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When You Lose a Child: Can God Bring Purpose From Your Pain? · The Higher Pursuit Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Jodie Hudson.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: Does she have a story to tell us about losing her 21-year-old daughter to Lyme disease?
0:06
SPEAKER_00: Their journey through years of misdiagnoses.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: And most of all, the resilience and the purpose that her fate and her daughter's fate gave them both, especially in the last years of their battle.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: So when did you first realize that something was seriously wrong with Alex?
0:23
SPEAKER_01: I think for me, the most upsetting thing, like we're pretty resilient as a parent, but seeing my daughter start this descent into mental health because she was thinking, what is wrong with me?
0:36
SPEAKER_01: Like the doctors can't even figure it out.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Is it on my head?
0:39
SPEAKER_01: Am I making this up?
0:41
SPEAKER_01: Like nobody believed her.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: And I think for all of us, no matter what age category you are in, if something is going on and people don't believe you and you feel like you're walking this road alone, it is very, very lonely.
0:54
SPEAKER_01: And it's very hard.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes social media can work against you, but in this case it really worked for us because we said, hey, this just happened with Alice.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: She just received this diagnosis.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: We are so early into the game of this.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: If there's anybody out there that is walking the same walk that can get us a leg up on this, we would so appreciate it.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: So we had a lot of people reaching out to us, which was wonderful.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: I encourage people, like, put it out there, like get community, get that support.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: Because when you try and do this on your own, it's a lot tougher.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: You never know in this journey of life who's watching you, who's seeing you, and you are modeling for others of encouragement.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: So don't give up.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Like keep fighting the good fight, whatever that looks like.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Faith in the pew is one thing, but faith in the fire is something altogether different.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: So, what did you discover about your own faith when everything you believed was being tested?
1:53
SPEAKER_00: What happens to your faith when you pray for healing, but the story doesn't end the way you hoped it would?
1:59
SPEAKER_00: My guest for today, Jodi Hudson, walked alongside her daughter Alex through a long battle, 10 years with chronic Lyme disease.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: A journey that would ultimately lead to unimaginable loss.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: But Jodi's story doesn't end with grief.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: It's also a story of faith, purpose, and a beautiful legacy that Alex left behind.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Today, Jodi and I are talking about trusting God through suffering, finding purpose in our pain, a topic that's dear to my heart, and what it looks like to keep believing when life doesn't turn out the way you planned or the way you prayed.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: This is a tender and a powerful conversation, and I'm so glad you're here for it.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: Hey everyone, welcome to the Higher Pursuit Podcast.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I have some questions to ask you.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: What happens to your faith when you've prayed, you've believed, you've done everything you know to do, and the miracle you're asking for still doesn't come?
2:58
SPEAKER_00: Is it possible to walk through unimaginable loss and come out of the fire still believing that God is good?
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, today I'm talking to a mother who has come out on the other side of both of those questions and has some rich wisdom for us.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: But before we dive in, let me tell you a little bit about this podcast and our guest today.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: In case you're new here, the Higher Pursuit is a podcast where we seek to know God more deeply, to encounter Him more personally, and grow in intimacy with the one who first pursued us.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: And today I'm joined by my new friend Jodie Hudson, who hails from California.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: And boy, does she have a story to tell us about losing her daughter, her 21-year-old daughter to Lyme disease, their journey through years of misdiagnoses, and most of all, the resilience and the purpose that her faith and her daughter's faith gave them both, especially in the last years of their battle.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: Jodi is a seasoned fundraising professional with over 20 years of nonprofit experience.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: She served in various roles, but it's her role now as CEO and founder of the Alex Hudson Lime Foundation that fuels her purpose.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: In 2018, Jodi was honored with the Marjorie Mason Top 10 Professional Women Award.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: She's a highly sought-after speaker, addressing grief, transformation, and creating purpose from pain.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: You know I love that.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: Her book, My Promise to Alex, was published in 2022.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: Here's my doggy-eared copy that I read in two days.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: And it won Best Memoir from Christian Indie Book Awards in 2023.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: So it's my pleasure to have met Jodi and to have her on the podcast.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Tribe, I know you are going to be so blessed by this conversation.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And you are going to immediately think of like 10 people that you want to share the link with.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: So, Jodi, welcome to the podcast.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad you're here.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I'm so honored to be here.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: And what a lovely, lovely introduction.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: You're just a bird singing.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: I just love your tone.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I just love everything about you.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna, we're gonna have a wonderful conversation.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: I can just tell.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: I feel the spirit moving already.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, we talked about this book of yours, My Promise to Alex.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: So Alex was the daughter that you, well, the daughter you have.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: She you she's still, she's still she's still alive.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: She's just not here on earth with us.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: But you the your daughter Alex was 21 when she passed away from Lyme disease.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: But before we get into the story, who was Alex?
