Latest / A Heart That Beats for Home / 71. More Than a Role: Actress Masey McLain Talks Faith, Purpose, and Trusting God Through Every Season

Transcript

71. More Than a Role: Actress Masey McLain Talks Faith, Purpose, and Trusting God Through Every Season · A Heart That Beats for Home

0:01
SPEAKER_01: Hey friends, I'm Nikki Smith, your host here at A Heart That Beats for Home, the podcast where we're ditching filters and diving headfirst into the raw beauty of all things home.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: Now, I am no expert when it comes to this whole parenting and marriage dance.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm simply a gal who's been riding the mom roller coaster for 22 years and a wife still untangling the mystery of it all 25 years after saying I do.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: My goal is to bring you unapologetically messy and boldly genuine conversations about cultivating strong families.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna laugh, possibly cry, and straight talk about the joy and chaos that comes within the four walls that we call home.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: No judgment and certainly no perfection.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Just real talk from my heart, a heart that beats for home.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Let's dive in.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: Hello there, friends.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to come on before we jump into today's interview and ask you to be patient and bear with us.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: We did have some technical issues and the audio is not the very best, specifically in the first 10 or so minutes.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: And so just want to ask you to stick with us.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: There is so much goodness and richness in this interview with the amazing actress Macy McLean.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: And I don't want you to miss any of it.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: So bear with us through the beginning when we have not the best sound quality.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: And then as the tornado alarms ring in our background for a minute or so, it was all things uh crazy technology this morning.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: But we know that this is a powerful interview and Macy has so much to share, not only about the movie Salt on Fire, but also just about the way that the Lord has been working in her life and so much that we can learn from what she shares with us.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna jump right in here, but wanted just to say thanks so much for being patient and sticking with us until the end.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Hello, friends.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode at A Heart That Beats for Home.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: I know every single week I tell you I'm so excited for the guests that you're about to hear from.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: And today I mean it again.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited for you guys to get to hear from our guest.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: And this is something that 24 hours ago was not planned.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: I woke up yesterday morning and felt a god nudge that I was supposed to move directions this week.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: A couple weeks ago, we had John O'Leary on for the most amazing interview and got to just hear his heart and his story for the new movie Soul on Fire.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: And this last week was able to go to the premiere of that movie in St.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: Louis, the most amazing night.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: And in a dark hallway outside of the theater, I ran into this amazing woman that you guys are gonna hear from today, Miss Macy McLean.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: And I am just excited for the way that God orchestrated and allowed schedules to work out.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: We're having some technical difficulties this morning and we're pushing through.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: And we know that there is stuff that's gonna happen here in this interview that you are supposed to hear, and God is gonna work through this conversation.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: And so I just want to introduce you to Macy.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: She is an amazing actress, a screenwriter, a producer.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: She's a musician.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: She has become quite the speaker.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: And just overall, what I love about her is that she has a heart for Jesus.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: And so here on the podcast, A Heart That Beats for Home, we are all about cultivating strong families.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: And that foundation is Jesus Christ.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: And that is everything that Macy stands for.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited just to dig in a little bit about her life, what God has taught her throughout her career, and just the exciting things, the doors that he's opening, and then ultimately talk about this new movie, Soul on Fire, that comes out in like 24 hours.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: So for those of you that are listening, you need to go get your tickets.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: We'll give you lots of info.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: But Macy, thank you so much for being here.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: I would love for you just to tell the listeners just a little bit about you and kind of how you got started in acting.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's so good to be here.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me, Nikki.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: I was so happy when you reached out and our meeting in the dark hallway after the premiere.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Which, first of all, that premiere was insane.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: I have never been to one that big before.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: I think there was 2,300 people, which is still wild to me.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm still really at night.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: But I yeah, like you said, I'm making every time I hear my intro, I'm like, oh, this poor girl doesn't do what she does.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm a speaker, an actor.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Like all this like list of things.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I'm a circus performer.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Um but no, I I started in entertainment when I was 15 years old, and it has been a journey since.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: And I fell in love with acting.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: I I played sports all throughout high school and middle school.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: And then when I stepped on a stage, I had that feeling of, oh, I feel like I can fly when I do this.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: And I pivoted to film acting and really haven't stopped since.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And all the other things have kind of been offshoots from acting first.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: So speaking came out of a movie I did called I'm not ashamed.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: I ended up having a big platform to go speak to youth groups and women's ministries and colleges all over the United States.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: And that kind of awakened that thing in me where I was like, oh, I really love I love teaching, I love communicating, I love talking about the word of God.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: And then music has always been in me.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: I always would write songs in high school and like my mom listened to all of them.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: She's still the first one I send them to.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, and I have this movie coming out called Soul on Fire, and I couldn't be more honored to be a part of it.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Amazing.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: And Macy, I was I was telling you, I was doing kind of a deep dive into all things your life yesterday to do a real quick prep because we turned this around pretty quick.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: And when I when I Googled, of course, Wikipedia comes up.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: And you are the first guest I've ever interviewed that when I pull up Wikipedia within the first sentence, it said, my first couple sentences, that your dad was a Baptist pastor and that you accepted Jesus as your savior at age seven.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, how cool that kind of the foundation of your Wikipedia is that you accepted Jesus at the age of seven.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: I thought that's super cool.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm also a PK.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: And so I love that.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to ask you, because I want to kind of start as far back as I think the kind of the foundation of your story, our podcast is primarily made up of women, young moms between the ages of 25 and 45 is our main audience.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: And I think for moms who are trying to cultivate strong families, we're definitely wanting to instill faith into our children.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: And what I love watching in your life and your story is, you know, Wikipedia says seven years old accepted Jesus.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: And now you're an adult, a woman that is in a career.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: It's clear that you don't have your parents' faith, that you have Macy's faith, that this has become something that is yours.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: What would you say for moms listening?
