Latest / Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews / Jen Lilley Believes Prayer Moves Heaven and She Has the Story to Prove It

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Jen Lilley Believes Prayer Moves Heaven and She Has the Story to Prove It · Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Hey, Jen, thanks for joining me.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Hey, Michael. So good to see you again.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Jen Lilly, who stars in the new movie, Jimmy. Almost
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: got that confused. November the 6th is the date. The movie,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: of course, tells the incredible story of actor Jimmy Stewart,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: star of It's a Wonderful Life. Jen, you portray Stewart's wife, Gloria.
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited to watch this. Every time I see a
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: clip of it, it makes me want to watch the movie.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Tell us about the film, why you wanted to be
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: a part of it, and tell me about your role.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I mean, I wanted to be part of
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: it because I think any actor, if you say this
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  Speaker 1: is a biopic about one of the most iconic actors
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  Speaker 1: of all time, you're automatically just, you know, chomping at
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the bit to be able to do it. So I
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: was so excited to have anything to do with it.
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  Speaker 1: But what really moved me was the fact that as
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: iconic of an actor as James Stewart is, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, look at so many Alfred Hitchcock movies, Philadelphia Story,
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  Speaker 1: he won the Academy Award for. It's a Wonderful Life,
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  Speaker 1: the reason, you know, Hallmark Christmas movies even exist. He's
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  Speaker 1: such an iconic actor, but off screen, he was probably
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  Speaker 1: even more impressive. He had such a servant's heart and
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  Speaker 1: he was just so known for being so kind and
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  Speaker 1: so down to earth. And so I was very moved
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  Speaker 1: to be part of telling his true story of who
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  Speaker 1: he is. And I think that it's more relevant than
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  Speaker 1: ever because We're just in this time, and I know
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  Speaker 1: it's really gone on since the beginning of time, but
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  Speaker 1: I just feel that over the last six years or
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  Speaker 1: so since COVID, people have gotten so up in arms
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  Speaker 1: and so divisive over even little things. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that the life of Jimmy Stewart, who he was off screen,
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  Speaker 1: is going to be something that every single person, no
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  Speaker 1: matter their race or socioeconomic background, religion, politics, whatever they believe,
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  Speaker 1: whatever factions we've decided to become so divisive over, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to see ourselves. We're going to remember that we're
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  Speaker 1: so much more alike than we are different. And so
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  Speaker 1: it's a relevant movie. It's a timely movie. And I
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  Speaker 1: think that it just does so many things. It's going
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  Speaker 1: to make us remember and honor our veterans who get
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  Speaker 1: so overlooked. And I just was so honored to be
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  Speaker 1: able to be part of it. And then to also
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  Speaker 1: play Gloria Stewart, his wife, who was a woman who
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: was very grounded in her faith and she made him
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  Speaker 1: want to live life again, you know? So I was
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  Speaker 1: just really honored to be part of it, especially knowing
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: that one of their four children, Kelly, she was an
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  Speaker 1: executive producer on this. So I was approved to play
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  Speaker 1: her mother, which is not lost on me.
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  Speaker 2: That's amazing. And of course, KJ Apa, Betray Stewart, every
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: time I see those clips, he He really stepped into
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  Speaker 2: the role. I mean, he seems like he's Jimmy Stewart
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  Speaker 2: in those clips.
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  Speaker 1: He did a tremendous job. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: But you were talking about Jimmy Stewart. He, I believe,
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  Speaker 2: fought in World War II. That's a part of the
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  Speaker 2: story that most people don't know about.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And then he came back and was played in It's
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: a Wonderful Life. You said getting this role felt kind
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  Speaker 2: of redemptive after a difficult couple of years in your life.
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  Speaker 2: Tell us about that. What did you mean by that?
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, in the beginning of 2023— everything in
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  Speaker 1: my career was flourishing. I felt like I was at
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  Speaker 1: a high. I was under a contract with a network.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I had Christmas Is Not Cancelled, my company
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  Speaker 1: that I loved so very much. And I just felt
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  Speaker 1: like my career life was flourishing. And I was fasting
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  Speaker 1: and praying about some stuff going on personally with different
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: family members. And I remember being in my prayer closet,
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  Speaker 1: like literally in my closet. Like it was like, Other
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  Speaker 1: things in life were dismantled enough that I was in
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  Speaker 1: a period of fasting and praying, which I do regularly.