5:50
SPEAKER_00: Tell us about your daughter, not her illness yet.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Who was she?
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, Alex was such a mixed bag.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: To people that didn't know her, they thought, oh, she's just this, you know, shy, quiet little girl.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: But behind the scenes and being led by her older brother, she was so competitive, very athletic.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: She played all sports.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and especially when she was out there on the um softball and the pitching mound, like how she could just go and turn into like this ice woman, like and just firing away with those pitches.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: I was just like, oh my God, who are you?
6:29
SPEAKER_01: She had a funny, funny sense of humor.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, and she would always tell people when she grew up she wanted to be a veterinarian, but only dogs.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: She was specializing in dogs.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: So if you had cats or any other animals, this would not be the vet for you.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's funny.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: That is so funny.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: She was super studious, loved to read books, and really, um, you know, towards the end, her love of books is really what got her through.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: She read like a book a day.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, she was just a typical, typical girl.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: One of the things I loved that I learned about Alex that I that you communicate so well in your book is her generous, kind heart for other people.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: How she would always think about ways to bless other people.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: She would be in a hospital setting thinking about how I can show kindness to the other people around me.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: That is such a rare gift.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: She definitely had a servant's heart.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of that was instilled just by my own nonprofit field, working at Catholic charities for over 13 years.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: Both of my children were exposed to a different lifestyle, right?
7:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, they were exposed to those individuals coming through food lines that didn't have shoes, that um, you know, were struggling.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: And so that really resonated with her.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: And she really felt um this kindred ship with homeless people.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: She was almost like the homeless whisperer.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: She just loved on them and could not provide enough for them.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: I write in the book that she used to save all of her allowance, and every month she would spend about$100 out of her allowance and go and get in and out burgers, which out in California, that is like the gem of the gem of all hamburgers.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, I'm familiar.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: And she would go and buy like$100 worth of in-and-out burgers and go down to these homeless shelters and just pass them out and just smile on people, love on people, and it brought her so much joy.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: Wow, I love that.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: What a beautiful girl.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: So when did you first realize that something was seriously wrong with Alex?
8:54
SPEAKER_01: So, as I said, she loved all sports.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: She played all the sports.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: And it was in fifth grade when she was doing track and field that she started having problems with joint pain and inflammation.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we just did the typical things as a parent, you know, give them Tylenol, wrap up, you know, the knees and the ankles with sport tape.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't getting any better.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: So we went to her primary doctor and he said, Well, you know, it's probably growing pains as well.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: Just, you know, continue on what you're doing, do the ice.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: And nothing got any better.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: So I thought, all right, she cannot live this way.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, she was so competitive.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: God bless her, she didn't want to miss out on anything.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: But I saw the pain in her eyes.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: So they started doing more tests, and all the tests came back negative.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: But the doctor said there is something wrong, but the tests aren't showing anything right now.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: It could be early signs of juvenile diabetes or arthritis or all these other autoimmunes.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we'll keep our eye on it and you know, just keep coming back and we'll see eventually if something will be disclosed in future tests.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, that was fifth grade, and nothing got any better.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we would go to specialists and we would just, you know, be researching and researching.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't until literally the 40th doctor, 4-0, 40th doctor, that within five minutes of us talking um to him and showing him her medical um history and charts, he asked me the question of Mrs.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: Hudson, has anybody ever diagnosed Alex with Lyme disease?
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And very ignorantly in 2017, I said, What is Lyme disease?
10:45
SPEAKER_01: And now I could be a doctor on it, but back then there there really wasn't you know that much talk about it.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: Right.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Right.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And uh I mean, I recall you saying that um when she went in, she had already had a test for Lyme that had come back negative.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: And that's pretty common, right?
11:08
SPEAKER_01: And that's very common.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, in fact, I literally just got a call.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, she passed in 2018 and we're in 2026, and I still weekly will get calls or people reaching out to me.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: And I just got a call last week from a family out in Denver who their child, a young adult, 21 years old, um, going away to school, they're having problems, are have, you know, rain fog, they can't get out of bed.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: They went and tested them for Lyme disease, but it came back a false negative.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: And it was on the Western Blot test.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: And immediately I said, okay, that therein lies the problem.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Like you have to get the proper testing done in order to really know what's going on in your system.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: And and so sure enough, they're doing more testing, and it did come back um positive for Lyme disease.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, we could do a whole segment just on, you know, Lyme disease and all that stuff, but it was it's very problematic to, you know, test for and even harder to treat.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: So take us into those early years of searching for answers.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: What was it like as a mother to know that your child is suffering but not know why?