7:11
SPEAKER_01: What do you think your parents did?
7:13
SPEAKER_01: How did they lead and direct in your home that got you to the point that you found the relationship that is so yours and personal as an adult?
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I am so thankful to have grown up in a Christian home.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I think my parents would also look back and be like, oh, there were times where they got trapped in, because we were a preacher's family, you know, and it's everyone's looking at you.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: And I think there were times where I think we got trapped in that, like a little bit legalistic thing of like we have to look a certain way.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: And they have so since come to us and say, like, oh my word, that was so wrong.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Like we are all broken people.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: And I think even I would even say my parents, even coming to us after realizing things that they would ever get trapped into or you know, fall into the pattern of they would come to us and apologize and say, hey, this is not the way.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: Like this is actually as Jesus follows how we live.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Not because we're the preacher's family, not because you know, we have to think a certain way or be polished, but because we love Jesus, this is why we live that way.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: But even growing up, I think a sense of family was so cultivated in our home.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Like Friday nights were family movie nights.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: We would play games together, we would spend time together.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: My siblings are my best friends.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think I don't know, I feel like that's so underrated.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Like sometimes we'd be like, dang it, we wish we could go hang out with our friends, you know, whatever.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: But now I'm like, this, these are my best friends, and family are just everything to me.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: But but I love the sense of family that they activated.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: And it was something from my dad I've always learned is he has that much courage, and he is a man, I mean, truly a man of righteousness.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Like he loves the word of God, and at all costs, even if it makes people disagree with him, or if it makes them upset at him, he does not move from the word of God, and that really instilled something in me that the word is everything, the word is worth everything, worth every cost.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: And I just remember watching him as a little girl and seeing that kind of courage and seeing, oh, that's real faith.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I remember those thoughts and watching him suffer at times because of it.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: And then my mom is such, oh my goodness, she's an evangelist to her core.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: We would be in line at the grocery store, and you know, I'm 10, and she's just pouring out her heart witnessing to the person in front of her.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: And I used to be embarrassed about it, and now I'm like, wow, my mom actually lives like we're going to heaven one day, and there is an eternity, and we're supposed to share that with everybody, and how big of a deal it was.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: So while growing up, that used to embarrass me as I got older.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: I was like, wow, I'm I'm just so thankful for their examples.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Today we're all so close, and I'm just really thankful that the Lord has kept us close.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: I think there's so much that you said in that you got to watch them live it out.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times when you see, I want to say spiritual families, I'm in quote unquote, right?
10:38
SPEAKER_01: That it's easy to have kids that sway away from that, but it sounds like your parents lived out and breathed.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: And now, even as adults, are saying, like, hey, we're sorry that maybe we didn't do that right.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's just such a huge example of grace and modeling that this is an evolving always, this walking with Jesus and learning and growing in wisdom.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: I just, I always love to hear stories of kids that were raised in the faith and and then made it their own.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: So I love that about you.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: And that so plays into Macy, what you are using your voice for.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: And so you mentioned the I Am Not Ashamed movie based on the Collabine shootings.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: We actually watched that last night.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: I have a 15-year-old, a 20-year-old, and a 23-year-old.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, you guys, everybody, come on.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: And so three of us sat downstairs last night and watched that.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: And I was a little nervous to let my 15-year-old watch it because it's heavy, right?
11:32
SPEAKER_01: That's a heavy story, even not to minimize it all what happened then.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: But now it seems like it's commonplace and it is a fear of everybody.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: And so my 15-year-old watched it.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: I kept saying, Are you doing okay, buddy?
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Are you doing okay?
11:46
SPEAKER_01: He's a sensitive guy.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: And he got up and he just started weeping.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Oh no, I've made a horrible mistake.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Buddy, like, what's going on?
11:55
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, I'm okay, like I'm okay.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'm just processing it.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: And then this morning he said to me, Macy, he said, Mom, I didn't sleep good last night.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't because I was afraid, it was because I want to live.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: And he was cute.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: He said, I want to live more like Macy.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: But you know, he was talking about Rachel Scott, right?
12:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: He was talking about Macy was playing Rachel Scott, who I guess I never realized in her story how much she was wrestling.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: You hear like she stood up for Jesus, she died for Jesus, and you assume she was just always on fire, but she wasn't.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: She was battling with like Jesus, where are you?
12:32
SPEAKER_01: I feel alone, even contemplating suicide.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: And um man, you know, when you say that you're picking roles to watch my 15-year-old, like a six foot big guy just cry and say, I want to be more like that.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: I was so grateful that we got to sit and watch that together.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: And so in choosing these roles, you have this faith, you're playing these roles that that have a lot of meaning.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: I know that you want to tell stories that matter whether you're writing them or you're acting in them.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: How have you been able to, in Hollywood, to be able to find roles like that?