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  Speaker 1: Like when things hit the fan or if I have
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  Speaker 1: a friend who, you know, is diagnosed with something or
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  Speaker 1: they're going to go on a mission strip, like you
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  Speaker 1: can call me and I will fast and pray with you.
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  Speaker 1: Like I'm very into that discipline. So I'm in my,
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  Speaker 1: literally my parent closet because I have four young children
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  Speaker 1: and they love to find me and ask me questions
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  Speaker 1: nonstop that are not important. So I was like literally
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  Speaker 1: in my closet because like The kids are not looking
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  Speaker 1: for me there and praying about something totally different. And
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  Speaker 1: all of a sudden I heard the Lord say to me,
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  Speaker 1: and when I say here, it's not audible, but it
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  Speaker 1: was in my spirit. And he said, you're about to
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  Speaker 1: get kicked out of the nest and you are going
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  Speaker 1: to feel like you are free falling to your death.
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  Speaker 1: And I need you to know that it's me who
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  Speaker 1: kicked you out of the nest because you have forgotten
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  Speaker 1: how to fly. And I have other things for you
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  Speaker 1: to do. And you've gotten too cozy. And I remember
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  Speaker 1: being in my prayer closet. And again, this is not
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  Speaker 1: what I was praying about. And I said to him, surely, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: you don't mean da-da-da-da-da. And he was silent. And whenever
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is silent after he said something, you're like,
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  Speaker 1: oh my gosh. So I remember praying about that and
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  Speaker 1: being like, okay. And then I went to do a
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  Speaker 1: different job. And three different prophetically gifted people who did
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  Speaker 1: not know me from Adam, like did not know me
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  Speaker 1: from Adam, had similar prophetic words. One girl walked up
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  Speaker 1: to me and she goes, she's like a young teenager.
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  Speaker 1: She doesn't know who I am. I'm like, your mom
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  Speaker 1: might like me, but yeah. She says, I'm like new
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  Speaker 1: to prophecy. Can I tell you something? And I said, sure. Like,
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  Speaker 1: I was like, look, it's safe space where we were
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: like a house party, you know, like a, like a
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  Speaker 1: dinner party, like a Bible study. I said, yeah, like, listen,
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  Speaker 1: if it doesn't mean anything, then you just shake it off.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And she said, do lilies mean anything to you? And
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  Speaker 1: I said, well, it's my last name. So like she goes,
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  Speaker 1: I said, why? She goes, well, I was looking at you.
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  Speaker 1: And I kept seeing a water lily. And I said, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: what does this mean? And he said, you know, water
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: lilies are really interesting because they look so delicate on
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  Speaker 1: the surface. But when a storm comes, water lilies are
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  Speaker 1: the only thing that survive because their roots grow. They
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  Speaker 1: grow from the ground up. Okay, so like my dress
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: for the premiere, I'm getting a custom gown made. And
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  Speaker 1: my designer, not knowing that, goes, what do you think
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: about water lilies? So I'm wearing a water lilies dress
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  Speaker 1: to the premiere of Jimmy. Anyway, I'd gotten multiple words
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  Speaker 1: like this. So October of 2023 rolled around and it
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  Speaker 1: was like everything that could have been pruned back in
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  Speaker 1: my life career-wise was pruned. Like I was like going
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  Speaker 1: from a tree to like a dry stick in the
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  Speaker 1: wind with no, like you might as well just throw
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  Speaker 1: me in the fire while you're at it because like
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  Speaker 1: I'm just dry wood at this point. And I didn't
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  Speaker 1: do anything. I didn't do anything to deserve it. It
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  Speaker 1: was just like the Lord just like with a machete,
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  Speaker 1: like cutting off all this, like what I thought was
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  Speaker 1: great fruit. I was like, Lord, I don't know what.