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: So imagine as a parent, you know, we always want to fix things for our children, whether it's broken hearts, whether it's skinned knees, when your child has a medical illness that you cannot diagnose, and you're going to the proper doctors, you're going through the proper channels as a parent of what you're supposed to do, and you keep getting, you know, doors shut where you know it's like after a while they think you're just making this disease up.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: They think that, you know, she's just being a drama parent, bringing in her child, um, because nothing is is coming back, you know, nothing is showing in these tests.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: So it was really very, very hard.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: And also during that time, um, I'd been recently divorced, so I was doing all this on my own as a single mom with you know, raising two children.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: So it was really taxing.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh but right I think for me, the most upsetting thing, like we're pretty resilient as a parent, but seeing my daughter start this uh, you know, descent into mental health because she was thinking, what is wrong with me?
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Like the doctors can't even figure it out.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: Is it all in my head?
13:42
SPEAKER_01: Am I making this up?
13:44
SPEAKER_01: Like nobody believed her.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: And I think that for all of us, no matter what age category you are in, if something is going on and people don't believe you and you feel like you're walking this load, this road alone, it is very, very lonely.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: And it's very hard.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: I one of the things that I appreciated is the fact that you reached out to Facebook communities.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, probably back then was the big way to connect with other people, and you reached out to Facebook communities to find other moms and other people that were walking the road you walked because there was no one around you that could support you through this.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: So tell us the value of those communities and those connections.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, it truly was a God thing.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: Alex was diagnosed in May of 2017.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: Through my connections at working at Capit Charities, I had to do a lot of media work.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: So I knew people in media.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: KC24, one of our local TV affiliates, had just had on three moms the previous week talking about Lyme disease.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: And I remembered that, like when Alex got her diagnosis, I was like, oh my gosh, I know they just did a special on this.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: I need to reach out to them so I can connect with these women.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: So that all happened.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: And I write in my book that um one of these gals, Lonnie Markham, who works for LymeDisease.org, she had a daughter, has a daughter that was Alex's age, same diagnosis with Lyme disease and MCAS, and they just became so invaluable for us in this journey.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then she also, you know, gave me these different um Facebook support groups, which was very helpful for Alex.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: So she on her own could be connecting out.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: And we put a blast out there too, saying, Hey, you know, sometimes social media can work against you, but in this case it really worked for us because we said, hey, this just happened with Alex.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: She just received this diagnosis.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: We are so early into the game of this.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: If there's anybody out there that is walking the same walk that can get us a leg up on this, we would so appreciate it.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: So we had a lot of people reaching out to us, which was wonderful.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: But I think it's like anything in life when you are going through something um really horrific.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: I encourage people like put it out there, like get community, get that support.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: Because when you try and do this on your own, it's a lot tougher.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: So years start going by where you're getting misdiagnosed, and then even once Alex is diagnosed, the the treatments are doctors, just don't know how to handle it.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: So, was there a moment when you realized we might not get the miracle we've been believing for?
16:55
SPEAKER_00: And what happened inside of you when you began facing that reality?
17:00
SPEAKER_01: So, right.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: So May 2017, she was diagnosed.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: I um thought, like most parents, I'm just gonna throw all my money into this, all my savings, we're gonna knock this out.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: She's gonna be great in 60 days, right?
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Well, that was not the case.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: We went cross-country to all these different facilities, hoping for you know, a cure, hoping to get her better, and she just kept declining and declining.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: I write about this in my book.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: We had this one facility that Alex was actually there for for three weeks.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: And that was such a pivotal uh moment for us because uh she did not receive the treatment that was gonna turn this around physically, but uh the the inner healing, the spiritual healing that she received truly sustained us for the rest of that journey.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: We had amazing, amazing people pouring into us while we were there.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, at the end of our three-week stay, who does this?
18:16
SPEAKER_01: They refunded our money.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: And they said I mean, and it was it was a lot of money.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: They said we have never ever seen an individual like Alex.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: The fact that she was getting weaker, um, but she was so strong in her encouragement with other patients, being that cheerleader for others.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, she just was uh a walking, living testimony.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: Like we felt like we needed to do something to to honor that.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so yeah, they refunded our money and we, you know, kept in contact with the staff there.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: They were just amazing.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: The second day that I was there, I ran into who I didn't know was a CFO, but um I had a conversation with this, you know, staff member.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: And when we were done talking, he said, My office is right up over there in the corner.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: He goes, I would love for you every morning just to come and pray with me, just so I can help you through this.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: And if your daughter would like to, you know, join us, that would be wonderful.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: So we did every morning.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: That was how we started our day and her treatments.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: We went up there, we prayed with him, and he wrote us the most beautiful, encouraging letter when we left that he said, don't read it until you get on the plane, but just about, you know, keep going because you never know in this journey of life who's watching you, who's seeing you, and you are modeling for others hope, encouragement.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: So don't give up.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Like keep fighting the good fight, whatever that looks like.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, speaking of that, there's a phrase that I've been thinking about as I prepared for this conversation, and I heard myself say in my head, faith in the pew is one thing, but faith in the fire is something altogether different.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: So, what did you discover about your own faith when everything you believed was being tested?