13:08
SPEAKER_01: And have you had to turn down or let go of opportunities that maybe didn't align with where you want your witness to be?
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: First of all, that story about your son.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: I yeah.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna keep going here.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, I didn't look for those roles per se.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Like I didn't find them.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Truly, God orchestrated every ounce of that.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: And when I started acting, I didn't set out to, oh, I'm gonna go do these faith movies or I'm gonna go change Hollywood.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: I really just loved acting and I was walking with God.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: And it almost is like I'm just gonna do this as I walk with God.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: And then as I did that, and as the Lord was sanctifying me so much, especially as a teenager and in college, it was just, I don't know, he brought the roles to me.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget, I went to Nashville and I was meeting with a manager that I was potentially gonna have, and she just kind of kept staring at me.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: And she was like, You look just like the girl we're looking for.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: We're looking for Rachel Scott.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't even know who that was, honestly.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: And she basically started me on a process of auditioning for like a year for that film.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: And I was actually told no.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, many, many times before they actually cast me in the role.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, all these things, man, every role I've done, even Soul on Fire, I hadn't worked for about four years because of COVID, all the strikes.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Everything that was could go against me was going against me in those four years.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: And the Baxters had not come out yet, so I had no momentum, if that makes sense.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden my manager called and he was like, This doesn't make sense because you don't have anything going on, but you're the number one pick for this role.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, What?
15:23
SPEAKER_00: And again, it was just something only the Lord could orchestrate.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: And it reminded me of the verse of just seek first the kingdom of God, and then he will bring you your assignments.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: He's planned out the works that we're supposed to carry out.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: And I I've been so guilty many times of getting obsessed with what am I supposed to do?
15:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, what is my next thing?
15:44
SPEAKER_00: God, what am I doing in my career on this earth, you know, to make a difference?
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And he's just like, walk with me, seek first my kingdom, and I will bring you your assignments.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: And he has every single time.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: But I definitely had moments where I've had to turn things down, many things.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: And I was actually speaking at a conference and I was speaking on convictions.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: And when the Holy Spirit speaks to you, no matter what it is, obedience is everything.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: And speaking on convictions in Hollywood and not crossing lines that the Holy Spirit tells me not to cross.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as I got off stage, I got a call that I was like down to the bottom two of a really big show on Netflix.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: And I was so excited about it.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden my manager was like, So there's one thing if you're okay with nudity.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Are you kidding me?
16:41
SPEAKER_00: But it was almost comical.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: It felt like Satan was like trying, but pathetically trying, because I just got off the stage talking about convictions, and the second I got off, it was like, Will you do nudity?
16:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, for this role that could actually bring you to a whole different level.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: And I was just, it was an easy no because I don't know, uh things like that.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Like I know who I am, I know where I'm going, heaven is the goal.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And obviously these things are disappointing, but it's not a hard thing to say no to anymore.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: But there's been many things like that, and just have to trust along the way.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: I love that you said in there that you have this four-year drought because I've seen in a couple of places that you talk about you know that God has called you to something, and then you feel like he's almost withholding it from you.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, God, I feel like you've brought me to acting.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: And you said, I feel like I'm in the hiding.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: And just what you were able to learn in the hiding, how has these seasons of man, I feel like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, and I'm in this drought in what I feel called to do?
17:52
SPEAKER_01: How do you think that has prepared you then for the the things that came after I'm not ashamed?
17:58
SPEAKER_01: The Baxters, which we'll talk a little bit about, and then ultimately this role still on fire.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: God, the drought is where God has done the absolute most work in my life.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's been, I've had to shift my perspective.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm such a goal-oriented person.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Like, I want to do this, I want to do that.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: And like, why, God, are you benching me?
18:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, I felt like there was a big game being played, and I was on the bench, and I was having to watch all these other peers and people of faith, and you know, everyone else feel like they have so much favor and they get to go play, but I'm sitting down and I don't get to do anything.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: And I was so mad about it because I was like, God, what is going on?
18:46
SPEAKER_00: And I actually, it wasn't until I heard a fellow actress, I was sitting across from her at lunch, and she was in a similar season I was.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: We just did not know what we were doing with our lives.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: It was like nothing was working.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And she just said, I am so mad, and I've I feel like God has benched me, and I just I'm furious about it, and I don't get it.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand why I've done so much, I've glorified him, I've honored him.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: And she wasn't being prideful, she was just being very honest.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: And she was like, I don't get it.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Why won't he let me play?
19:21
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't until I heard someone else say it that I was like, Oh wow, we have this so twisted.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Because if a coach benches a player, the player is behind him, right?
