more
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: of that and less of, well, my body, my rights, my, my, my. God.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: And what about the softness that a woman should be? Yes.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Get in the kitchen and cook some food. Doesn't mean
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: you're less than. It means that you can create. Yes.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: And it means that we care. It means that we care.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: You know, I think, you know, I love to cook
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to be fancy food, but I
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: love to cook all different kinds of things. I love
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: to feed people. And that's a part of, for me,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: my femininity. And so for my husband, my adult son,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: for guests, for other people, I want them to feel comfortable.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: You know, you want your home to be like a
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: refuge from the outside world. And I think that that's
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: what you're looking to create, at least in part with
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: In the Kitchen with Gigi is like, Guys, let's come together,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: all kinds of diverse people.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: But what do we all need? Well, we all need Jesus,
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: but we also all need food to live, right? And love. Yes.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: We need food, love, and Jesus.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Yes. And I think a lot of us maybe haven't
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: seen that example of what it could look like in
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the kitchen.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: That it's okay for a woman.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: You don't have to feel less than because you're cooking
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: for people. That is the highest calling is to care
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: for your family.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: It's a ministry. It's a ministry. It's a ministry. And
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: I think that women, well, I don't do that. Well,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: you could offer some chicken salad from Publix. Absolutely. And
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: some crackers. Do something. Yes. And I think, hopefully, we
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: really want to take on this media mountain. Right? That's
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: really what we wanted. There's seven levels of media, government, schools,
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: you know, seven. Well, the media mountain and the arts
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: and entertainment mountain is just absolutely swarmed with darkness, right?
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: So if we feel light by cooking, and we can
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: get in this media mountain, and we can fight the
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: devil with a warm hospitality of learning how to make
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: chicken piccata or chocolate cake or whatever, then we're doing
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: our part. I'm doing my part. And I'm shining my light.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: I can't be a Charlie Kirk. No one can be
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: a Charlie Kirk. It's almost coming up to a year
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: after his death. But what I can be and what
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: everyone can be is they can use their gifts and
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: They can shine their light in their little tiny spot
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: in their area and they can give back to what
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: God has given them because you can never out give God.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: So if you shine your light and you give back
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: to whatever, well, I don't have that talent. Well, you
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: have some talent and you're hiding it under a bush.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Shame on you. Get it out from under that bush
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: and shine your light and do something with yourself. No,
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: you're good. You're good. This reminds me of a story.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: There's this couple who is on CTN and they've been
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: on CTN for like 25 years. And they have quite
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: a following of people that have watched them forever. And
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: one of the people that love their show, this is
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: what she does in her senior citizen apartment complex every
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: Saturday when the show comes on. She makes a pot
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: of coffee. She makes a made from scratch cake. And
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: she opens her door and says.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Come and eat cake and coffee. And let's watch Dr.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: and Mrs.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Neal because she loves their teaching. She understands. And people
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: have given their heart to Christ because she makes a
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: pot of coffee and a cake.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: And invites people in. I love it. Yeah, it's wonderful.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I do have to ask you, and when you pitched
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: this show to the first few people, did you.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Get any pushback or anybody tell you, oh, gee, gee,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: that won't work? Well, yes. There's a lot of those.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: And there also was a big network that I won't
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: mention that said, well, we'll take it and we will actually,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: we'll sponsor you, we'll do it all. But let's not
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: use Christ. Let's not talk about God. Let's just inspire
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: people without using, let's be politically correct. Let's not talk
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: about God and we'll take you on. I just want
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: you to inspire people. And I went home and I thought,
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I'm just not there anymore. I, you know, I've had
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: ups and downs. I've been, you know, I don't have
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: to have, I don't want to be mainstream anymore. That's
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: not where my heart is anymore. I want to, I
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: want to talk about Jesus and I want to bring,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: people to Jesus and the love of the Lord and
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: have love in this world. And inspiring people is one thing,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: but then going the extra mile and saying, no, inspiring
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: is one, but you really need the love of Christ
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: in your life. So I told them no. Yeah, I
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: told them no. And they're like, well, you're not going
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: to get the piece of the pie is so small.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, you know what? It's not about the
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: piece of the pie. It's about the quality of that piece.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: So I'm about The quality of that piece of pie.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: And that's where my heart is now. And it's all
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: about God's glory and God's kingdom. And just taking on
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: the media and arts and entertainment mountain that I can
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: take a bite out of and letting God do the rest.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Yes. And I think that even what you just said
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: is a lesson in not compromising. You're talking about bold faith.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: And for you, God has put this in your heart.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: inspiring people is a wonderful thing, but you want to
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: do more than inspire people. You want to make a
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: difference today and for eternity. I could talk to you forever.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: We're out of time, but Gigi, thank you so much.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much. It's so nice to see you
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: and I will see you soon.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: I can't wait to see you. September 5th at 11 a.m.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Central Time. That's awesome.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: And you all, in the show notes for today, I
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: will put in Gigi's books, her website, the information about
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: the show, In the Kitchen with Gigi, so that you
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: can connect with her and learn all about what's going on.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: I appreciate all of you listening. Again, this is Hope
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: for the Journey. the podcast for women over 40. And
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: one of our strong messages is that it is never
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: too late to start over or for God to give
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: you a brand new beginning. I will see you again
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: next week with more hope for the journey.