20:29
SPEAKER_01: I love that because I think it is so applicable to our faith in general.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Faith is one thing when you're sitting there in the pew on a Sunday and you're listening to all of that, right?
20:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: But walking that faith, having that faith when you are in the fire, now you're applying that.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: You're taking it out of the Bible and you're breathing it into your life and your circumstances.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's really especially for me, where when I look back during that whole period, that's where God was truly working on me.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: He was working in my resilience, he was working on my faith, my trust, which now to this day, like has made me into the stronger version of myself where I can be that testimonial.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: I can sit here and speak to you, I can speak to others because I have gotten through it.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's really talking about active versus passive faith, right?
21:39
SPEAKER_01: I think when you're sitting there in the pew, it's very passive.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: You're listening to it, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds good.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: But when you have those moments in life, that's when you have to put it into action.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And you can't sit back and be passive any longer because that's not going to do you any good.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: You've got to apply what you are learning.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: So I I love that.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: I remember.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: In the book, uh, you writing about a time when you just hit the bottom.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, things were going down, down, down with Alex.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: She was like at 70 something pounds at 5'7.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: I can't even imagine I'm 5'6 and I weigh quite a bit more than that.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine what I would look like at 76 pounds.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: And she just was deteriorating, declining.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: You've basically gone home knowing the doctors have done everything they can, and now we just need to make preparations.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: And you went out in your car and you banged on the steering wheel.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: But then you had this moment of just saying, okay, I can't stay in this place.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: I I have to pull myself together for my daughter.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: And God, you're going to have to give me something I didn't get into this car with.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: So tell me about that moment.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: That was, I mean, there were so many pivotal moments in my life with this whole journey of um Alex's.
23:01
SPEAKER_01: But yes, I mean, I remembered this like it was yesterday.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: I um whenever I get anxious and worried about things, I love to dust and clean, don't we all?
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Right?
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Yes, something we can control when everything else is out of control.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh God.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: I can control this.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, control freaks that we are.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sitting and I just was having a moment.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: Like it was December.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: She passed in, she would be passing in that March, and life had just gotten so dark, so heavy.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, my tank was empty, but I still had to be positive for her.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: So I thought I need to, you know, get out and go to the store, do something.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: So I went into the back bedroom and I told Alex I was going to be gone just for, you know, a short period of time.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: And she's like, sure, fine.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: And I always felt comfortable leaving because where we lived, um, we had a lot of grandparents, so to speak, a lot of elderly people.
24:01
SPEAKER_01: So I'd always text somebody and say, hey, running out for a little bit.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: And they all loved Alex.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: So they're like, we got her, no problem.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: So I'm driving for about five minutes and I pull over.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: And yes, I mean, how you were describing it is exactly what happened.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: I, it was just like this volcano erupting.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm banging on the dashboard.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm yelling at God.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying, you know what?
24:25
SPEAKER_01: This is just out of control.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: Like this purgatory that you have me in, I can't sustain this any longer.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: And I gave God an ultimatum, right?
24:34
SPEAKER_01: How many of us have done that before?
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, if things aren't going our way, listen, God, this is what I want you to do, and I want you to quit now, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: Or our relationship's done.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, peace out.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: See you.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: I told him I said, He's so merciful with us, isn't he?
24:52
SPEAKER_00: Like literally, we could be just a greasy spot on the road.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: But he's just so merciful with us because he has so much compassion on our weakness.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I'm telling him, you either take her right now or you heal her because I cannot keep doing this roller coaster, this up and down, up and down.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: So I got it all out.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: I didn't even go to the grocery store.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I don't want to see anybody, I'm just gonna go home.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: So I tell Alex I'm back, I go back to my destining, and I look outside my window.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: Now, the window of our living room looks out to this beautiful courtyard, and we have a fountain there, and I see a bluebird.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: And if anybody knows the significance of a bluebird, it is hope.
25:41
SPEAKER_01: It's healing.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: And it just, you know, it it made me pause.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, oh my gosh, this is just so beautiful.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: I can't believe I've never seen this before.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: So I go back and I ask Alex, I'm like, honey, have you ever seen this bluebird out here before?