19:34
SPEAKER_00: And he's focused on the game.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: But man, when God takes us out, quote unquote, of the spotlight or of the game per se, his attention is on us.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: Like it is one-on-one time with the coach.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: It's not that his attention is out there and we're behind him.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: He is like, it's me and you, girl.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: And I that just clicked in that moment.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh God, this is me and you.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Like you're doing some one-on-one coaching right now.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: And once I shifted that perspective, I was way more easily able to just give into it.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, God, let's.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: I I kind of love hiding away now.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: And man, those drought seasons, though, God has created such an intimacy there that could not have been done if I was just on a hamster wheel going and going and going.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: And he's just, I think, honed in on me actually what my purpose is, actually what matters.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: And none of this matters if I don't have that intimacy with that intimacy with him.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: There's a Bible study called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: If you've ever done that, yeah, that's an intense one.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's an intense one.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh yes.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: But he says you can spend your life doing things for God and never experience God.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, what a sad thing if I got to the end of my life.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: And I did so many things for God, but I didn't experience him.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: And I think that experiencing him comes in the hiding.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: The drought is not wasted, the drought is the biggest part of the game.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: And in those times, it is easy to think, God, you've you've forgotten me or you don't see me.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: But it is that refining time for sure.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: And then how you get these really sweet God in the detail moments.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: And for you, one of those God in the detail moments was this role in the Amazon Prime series, The Baxters.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: And for those of you that are listening that don't know the Baxters, we got to tell you, Macy and I share a love of this.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's being the PKs.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: We had certain things that we were allowed to read.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: I have been obsessed with Karen Kingsbury, her writing and the Baxter series.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: There must be 25 books now in that Baxter family series.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: But actually, the the one minute that Macy and I had together at the premiere in that hallway outside of a bathroom.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: We didn't talk about Soul on Fire.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: We talked about how obsessed I was, right?
22:13
SPEAKER_01: That she played the Baxters.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: Because for me, it was like my young adult life was coming to the TV screen.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: And I told her jokingly, I said, I was so invested in this series, in these books of this family.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: They go through each of the kids, Ashley in particular, who Macy played, just each each book, just so heavy of like real life and the family dynamics and this Christian family that's just struggling and hurting and staying together.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: That I would sometimes find myself at night praying for these Baxters.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: And I would have to remind myself, Nikki, these are not real people.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: These are fake people in a fictional book.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: And I told Macy that, and she's like, oh my gosh, Nikki, I prayed for them too.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: And so tell me just a little bit about that full circle moment, maybe a little bit of just a God in the detail that you got to play that role and you got to play the person that in the series was your favorite person.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I have never heard anyone else say they prayed for those characters.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: I've said it in interviews before, and I've never, no one's ever truly understood what that's like.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: I feel you.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was obsessed with them.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: And so the timing, again, talk about God's orchestration.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: He is lining up all things.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: I had tried to move out to LA many times, and the door just closed every time.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: This was in a time in my life where there was about a three-year drought at this point, but God was just sanctifying me to my core, removing things in my life that didn't need to be there.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And then after he just like opened the floodgates for me to move to LA, had to be done after he did all his work, though.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: I would have not been ready.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: And so the week I moved out to LA, I was with a friend and she equally loved the Baxters.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: And she was like, Missy, they just announced they're making a show.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: They're casting it like this week.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: And I could not believe it.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Because if I had moved out to LA any earlier or any later, I wouldn't have been there at the time for the show to be cast.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: And I called my manager and I was like, I have to read for this role.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, you do whatever you have to do.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: And so I went and read for the casting directors and I told them all in the room.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: And there's kind of like things you do as actors with casting directors and things you don't, but I didn't care.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: I was like, guys, I need you to know I love these people so much, I would pray for them.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: You have there is no bigger ambassador for this show but me.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: And they loved it.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: They were like, wow, okay.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I ended up, I couldn't believe it.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm booking my favorite character.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I booked Ashley, and I was just like, God, what?
25:06
SPEAKER_00: It was just so I don't know, something I would never expect.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, God is so kind, and He didn't have to do that.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: In the details, in the details.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: In the details.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean I'll be sure to tag in the show notes the link to those books.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: Because again, if you need about 25 books to read, these are the books for you.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: So, so good.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: And the show is so great.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm so thrilled for you that you got that full circle Baxter moment.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: And now we we have to move into the big thing that we need to talk about, which is the premiere of Soul on Fire this week.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: And I was telling Macy when I reached out yesterday, you guys know that I have a special connection with John that goes back almost a decade and just how precious and intentional and kind he is as a human, and how that has so impacted not only my life, but specifically the life of my parents with my dad walking through Parkinson's and just that connection with John and his family.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: And I have just, I told John, I will be the ambassador, kind of like you were for the Baxters.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: I will be the ambassador, do everything I can in my power to get this movie out to the world, and got John's Monday morning email yesterday.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: And John doesn't very often plead for help.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: And there was a little bit of, I'm begging you, I'm begging you to get people into the theaters.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: Opening weekend determines how many people, right?
26:34
SPEAKER_01: And I just felt like the Holy Spirit was like, Nikki, you need to shift podcast stuff this weekend.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: You have to do something again for Soul on Fire.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: But I was like, what?