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  Speaker 1: And while it was happening, it was very painful. All
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  Speaker 1: of it felt like very deep betrayal. Like it was
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  Speaker 1: very multilayered, horrible. And every time I wanted to get
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  Speaker 1: mad at the person, I would hear the Lord say, remember,
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  Speaker 1: this is me. You're not allowed to get mad. This
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  Speaker 1: is me. I'm doing this. It's me. And I was like,
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  Speaker 1: So I went through just this like two year season.
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  Speaker 1: I'm still almost in it. Like Jimmy was the start
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  Speaker 1: of getting out of it. So here's what's interesting. So
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  Speaker 1: two years later, I'm also again, like I'm praying. I
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  Speaker 1: do this every morning and I'm in prayer time, not
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  Speaker 1: thinking about anything. And all of a sudden, one of
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  Speaker 1: the prophetic words I got was this woman. She walked
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  Speaker 1: up to me and she goes, you're in a boat.
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  Speaker 1: And you are in a little rowboat and you're about
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  Speaker 1: to go through a serious storm. And she said, water
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  Speaker 1: is going to fill your boat. She was going to
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  Speaker 1: be there many times where you are going to start sinking.
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  Speaker 1: And you're like, surely this is it. I'm drowning and
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to survive. The Lord wants you to
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  Speaker 1: know he's with you in the boat and you will
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  Speaker 1: make it to the other side. Okay, so this is
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  Speaker 1: like another word that I got that I'm holding on to.
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  Speaker 1: I'm in my prayer time. And all of a sudden,
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  Speaker 1: out of nowhere, I remember that boat. And I see
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  Speaker 1: myself like get to the other side. I hit the
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  Speaker 1: shore in my, like I was having like a daydream
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  Speaker 1: vision in, in my prayer time. And I was like, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: and he goes, you just got to the other side.
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  Speaker 1: And I remember I actually cried and I was like, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad I got to the other side, but like,
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  Speaker 1: it's been really nice in the boat with you as
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  Speaker 1: horrible as it is. You've been so close to me.
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  Speaker 1: Like this was how I, this was the season I
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  Speaker 1: wrote my devotional. Like I had such good times with
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. even when, because he's like closer than a
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  Speaker 1: brother when things are going hard. So I was like,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know that I want to get out of
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  Speaker 1: the boat, Lord, because like I'm, your presence is enough.
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  Speaker 1: Like if I don't ever accomplish something else, like the
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  Speaker 1: sweetness of your presence is enough. Like I don't want
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  Speaker 1: to leave your presence. I don't want to get out
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  Speaker 1: of this boat if it means like you're not getting
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  Speaker 1: out with me. So he doesn't say anything else. 30
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: minutes later, probably, I get a call from Billy Halliwell,
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  Speaker 1: who's my co-host on Into the Supernatural. And he's like, hey,
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  Speaker 1: I just got this call from this woman named Angela Sullivan,
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  Speaker 1: who's one of the producers of Jimmy Stewart. And how
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  Speaker 1: would you like to play Gloria? And I was like, what?
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  Speaker 1: And he goes, yeah, they're making a story about Jimmy Stewart.
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  Speaker 1: And Angela called me and was like, can you think
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  Speaker 1: of any actresses that can play a mom that feel
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  Speaker 1: very fancy, but totally are just like a mom in
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  Speaker 1: real life? And he was like, well, yeah, Jen Lilly
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  Speaker 1: has like a thousand children and she is an actress.
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  Speaker 1: And so Angela said, oh my gosh, Jen Lilly's the
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  Speaker 1: top of my list. She's like number one out of
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  Speaker 1: five and she's on another producer's list, but we haven't
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  Speaker 1: asked her because we didn't think she would do it.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm like, what? So anyway, so Billy got me
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  Speaker 1: in touch and I read the script and then I
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: still had to meet Aaron, the director, who was like,
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  Speaker 1: what's the thing about this girl? Like, why is she
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  Speaker 1: so special to you guys? And then I got on
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  Speaker 1: this Zoom with Aaron and I looked much more not
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  Speaker 1: like today. I mean, my hair was washed, but like,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not wearing, you know, eyeshadow and all those fancy things.
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  Speaker 1: And we just bonded over like he has five kids
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  Speaker 1: and I have four, which is like, you know, just
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  Speaker 1: a lot. And he was like, what do you do
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  Speaker 1: in your spare time? And I'm like, well, in between
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  Speaker 1: this Zoom meeting or whatever, I had been building like
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  Speaker 1: I had been farming and like a woodland trail for
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  Speaker 1: my kids. And he was like, you are so Gloria.