26:00
SPEAKER_01: And she's like, Yes, mom.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: She goes, it comes every day at 3 p.m.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: And she's in when it comes at 3, she goes, I know God hasn't forgotten about me, and I have another day here on earth to do good.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like so blown away.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: Walked back out and I sat down and I had a different conversation with God.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: It was a much more gentle conversation with God.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: And I said, I'm so, so sorry.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: Like, once again, forgive me, have grace on me.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, here I'm screaming at you, like, where are you in the midst of everything that we are going through?
26:44
SPEAKER_01: And you've been showing up every day for my daughter, and I've been blind blinded by it.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, I was not paying attention to the signs.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: Like you were showing up for me too, but I was just so busy in my world, I did not pay attention to this bluebird.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's a good lesson for all of us.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: Like when we are going through these things in life, like you've got to sometimes get out of that bubble and look for the signs and seek God because He's there, He's showing up for us.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: He hasn't forgotten us.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: We might forget him and we might cuss him out and do all these things, but you know what?
27:24
SPEAKER_01: He's like in the background saying, All right, when you're done yelling, I'm right here.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: So come on back.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Higher pursuit tribe.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: I hope that you heard that what Jody just said, that there, that God is moving.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: He is showing up for us in those times, but we are so caught up in our despair.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: We're so caught up in what we see that God isn't doing, in our estimation, that we have blinders on to where he is moving and what he is doing.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: And I just highly encourage you, if you're in that season, that that dark, dark place where Jody was, allow that volcano to erupt.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Don't hold it in.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: Being honest with God about your despair is not the same thing as allowing despair to become the place that you live.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to stay there.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: But the way to move through it is to allow ourselves to process it.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: But then we have to turn our attention back to God.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: We have to allow God to be God, to comfort us, to nurture us, to speak to us, and to do those things like allow a bluebird to show us that God is here.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: He's showing up, maybe in the small ways that we're overlooking.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: So I love Jody, what you just said.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: That was so, so excellent.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, well, you found women who understood a pain that other people couldn't understand.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: How important is it when you're walking through suffering to find people who get in that trench with you?
29:04
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, it's like anything in life, you know, you need those individuals.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: And I was so blessed because I didn't have a family support, but these friends of mine were like Alex's aunties.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they were showing up all the time, praying, and like when we went away on different um, you know, facility treatments, just like turning on the light for us if we came home late at night, having a casserole there waiting for us, fresh flowers.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was so important.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's another thing, like when you're going through these storms, when you can find others, you know, and have that support system.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: You don't feel alone, you know, there's strength in numbers and knowing that other people are are going through things as well.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: You can tend to find comfort in that.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: But allow people, this is one of the biggest lessons I learned too.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: You have to allow people to support you, to love on you, and don't close them off.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: Even if it's like the 10th casserole that you've received that week, or you know, the 18th, you know, book that you've got on struggles, challenges, whatever.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: Don't, don't, you know, um, take away their blessing because they they want to bless on you, they want to love on you.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: So it's a two-way street, you know, you gotta you gotta let them in.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: But I want to go back to what you were saying um before as far as just you know, with the despair and and letting God in and you know, these signs with the the bluebird.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: I I think it's really important that every day we make this conscious decision of how we want to show up.
30:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, yes.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: What does that look like for me when Alex passed?
30:54
SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to be defined as that grief girl because what we went through, it was such a beautiful transit transition, even at the end.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: It's like I wanted people to still see my love of God.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Like I wanted people not to see the bitterness, I wanted them to see the joy, the blessings, because this is all temporary.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: We know that, right?
31:18
SPEAKER_01: There's greater things for us afterwards.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
31:24
SPEAKER_01: So it's like I wanted people to recognize that yes, like I have grief in me, but it's not going to define me.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: God's love is gonna define me.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: So I'm showing up every day because I love God, He loves me, and I'm showing up every day because that is what I want people to see.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: I don't want them to see the darkness, the ugliness.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: So when you're going through those really tough times, you have to really think about that.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: Like, what are people, what am I projecting?
31:58
SPEAKER_01: How am I being perceived?
31:59
SPEAKER_01: How are people looking at me?
32:01
SPEAKER_01: And if people are looking at you and they see something good in you, they're gonna want that too.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: So that's you know, kind of like another layer of just what God wants us to do, right?
32:13
SPEAKER_01: To be that, you know, disciple and to bring others along on this journey with us.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: So your actions, your thoughts, your words, your body language, you know, think of that every day.
32:25
SPEAKER_01: How am I showing up?
32:26
SPEAKER_01: How am I showing up for me, for God, my family?
32:30
SPEAKER_01: I still had a son to raise.
32:32
SPEAKER_01: Like I wasn't done with parenting, right?