26:42
SPEAKER_01: Just talk about going to the premiere.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't seem like it adds a lot of value to our listeners.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: And I just felt like God nudging me.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Just reach out to Macy.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: And I did this little bit of uh like, no, that's crazy.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: And then my son said to me, He's like, Mom, the worst thing she can say is no.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: So I literally, we were sitting at the golf course.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: I had just picked him up and he said, hit send.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: And so I hit send, just asking Macy to come on.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: And you guys, it wasn't three minutes later that she had responded, I would love to.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: And my son was like, Yes, I told you.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: But I feel like it's Holy Spirit because you guys, this movie is unbelievable.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: And Macy, you play the role of John O'Leary's wife, which he says was the most important role for him to cast.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: And it is uncanny how much I think you resemble Beth, how much you and Joel.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: I there was a couple of times in the movie where I could not get over the mannerisms, the body movement that Joel had sewed down.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: You guys literally, it's like watching John and Beth.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: And I know that this movie was super special to you.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to tell us just a little bit.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: I know you said that it kind of came to you.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about your experience getting this role.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: And then I want to ask you some more specific questions just about the relationship that you were able to form with the O'Leary family.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: I got this script.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: And after my manager called me, I was like, Yeah, send me, send me what it is.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: And when I read it, I was like, there are very few times where you get scripts and you're like, I'm supposed to do this.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, I have to do this.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I just couldn't stop turning the page.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: And then at the end of it, I had this feeling of this is going to shake people's purpose in the best way.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: This is going to ignite something that has been dormant in people.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: And I, those are the kinds of projects I want to be a part of.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, I ended up reading with the director and got the role.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: We started filming.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: But in really the amazing part was when I got this script before, like the few years before, I had just walked through a season where I had to choose daily to believe that God was working everything out for good.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: You know, those 10 seasons that we go through where you don't know how you're gonna get through it, but you do.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: But it takes choosing.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's such a powerful part of this story is that no one could make the choice for John.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: He had to choose to believe that not only could he walk through the impossible, but that God could do something absolutely impossible with his situation and with his life.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: And I had just walked through a season of that, and I'll never forget.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: I had a call with my counselor turned mentor, and she was like, Macy, one one day I was just honestly, I was depressed.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: The circumstances I was in, I was just trying to get by, and it was just one of those so apathetic seasons.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you as the listeners have ever been there, where You're like, I don't know how I'm gonna get through tomorrow.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: I will get through tomorrow, but I don't know how.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: And my my mentor just said, Macy, I need you to choose to believe that you can do this.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: You have to choose.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: And later that day, I was actually in my laundry room folding laundry, and I had a moment where I just felt like every single awful thing the enemy could say was just targeted at me of like, God doesn't hear you, you're alone, God is not gonna do anything with this situation, you won't make it through this, you have no purpose.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like what you saw in I'm not ashamed, where it's just whispering.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't suicidal, I'm not saying that by any means, but it was a severe spiritual attack.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: And I was just drowning in that moment.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: And the voice that pierced through it all, the Holy Spirit, just whispered to my heart, Macy, you have a choice.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: You can either choose to believe these lies, or you can choose to trust me with every ounce that you have left in you.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Just choose, choose to trust me.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: And it was a profound moment that I'll never forget.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: And I just broke down in my laundry room and I just said, God, I choose, I choose to believe.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: And I quoted every scripture I could think of.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: I fought with the word of God, and I just kept saying, I choose, I choose, I choose, I choose you.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And literally, I'd just gotten through that pit of a season, and this script landed in my lap.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, God, what?
31:41
SPEAKER_00: Like you have been preparing me for this role and this assignment, and to be an ambassador for this film because I've lived, I've lived it in an entirely different way, but I feel such a deep sense of I just resonated with it so deeply.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: And so even that, I just thought God just weaving together details that I never could have saw coming.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: I in watching that film, so I was able to screen it here at home before interviewing John and was so moved.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: But then to see it a second time at the premiere last week and on the big screen and in that environment.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: And I love that you said that that is like the most amazing premiere because as the mom from Illinois going, you have no idea.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, I have no idea what a typical movie premiere is.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: That was not what I was expecting.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: I was thinking like two, three hundred people in a little theater.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this was insane.
32:43
SPEAKER_01: And it was insane.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so to hear you say that as someone in the industry, I'm like, I feel like literally they brought Hollywood to St.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: Louis on steroids.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: But it was better than Hollywood because Holly was turned into.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: I was actually talking about this with William H.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Wacy.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Hollywood's turned into people will show up to premieres in pajamas.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: And it's like no one cares.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: It's like jeans sometimes.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously the stars always dress up, but right, it was so refreshing.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: We were all saying for everyone to dress up and celebrate, like that is one thing I'm so big on.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: Life is too short not to celebrate, like, and and be excited about things.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: So the fact that St.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: Louis just showed up and went all out, it was beautiful.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: It was a moment I will never forget.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: So if I'm only gonna ever be to one movie premiere, that that was the one to be that was the one you wanted to be, yeah.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: Yep, and it was like a stand outside.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: It was the the mascots, the like it was insane.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: Um the baseball stars, all the things.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: And the lady that worked there at the symphony, she was taking me to kind of show me how to get the wheelchair to where we needed to go.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: And she's like, we just had our gala, the most fancy of fancy thing here two weeks ago.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: And she said, You guys are like different level of how you showed up.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: So it was just, it was fun all the way around.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: We were ready for.
34:13
SPEAKER_01: We are on mission and we are celebrating the story.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so in in seeing it there in the theater, I I just related so much with Beth, just watching it again for like you see different things each time you watch it, and just the role that she played.
34:31
SPEAKER_01: I I told John, we all have our fires, and for him, it was an actual fire.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: For others, it's all these different things.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: And just the way that Beth loved John, despite, and there's a specific scene in the movie where you guys are kind of having a little bit of a confrontation where my husband even said, I think the most powerful line in the whole movie, he said, was when Beth says, I'm not gonna give too much away, don't ever under, don't ever underestimate me like that again.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: And when you go watch the movie, you'll know why that's so powerful.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: But I think our our sinful human nature is to see something imperfect and go, yeah, I don't want that.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: I that's that's not for me, or this doesn't feel like what I always thought it would be.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: And just the way that Beth loved John O'Leary, the way she did, scarred, broken, bruised, different.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: How did playing that role?