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  Speaker 1: So that's how I got the movie. So I'm really
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  Speaker 1: happy to be in this movie. And and I know
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  Speaker 1: that it was the Lord because like I did not
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  Speaker 1: audition for it. And I did not like, I had
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  Speaker 1: also gotten a word in that interim, like a year
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  Speaker 1: prior where this other prophetic woman who does not know me,
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  Speaker 1: she said, I just want you to know you're being
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  Speaker 1: talked about in rooms right now. And you don't even
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: know the people, but like your name is in other
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  Speaker 1: people's mouths. And I was like, okay. So when I
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: got this call, I just, it just, to me, it's
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  Speaker 1: such a gift from God because I didn't apply for
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: it and I didn't know about it.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. Billy's a good friend of mine. I did not
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  Speaker 2: know this. I did not know this story. That's amazing.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm so thankful that he helped you out because
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  Speaker 2: this is an exciting movie and I'm looking forward to
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  Speaker 2: watching it. You said you go to a prayer closet.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: There was a movie several years ago called War Room
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: where I think the grandma went to the prayer closet.
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to stay on this for too long,
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  Speaker 2: but briefly tell us why you do that. Is it
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: simply to get away from distractions in the world while
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: you pray? I mean, I want you to speak to
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  Speaker 2: people who have never done this, but perhaps just consider it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. One, in a simple way, yeah, it is to
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  Speaker 1: get away from distractions. You know, we are far too accessible.
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  Speaker 1: I would just absolutely love it if like a meteor
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: shower came and took the internet down. I would be
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: very happy to go back to like landlines and not
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: being so available at all times. So yeah, one, it's
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: to get away from distractions and away from my kids.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I love them, but you know, like there
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: are bigger fish to fry than like you need more
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: apple juice and you are totally capable of going and
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  Speaker 1: getting your own apple juice. You know, like you don't
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  Speaker 1: need me to do that. But also, I mean, the
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  Speaker 1: main reason I pray is because we are so privileged
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  Speaker 1: that God co-labors with us. You know, God is, is
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  Speaker 1: the God of impossible. He, if we really believe in God,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: then like we have to sit and think about the
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  Speaker 1: fact that like he laid the stars in Orion's belt.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Like he is who he says he is in Job.
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  Speaker 1: Like he created God. something out of nothing. He is
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  Speaker 1: the reason the laws of physics exist. He loves to
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  Speaker 1: thrive in impossible situations. And yet in his infinite wisdom
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  Speaker 1: and ability to do this all on his own, it's like,
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  Speaker 1: what does scripture say? Who is man that you are
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  Speaker 1: mindful of him? It says that Jesus went in his
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  Speaker 1: resurrection because he conquered hell and death. He gave us
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  Speaker 1: his authority. He delegated it to us. And I truly
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  Speaker 1: believe that God, while he can do everything, if you
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  Speaker 1: really look at scripture, God chose to partner with humanity.
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  Speaker 1: He gave us, he made us his hands and feet.
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  Speaker 1: He gave us his authority. And I believe that if
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  Speaker 1: we are not praying, we like heaven cannot move. Like
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  Speaker 1: heaven needs to partner with earth. Like as it is
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: in heaven, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done
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  Speaker 1: as it is in earth. Like as it is in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: so shall it be in earth. Like we break things.
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  Speaker 1: There is a spiritual realm going on at all times. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, if people don't believe that, like, it's very
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: interesting to me that people would believe in, like, ghosts
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  Speaker 1: and things that are totally demonic, by the way. I
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: believe people see ghosts. I think that they are demons.
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  Speaker 1: I know that they are demons. It's a whole different
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: conversation for another day. But, you know, like, people believe
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  Speaker 1: in the spirit realm, but then they still believe in God.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: And it's like, but if you believe in this, like,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: then the other has to exist. And I love to
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: partner with God in prayer because it's like God doesn't
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: need permission to move and yet he needs permission to
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  Speaker 1: move because that's the system he set up. Like he
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: loves to get involved, but he is a gentleman and
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: he wants to be invited. Like God loves to be invited.