32:34
SPEAKER_01: I had to show him, look, it we're gonna have really hard challenges in life, but I'm gonna show you as your mother how we walk through these and how we got get to the other side.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: And trust me, it would have been so much easier just to put a blanket over my head and just say, peace out, people, like I'm done.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: But I couldn't, I couldn't.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: That is so that is such a great testimony right there.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I told you that Jody was gonna drop a bunch of wisdom.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: So I have a feeling you're just gonna want to go back and replay parts of this interview because it is so rich.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, with there's a a family in our town that just lost their 16-year-old son to cancer, and they just had their memorial service.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't able to go to the memorial service, but both of two of my daughters were able to go because this young man is a part of the Christian school that my daughter send their children to.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: And they both came away saying, We are blown away by this family.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: This family is the real deal as far as faith, because the father stood up, shared the whole story, saying, you know, some of you don't know what happened with Grant, and so we'll give you the whole story.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: Gave it all without this messy breakdown of crying.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: Not that there'd be anything wrong if he had cried, of course not.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: But what they saw was such a piece in the dad as he was recounting the story that he wasn't stuck in this place of devastation.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: They had allowed Grant to go to heaven, they knew where he was.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: And like you said, we know that this life is a blink, it's temporal, and they fought, they believed till the very last minute that Grant would be healed.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: So they walked that same road of both and they walked that same road of we're believing that Grant is going to be healed, or we're believing that my child is going to be healed, while watching everything headed toward a completely different outcome.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: And yet, while you're believing that something is going to happen and then you don't get that answer to not be angry at God, to not blame God, to not see feel that somehow you're on God's poop list, that other people get to be blessed, but not you somehow, to know this is not a sign that God doesn't love me.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: This isn't a sign that we have been rejected by God, but that for some reason that we can't understand right now, there is a different plan for our family and for my child.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: And they demonstrated that and spoke it so clearly at the memorial service, the celebration of Grant's life, that it really was a celebration of all the wonderful things that this boy was.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And he really was a very special kid.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And it just had such an impact on my daughters.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: They both walked away saying, that is the kind of family we want to have.
35:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: That we want to have children that have real faith.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, faith that works in the fire.
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: And that's why it was so important for me to write this book.
36:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm not a writer by um craft at all.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm a businesswoman.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: I write, you know, grants, projects, all that type of stuff.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: But God really laid it on my heart to get this story out because, you know, number one, yes, it talks about Lyme disease, but just her whole faith testimony and her whole faith journey and how she brought so many people to her faith just by what she did in her acts, you know, with her servant's heart.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: And I so resonate with what this family um, you know, how they projected things after the the passing of their son.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: And for me, I think it was such a blessing that Alex gave me this parting gift, which I write about in the book, where, you know, I didn't know that she was gonna die in the day that she did, but it was so beautifully orchestrated by my friends just popping in, wanting to do a little prayer session, which led into her passing.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: And when it came time for me to say something about Alex, and we were talking about funny stories.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, one of my friends stopped me and she said, Jody, Jodi.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: And I looked, and Alex had, you know, taken her head off the pillow, and she opened up her eyes and she looked up to the ceilings, and she had like this big, big smile on her face.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: And then she closed her eyes, laid her head back down, and she passed.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: So I tell everybody, like in that moment, because she loved me so much and she didn't want me to be so stricken by grief, she wanted me to flip it and be like, mom, like, you know where I'm going.
37:50
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna be okay.
37:52
SPEAKER_01: It's not your time now, but it's my time.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: So don't worry, like, keep on.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I'm passing the baton on to you.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: These are the things that we talked about, and that I want you to do.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: And so when I recognize that how lucky am I, number one, I had that relationship with my daughter.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: Number two, that in 22 years of her being alive, God said, Good job, my faithful servant.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: You have done everything, everything that I have asked of you.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: And now you get to come home because I have greater plans for you in your angel work.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: But your mom, she's gonna live to 100 because she still hasn't haven't figured out.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Oh, girl.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: I'll be here with the channel.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: I'll be like, am I ready yet?
38:45
SPEAKER_01: He'll be like, uh-uh, not happening.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: So like Yeah, well, from another construction project of God to to you, I I relate.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: I relate.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: But you know, as a parent, what what greater, you know, like, oh my gosh, to be so in awe of my daughter and just her journey towards the end, and you know, just like and I talk about redemptive suffering in my book.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: She wanted to take on all of the world's problems.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I'm I might as well like take it all on, God.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Like, why not?
39:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm suffering, I'm gonna help other people too.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it should it just blew me away.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: So if I could be just a fraction of her and what she went through, and not even taking any pain medication.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm the first one.