35:30
SPEAKER_01: I had two parts.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: How did it change you?
35:32
SPEAKER_01: And how did it impact you as a young married woman in just your own marriage?
35:41
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the most beautiful part about playing Beth is that Beth truly represents true love.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: And not just true love as we think about what the movies show or fairy tales, but true love in the sense of like agape love, the kind of God love that God showed us.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: I mean, God looked at us in our most broken, shameful, depraved selves without any hope.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: And he said, I choose you, scars and all.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: I know everything you're gonna do, I know everything you've done, I know the worst parts of you, and I still choose you.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: And I choose you so much so that I'm gonna send my son to die on a cross for your sins, so that you can be with me one day in heaven.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: And Beth to me, not even just Beth, but the people in John's life represents that kind of love, like God love through his people to John to say, I choose you, I see you.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: We don't see all these scars and uh boil you down to that of a human.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Like I see John, I see the soul of John.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: And there's even a scene where Beth, you know, in the dorm room, I'm sure you remember, man, uh he's telling her the most vulnerable uh parts of her him himself, the things that he's never shared.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: And she's so patient in that moment, but she also speaks life over him, and he all he can say about himself are the scars and the shame and how unworthy he is.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: And there's a verse in Proverbs that says, In the power of the tongue is death and life, and so man, speak life, choose life, and Beth constantly speaks life over John, and at every corner she speaks life over him, and in the power of tongue is death and life.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: And I just think that is, you know, John always says he's not the hero of the story, the heroes of the story are the ones that speak life over John at every turn.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: Something that Beth represents that I am constantly diving into in my own marriage and wanting to emulate in my own marriage.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: This is my favorite thing that I've learned.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: So when God made woman, it says, I will make a helper for him, right?
38:09
SPEAKER_00: For Adam.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: So that word helper, obviously, we have we have boiled that down to mean such menial things like a helper around the house or a helper with this, or you're gonna be a good helper.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's translating over podcasting the like yeah, cook you dinner.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, those things are not wrong.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: Me and my husband actually have pretty pink and blue jobs in our home.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: Like, like I'm gonna cook dinner, you know, for the most part.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Those things aren't wrong, but that is not what God meant when he said, I will make a helper.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Actually, the word he used was azer connecto.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: And in azer connecto, so other than when God used the term Azur connecto when he created woman, the only other times in scripture that word is mentioned is when Israel calls on help to other nations when they're in severe distress.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: They need battle help.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: So they call on Azer connecto to come help them.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Other nations, please come help us with this battle situation.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: We need severe help.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: The other time is when David calls on God as his Azer connecto.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: So he says, I will look up to the mountains.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Where does my help come from?
39:23
SPEAKER_00: Where does my azer come from?
39:24
SPEAKER_00: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: The only other time it's mentioned is when God says he will leave us the Holy Spirit as our great helper, our great Azercon.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: So an Azer Connecto is a fierce battle partner.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: An Azer Connecto is the person you call on when you are in great distress.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: An Azer Connecto is a great counselor.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: So man and woman were both made to reflect the image of God, right?
39:55
SPEAKER_00: So just as God is the Azer Connecto, just as the Holy Spirit is our great counselor, our Azer Connecto, woman was made to reflect that very image to everyone around her.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: Which, gosh, that just blows my mind because if we would understand that that is our identity, I think it would change the game in so many areas.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: My my favorite definition of an Azer is someone that pushes back the darkness and brings in the light wherever her feet are.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're married, actually.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if that's with your friends, your community, your school, your church, wherever your feet are, push back the darkness and bring in the light.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: You are an Acer.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: And I think Beth is a stunning example of what an Azer is.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: She speaks life over John, and every corner of the darkness in his heart and his mind, she pushes back the darkness and she brings in the truth.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: And so in my own marriage, I'm constantly challenged that how can I be that for my husband?
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Whatever he's struggling with, whatever corners of his mind and his heart, those dark spaces where he is drowning or struggling.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: How can I be a voice of truth?
41:10
SPEAKER_00: How can I be his fierce battle partner?
41:13
SPEAKER_00: How can I take up arms with him and speak truth over him, speak life?
41:18
SPEAKER_00: Or with my friendships, with anyone.
41:26
SPEAKER_01: Wow, Macy, that is amazing.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: A couple things you said in there.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: Number one, wherever your feet are, wherever they are.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think so often we look for like the perfect shining moment to be able to do something like that and not recognizing battle is every day.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: It's a spiritual battle.
41:46
SPEAKER_01: It's the battle of the world against family and home and strong parents and marriage and the internet and what our kids are being exposed to.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: And I just love pushes back darkness and brings life.
41:58
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like if my memory is serving me correctly, when you were on stage after the premiere and John asked you a question, I feel like you answered something very similar like that, that you wanted this role to call people to come out of darkness and into life.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you also said in that answer there the power of the tongue for life or death.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: And something that stands out to me so much about Soul on Fire and John O'Leary.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: And I know he always says, I'm not the hero of the story, and I want to be like timeout.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: A little bit you are, because you a little bit are, John.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: You are.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: You are like the best person ever.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Right.