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  Speaker 1: And at the same time, I'm so grateful to be
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: able to invite him to intervene in my situation because
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: like we really are nothing without him. It really is like,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: who is man that you would be mindful of him, Lord?
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Who am I that you would be mindful of me?
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  Speaker 1: I can't do anything. I'm a hard worker, but in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: all of my striving, I might never get a door open.
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  Speaker 1: And Lord, you can open a door that no man
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  Speaker 1: can shut. You can close doors that no man can open.
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  Speaker 1: Who am I to not want to partner with the
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  Speaker 1: creator of all things to say, Father, I have anxiety
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  Speaker 1: about this. I'm going to cast my anxieties and my
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  Speaker 1: cares on you because you care for me. And you
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  Speaker 1: are faithful to your word. When I am faithless, you
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  Speaker 1: are faithful. You will oversee your word to perform it.
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  Speaker 1: So like God, I don't know how to move. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know how to get out of this situation. Like
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  Speaker 1: I'm free falling and it does feel like I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to die, Lord. But like you told me like you're
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: going to teach me how to fly again. So like
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: could you put some wind underneath these wings? Because I'm
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: freaking out a little bit here. But like you told
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: me this is coming. So like please do it. You know,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: like I love to pray. I love to pray.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, prayer is the vehicle that God has chosen to
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  Speaker 2: work through. And I think we say the right words
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: about prayer, but we don't practice it. And I just love,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: I love your heart, and we need to learn to
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: do that. Let's talk about a couple of books that
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: you have written. One of them actually led to industry
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: on college campuses. I think it's called, actually, I forgot
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: the name of it. Help me out here.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: It's called Wake Up Your Faith. Yeah, this is a
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: 365 devotional. I vowed to never write a I'm not
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: a big fan of devotionals, usually, because I sometimes find
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the devotionals can be like a crutch for not reading
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: your Bible. And I'm like, I can't do more for
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: you than the Word of God. But Broad Street, my publisher,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: was so kind in that they just humored me and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: they let me be as in-your-face about who God is
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: and as encouraging as I'm trying to be. It's like,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: wake up, oh sleeper. The verse on the back, I
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: remember getting my copy and being like, Jen, you're such
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: a zealot that you chose this verse. Wake up, sleeper,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: rise from the dead. Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5, 14,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: but it's true. It's like, if you are not, if
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: you have never encountered the love of Jesus, if you
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: grow up and you have faith, but like you have
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: never encountered the love of God for yourself, we're like,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I'm talking like you got wrecked because you had a
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: personal revelation of how much Jesus loves you. Like this
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: book is for you because he's alive and he's active.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: And like the faith walk is so fun. It's so
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: fun to be a Christian. It's not easy. It's certainly
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: not easy, but it's such a fun adventure to be
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: able to partner with the Holy Spirit. And so, yeah,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: it's like it takes down a journey. I mean, every
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: single month is a different theme to really like sharpen
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: your tool and sharpen your sword of the Spirit to
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: set captives free, not to wound them. And I mean,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: it changed me writing it. It changes me reading it.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, when I read it, I'm just so aware
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: of the fact that the Holy Spirit was definitely in
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: this because I don't know, like if you ever make
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: notes in your Bible and then you go back and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: you read your Bible and you read a note and
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: you're like, that was a really good thought. Huh, I'm
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: glad I wrote that note. You know, that's how I
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: feel when I'm reading my devotional again. I'm like, oh,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: that is, it's like, oh, I've never thought of that before.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: But of course I have because I wrote this. I
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: don't know, like it's a really fun devotional. I like it.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Use it as an appetizer or a dessert to the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: actual word of God, who is the bread of life,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: who is Jesus.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I started a campaign called Wake Up Your Campus and
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: it's to spread... revival across college campuses. And it's been interesting.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: I started it in the spring. I learned a lot.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I'm piloting it with seven schools right now in the fall.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: And I'm also beta testing an app that I developed
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: for it. But it's like a 30-day challenge basically to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: get students like if they will engage with the devotional,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: which is like totally free for them. It's online. They
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: just like give me their name, cell phone and email
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: just so I can notify them. They read a pre-picked
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: devotional and they do like a one-sentence takeaway. I enter
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: them to win $ 1, 000 in weekly Starbucks gift cards. But