39:35
SPEAKER_01: If I have a headache, I'm popping Tylenol.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, El never took any pain medication at all.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: It just, I mean, it just blows me away.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: So, um, yes, I mean, I so resonate with with that father.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: It's like again, getting back to how do we want to show up every day?
39:52
SPEAKER_01: Do we want to be defined as the grief girl, or do we want this to be like a walking, living testimonial that yes, I'm crushed.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'd give anything to have my daughter back, but you know what?
40:05
SPEAKER_01: I gotta keep moving forward.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm sure that there are people listening who are still in their years of no answers and they have not reached the other side of their story like you have.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: What would you say to that person whose faith tank is empty today?
40:28
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, just because I'm talking about it so boldly right now, it doesn't mean that I didn't have those, you know, episodes as well.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: So the biggest thing that I can say is give yourself grace.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: Like we can't be perfect all the time, every time, everywhere.
40:48
SPEAKER_01: You're, you know, you you do small little increments.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: If the best that you can do today is maybe get out of bed to go brush your teeth, that's a win.
40:59
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the second day you get yourself a cup of coffee, you know, that's another win.
41:04
SPEAKER_01: So make little steps, little increments, but but again, just keep giving yourself that grace, knowing that there is no timeline on this grief.
41:16
SPEAKER_01: You could like be going, going, going, and then the most random thing is gonna hit you and you're gonna cry.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, well, why didn't I cry where I really should have cried at like this more significant issue or this memory, right?
41:31
SPEAKER_01: It's all over the place.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: It's like puzzles pieces have just scattered, and you're trying to like, you know, piece them all back.
41:39
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you're gonna have the one that fits and you're gonna feel a little bit more complete, but then you're gonna try and squeeze in another puzzle piece that isn't quite the right fit because you're just not there yet.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's gonna be messy.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
41:54
SPEAKER_01: I think that's where in the messiness, God meets us the best because he gets it, he understands what you are going through.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: So give yourself grace and you will become that full puzzle again.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's gonna be even better in a different way.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: Like I feel with my faith in my ministry, it's so much stronger now.
42:18
SPEAKER_01: And I love this gift that God has given me.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's not gonna look that way for everybody.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: I love the fact that you said that um that there is no timeline to grief.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: And I think um, I can't remember exactly what the the paradigm is of you, you know, the grief steps of you feel sad, then angry, then depressed, then it makes it sound, it can make it sound like they're these steps that you walk through and eventually you walk out of grief, and it's no more, it's like, well, that was then.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: I I'm I'm not grieving anymore.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: And I also love how you say that it can come in waves or in layers.
43:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, yes, the um the contraction pains of grief lessen and they spread out almost like in the reverse of a pregnancy of a birth, where it gets closer together and stronger.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: It's I I've heard, I haven't walked through grief like you have, but I've heard that the the um uncontrollable contractions of grief do start to dissipate or lessen and they spread out more.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: So you have more time of peace or joy, um, feeling like yourself again in between the bouts of grief.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: But there is no book that's gonna say, now you should be done, or now you'll never have a moment where you're caught off guard by a smell, by an experience.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: By a sunset or something that brings you back, and you have another moment of reconnection.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: But he was just speaking with a dad who lost his son two years ago.
44:10
SPEAKER_00: And he said, there are two things that he's come away with so far.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: He understands two years is pretty new in his journey of grief.
44:19
SPEAKER_00: That his son is never coming back.
44:22
SPEAKER_00: So he is not expecting that his life is ever going to feel the way it felt before.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: But he's willing to accept now that the different life can be a rich life.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, he couldn't accept that.
44:37
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, he felt like everything is blown up and I will never be happy.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: I will never feel joy, and there will never be anything good that can come of this.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: But now he said, I'm willing to say out loud, to verbalize, that God can bring some good out of what has been the hands, the cards that have been dealt me.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: And he said, for me, that's a big win.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that that is um a good place for him.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: He didn't walk through his grief until recently with faith.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: So where you and Alex really dug into your faith.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: And it became so much richer for you so that it could hold you and sustain you.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: He didn't have that.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: And plus his son's death was a different situation.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: But I say all that to say there is no timeline for grief.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: There's no timeline for repurposing our pain.
45:41
SPEAKER_00: I wrote a book, Repurpose Your Pain.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want people to feel that all you have to do is read the chapter and do the workbook activations, and you're never going to deal with rejection again.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: You're never going to deal with a broken identity again.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: You'll never deal with regret again.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: Just read the chapter, do the workbook, and you're all set for the rest of your life.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
46:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's so funny.
46:05
SPEAKER_01: So many, so many people gave me grief books.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: And I even went to a counselor and I did maybe two sessions.
46:15
SPEAKER_01: And it just didn't feel right to me.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: I felt like, you know, I've I've already moved on.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: I've I've already moved past.