42:39
SPEAKER_01: Like so humble, and that's so sweet that you think that this has nothing to do with you.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: But actually, there it has so much to do with him.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: And again, having never done anything Hollywood, to be in that symphony hall and to have that cast, a big cast.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: There are some, including yourself, there are big names in this movie.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: And listening to Joel Courtney talk about this film when he was interviewed by John, he said being around you changed how I'm showing up in my marriage, how I'm showing up in work, how I'm showing up in life.
43:11
SPEAKER_01: And I could sense watching that cast that something happened in those five, six weeks that you guys were together that that changed a lot of you.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's exactly what you said.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: It's that John has a way.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: He has come to a place that he recognizes so clearly in his life, God's calling, God's goodness, his ability to take something so broken.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, John originally said, Why would I talk about a bad story?
43:39
SPEAKER_01: And like what good could come from that?
43:42
SPEAKER_01: I could just sense in that room that being around John and Beth O'Leary, just being around that, I feel like it has to be a reflection of being in the presence of somebody who is constantly that that battle partner.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: I feel like that kind of is who John is.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: And am I getting a good read on that?
44:05
SPEAKER_01: Was there something super special that happened with that crew?
44:09
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
44:10
SPEAKER_00: You know, earlier you said many times we look for those shiny moments to be something or do something effective.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: John does not look for shiny things, he looks at souls.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: And on the set of on fire, we were making a movie called Soul on Fire, but we were actually watching a soul on fire every single day.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: And it gives me chills just saying that because I think John could tell you every single person's story on that set, and when he is locked in on a conversation with you, nothing else matters.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: No matter how shiny it is out there, no matter what everyone else is doing, he sees the soul in front of him.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: And he made every single one of us want to love harder, want to be more present, want to see past all the facades and distractions that we are all caught up in every day, especially in the Hollywood world, like everything that's important, it just stripped away the second that set started, and it never left us.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: And I think, yeah, I mean I think all of us would say we've been changed by John.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: You could just tell it, it was it was evident.
45:28
SPEAKER_01: And so, Macy, as we're coming into the the the do or die weekend, and I hate to I hate to put it like that, but this is important.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: And so many people that are on the film, John, the producers, everybody that's a part of this has felt like it is time for us to push against Hollywood.
45:48
SPEAKER_01: And I feel in my soul, I mean, I'm 48 years old, and I don't know that I've ever personally experienced what I am seeing as just a hunger for truth.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: We're seeing it on college campuses with these unbelievable revivals and baptisms, and we're seeing it in the way that Christian music and the Forest Franks and the Phil Wickhams and the Brandon Lakes are just taking over.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like a dark world is starting to crave this light.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
46:19
SPEAKER_01: What can you say to people?
46:20
SPEAKER_01: Go get your tickets.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: This is why it's so important, and this is why it's so important to do it this week with your family.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh, people don't realize how important opening weekend is.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: It really does, like you're saying, make or break a film in theaters.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: And man, we believe in the impact of this film because we've seen it.
46:41
SPEAKER_00: We've seen people leave the theater, leave screen inks, leave the premiere with tears streaked down their face.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: I was at a meet and greet, and John was standing next to me, and this man came up to him with John's book, which is basically the movie in book form, and the book was soaked in tears.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: The book was every page, I mean, you could just see it, and he flipped through it, and he told John, he said, You changed the trajectory of my entire life.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: And I can't tell you how many times we've heard that sentence after screenings and in these meet and greets with John.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: Man, I I just think now more than ever, like you said, the world is hungry, and so this is a way we can feed that hunger.
47:29
SPEAKER_00: And the time to feed it is this weekend, so then next weekend we can feed the world again, and then the next weekend, and the next week, and the next week.
47:38
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, just to keep that man, just to keep this impact going, it's so important.
47:45
SPEAKER_00: And I believe in this film more than anything, and I know it's gonna change your life.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: And I know if you if you have someone in your life that is just stuck in a pit, if something's happened to them that they are struggling with day in and day out, or if they're just stuck in like, why am I here?
48:03
SPEAKER_00: Why was I created to be on this earth?
48:06
SPEAKER_00: This film is like a lightning bolt to purpose, like it will zap you into oh my gosh, my life is short.
48:15
SPEAKER_00: And in this short amount of time, man, I can live like a soul on fire.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: Like I actually can live out every single day with purpose.
48:25
SPEAKER_00: And purpose is the most powerful weapon I think we can live with out of everything on this earth to live with purpose.
48:33
SPEAKER_00: And that only comes from God.
48:36
SPEAKER_00: But I it's gonna change the world.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, be a part of it, please.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: Be a part of it.
48:41
SPEAKER_00: We need you, we need you to change the world through this film.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
48:45
SPEAKER_01: We always say vote with your dollars, and this is an opportunity for you to vote with your dollars.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: We'll be sure to put in the show notes all of the different places that you can go get your tickets, find your closest home theater, and just get there.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: And Macy, I just I am praying.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: I know that just hearing a little bit of your backstory, it's easy for an outsider to see Hollywood and just we're so good at making assumptions of it's all glam, it's all good, it's all been easy, the dream life.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: And just to get an inside peek into your heart, the way that God has refined you, the valleys that He has had to bring you through, I just believe, I don't know, there's just something in my soul that believes that this is the beginning of something huge for you.