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: what I found in the spring is that those who
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: engaged came back an average of seven times. One girl
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: as many as 90 times she engaged with it. And
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the entries and the feedback that these kids actually put,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: like I was expecting them to be like, this is dumb.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: You know, like that's their feedback. This is stupid. Like
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: you stink. There's something not as nice. But they wrote
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: things like, I didn't know that it was God's righteousness
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: that made me righteous. I didn't know that I could
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: be made clean. I fought with my mom, like, I
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: have a really hard-hung life, and I think I'm going
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: to forgive my mom. It was like, I'm weeping reading
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: their takeaways in my back-end system. And I'm like, Lauren,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: you are so faithful to your word to oversee it.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: And if I have to give these college kids the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: chance at winning $ 1, 000 or weekly Starbucks cards, so be it,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: you know? Like, you're the treasure of all treasures, God.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So I'm doing that and just trying to be faithful
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: with it and then constantly pray, like, what are we
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: doing next, Lord? So.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: So Wake Up Your Campus is the name of this.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: And for students who want to get more information, is
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: maybe your Instagram or is it a website?
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, wakeupyourcampus.com. And same thing for people. It's a 501c3.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: It's a part of my ministry. So it's a write-off
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: if people want to support, they can.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Are you seeing a movement of God on college campuses
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: like a lot of people are.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Seeing, Jen? Yeah, I am. I definitely am. With mine,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing... less of like a mass scale, which is
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: what I want. But I remember before I launched it too,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord was like, do not measure this with human metrics.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, I love human metrics, but I read
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: the takeaways and I'm like, okay. I know when we
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: started it last spring and it was a whole lot
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: of work and like, I'm not paying myself for the work.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: You know, like I don't pay myself a salary. I'm
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: just spending hours and hours like developing it. And my
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: husband said, when I developed, when I got the vision
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: for it, he goes, we have to resolve it our
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: hearts that if only one student comes to the Lord
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: because of it, like it's worth, it's worth the investment.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And so I'm like, that's how I'm trying to measure it.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: But I know God loves all people, but he really
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: loves Gen Z. And I love that Gen Z in
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: some ways is like the hippies, you know, like they
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: just want the truth. And they're looking for it in
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: all the wrong places. But when they find it, when
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: they find him, it's going to be like the Jesus
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: People movement, except with the internet. So think about the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: revival that would outbreak because you can't silence them. Like
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: once they found the truth, they're going to be so
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: loud about it. It's going to be awesome.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: As we close here, let's talk briefly about the other
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: book that we mentioned called Call to Foster and Honest
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Guide to Getting Started. And I believe you co-authored it
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: with Dr. John DeGarmo. I guess this is kind of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: a starter guide for those who are looking to foster?
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a starter guide. It's exactly what it is.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: It's a very honest guide for what does it look
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: like to be a foster parent? Why should I care?
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: How do I get involved if I don't want to
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: be a foster parent? Or, you know, I'm curious and
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: what do I need to do? It's kind of a
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: starting guide for all of that. And then also, even
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: if you have like a friend who's fostering, it's to
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: hopefully give you some perspective about like, what we walk
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: through as foster parents, what it feels like, what it's like,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: because it's not normal parenting at all. It's just such
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: a different world. You can love these children and you
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: should love these children as much as your own and
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: you should welcome them into your home with a non-biased
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: heart like the Lord welcomes us into his kingdom. And
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: yet you cannot apply the same parenting skills that you
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: would with your own kids who have not experienced trauma.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: So it's a bit of an eye-opener. And so I
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: think that if you know anybody that is fostering or
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: they're in your family, I would urge you to read
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: it because they need a lot of support. Like foster
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: parents need a lot of support. The good foster parents
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: burn out pretty quickly because it's a hard system. But
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: it's something that I think as Christians, we're all called to.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: If you enjoyed today's interview, please make sure to subscribe
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: and share the episode with a friend. A big thanks
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: to the team at Life Audio for their partnership with
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: us on the podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, you
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: will find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: See you next time.