49:27
SPEAKER_01: I just feel like I do believe that this movie is going to do things that people don't expect it to do.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: I do believe that the world is hungry.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: And I believe that those of you that poured your heart and soul into this and then got to become even better people for being a part of it.
49:44
SPEAKER_01: I just, I'm just praying such blessing over not just your life, but your career, your marriage as you and Caleb are in this precious time of you still still young, married, right?
49:56
SPEAKER_01: Like just figuring out how to six years.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it goes so fast.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: We just celebrated 26th last month.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: And um just the most beautiful gift on earth, I believe, from God is marriage.
50:11
SPEAKER_01: And just to hear you talk about just the way that you guys are loving each other and trying to serve like Jesus.
50:17
SPEAKER_01: I just, I just pray that just everything in your guys' life just explodes, not for anything other than you have a voice and you are walking in light and you're doing it according to the word of God and scripture.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: And I just can't think of anybody I would rather see just be a household name in Hollywood for good.
50:37
SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna pray that over the movie, over your life.
50:40
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna ask you just as we wrap this up, is there anything, again, our listeners, young married, single women that are desperate, if I use that word, right?
50:51
SPEAKER_01: That really the desire of their heart is to be married or to be parents.
50:55
SPEAKER_01: What would be something that you would just leave with people just to encourage them to just keep pressing forward, even if they feel like it's right now in the hidden?
51:04
SPEAKER_01: They feel like they're in that stage of why are you hiding me away, God?
51:10
SPEAKER_00: If I could encourage you with anything, it's so simple, but give into it.
51:18
SPEAKER_00: Give into it, hidden.
51:20
SPEAKER_00: I got to a place towards the end of my quote unquote hidden season.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh God, I don't want to leave now.
51:27
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't want to leave this nest.
51:29
SPEAKER_00: I I kind of want to stay.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: And I I spent too long fighting that that hiding, and too too many days asking questions and frustrated and kind of spinning in circles because I wanted to get out.
51:49
SPEAKER_00: But if he's hidden you away, it's sacred.
51:54
SPEAKER_00: And don't despise the sacred, treat it as a treasure and reframe your mind.
52:00
SPEAKER_00: The goal is heaven, the goal is the kingdom, and God's ways are not our ways.
52:05
SPEAKER_00: Scripture says that it is far above our ways.
52:08
SPEAKER_00: So if he has planned to hide you right now, it is sacred and it is holy and it is good.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: That is going to do more work than anything you could do out of the hidden.
52:20
SPEAKER_00: So give in.
52:22
SPEAKER_01: Give in, be okay with it, lean in, right?
52:25
SPEAKER_01: Lean in and see what he has for you in that season.
52:28
SPEAKER_01: So good, so good.
52:29
SPEAKER_01: And we all find ourselves in in those seasons, and sometimes they catch us by surprise, and sometimes we feel like, oh no, I've been camping out here for 40 years in the desert.
52:37
SPEAKER_01: But just knowing that even if the dream in your heart is never what happens, that God is still in it and ultimately refining, moving towards eternity is the ultimate goal for each one of us.
52:50
SPEAKER_01: And so, Macy, where can people find you, follow you, cheer you on, and just be a part of your life?
52:59
SPEAKER_00: You can find me.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: The main place I post on is Instagram.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's Macy McLean.
53:05
SPEAKER_00: I spell it different, M-A-S-E-Y, M-C-L-A-I-N.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm also on Facebook, and I literally just downloaded TikTok yesterday, which I just it was overwhelming at first.
53:18
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I can't keep up with everything.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, okay, I'm gonna hop on over with the movie coming out and just you know have something over there.
53:27
SPEAKER_00: So Macy McLean, actually, it's the Macy McLean on TikTok, but I have like two followers, I think, because I've literally just downloaded it.
53:37
SPEAKER_00: So that's like my rogue like social media over there.
53:43
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
53:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm not TikTok either.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: I, you know, I'm just seeing how it goes.
53:48
SPEAKER_01: You might be the reason I go over there.
53:50
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I'll go be your third follower today.
53:52
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I'll figure it out.
53:54
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
53:55
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
53:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, I cannot thank you enough, number one, for just using your voice to bring glory to God in the kingdom.
54:03
SPEAKER_01: And then for saying a simple yes to uh a mom in Illinois who is just trying to follow a calling.
54:10
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so grateful for voices like you that are willing to come on and speak into the hearts of so many women that are just listening in an airpod or in a car as they're driving kids around.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: We overcame crazy technical stuff.
54:23
SPEAKER_01: So we apologize if the sound wasn't perfect.
54:25
SPEAKER_01: We had the tornado alarms going off there for about a minute or two, but this is real life, and we know that that good seeds will come from it.
54:32
SPEAKER_01: So, Macy, thank you so, so much for giving us your time today.
54:36
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Nikki.
54:37
SPEAKER_01: You're welcome.
54:38
SPEAKER_01: All right, listeners, thanks so much for being here.
54:40
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to share this podcast.
54:42
SPEAKER_01: Go out and get your tickets.
54:44
SPEAKER_01: We are literally begging you, go get your tickets, vote with your dollars, take your family.
54:48
SPEAKER_01: You will be better, your children will be better, your friends and family will be better for spending these two hours in the theater and hearing John's story of resilience and faith, and really the fact that there is nothing that's impossible when you've got God on your side.
55:03
SPEAKER_01: So until next week, friends, take care.