46:23
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't want to walk through all these steps.
46:26
SPEAKER_01: Like I wanted God to be my counselor.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not, you know, saying don't get grief counseling.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: It works, you know, for a lot of people for me because I had such a deep relationship with God and you know, with my daughter and I with this faith and that parting gift that she gave me, I was like, wow, I was able to see more clearly like I'm gonna be okay.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Like she showed me and like I am so happy for her.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: But I tell everybody, like Alex's best day was my worst day, right?
47:10
SPEAKER_01: Her best day was she got to go up and be with Jesus.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: It was my worst day because I physically lost her.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: But we still are together.
47:19
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how many times I see a bluebird?
47:22
SPEAKER_01: She'll like, you know, just drop different things, songs.
47:25
SPEAKER_01: So like I really feel like that connection has never left.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: But um yeah, I just really wanted to automatically start looking for the blessings and the gratefulness, and because there are still so many more blessings around the corner.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: God has blessed me so richly, even where I'm at today in my life, where I'm at with my doing podcasts.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: This is new to me, you know, just starting to do this in January.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: Like he will use us, he will use this pain.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: This pain is not gonna be like put back on the shelf.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna go on the back burner.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna be like, I am gonna have you use this for a greater purpose.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: And that is what he is doing.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: And people, yes, they recognize that, they see that.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I go back to how do you want to show up?
48:19
SPEAKER_01: Because when we show up this way, people are like, I want what those girls have.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is awesome.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
48:28
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, you've also repurposed your pain by starting a Lyme foundation, the Alex Hudson Lime Foundation, so that other families don't have to suffer the way you and your family did, the way you and Alex did, going to doctor to doctor to doctor.
48:44
SPEAKER_00: And Alex suffered some really hard things where constantly doctors were thinking that she uh was uh anorexic, that she had an eating disorder because she couldn't eat, but that was because her stomach was all torn up from the Lyme disease and MCAS and all of these things that that she wrestled with and that you wrestled with, and you realized through the Facebook groups and through people that God brought into your life that you needed the support.
49:15
SPEAKER_00: So, how much better would it be if you created a foundation now that could support other families?
49:20
SPEAKER_00: So, in the last couple of minutes that we have, can you just quickly share about that foundation and how that helped you emotionally and spiritually, but also just what the foundation does for people?
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's really important when our loved ones pass on, is that we want to do something to honor them, to create that legacy, to do something in their name.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: And so um, this was actually Alex's dream is to have a Lyme um nonprofit foundation because she saw how we've um struggled with finances.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: So after Alex passed, um her story was a national story.
49:57
SPEAKER_01: Um I had lots of people reaching out to me and different Lyme organizations, and everybody wanted to contribute.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: They wanted to help.
50:04
SPEAKER_01: So I had within a matter of a couple of weeks, like over$20,000 in the seed money.
50:10
SPEAKER_01: And so I thought I know exactly what I'm gonna do.
50:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna, you know, start this foundation.
50:15
SPEAKER_01: And so this foundation um was created to help individuals that are battling battling Lyme disease with testing, with treatment, um, resources.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: We have a website where people can go on, and you know, it it helps to explain like the different um symptoms.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: It helps um just even for education and awareness, preventive resources on there.
50:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, and like I said, just last week somebody reached out to me that somebody had been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
50:47
SPEAKER_01: Like, what do we do now?
50:49
SPEAKER_01: So I want to help to be that bridge to get people to that next level quicker than like it worked for Alex and I.
50:59
SPEAKER_01: So um, this is all done in her memory, and you know that she's helping me every step of the way.
51:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: I also loved um how you shared that you became a 501c3 in like record time more than it generally takes like what, a year or something like that?
51:19
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
51:19
SPEAKER_01: So I thought, okay, working at a nonprofit, I'll submit the paperwork.
51:24
SPEAKER_01: It'll give me a good year just to kind of like, you know, get things going.
51:28
SPEAKER_01: And then I get this letter within 30 days.
51:31
SPEAKER_01: And I called my accountant, who's a wonderful faith-based individual.
51:35
SPEAKER_01: I said, Roland, like, is this a scam?
51:37
SPEAKER_01: Like, is this really happening?
51:39
SPEAKER_01: And famous Roland words were like, Jody, sometimes the good Lord does things that we have no explanation for.
51:47
SPEAKER_01: Congratulations, you have a 501c3.
51:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, but I'm not ready.
51:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
51:55
SPEAKER_01: I was.
51:55
SPEAKER_01: So he's like, girlfriend, it's go time.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: It's go time.
52:00
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
52:01
SPEAKER_00: Well, Jodi, thank you so much for your vulnerability and for your wisdom and for sharing Alex and her story with us.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, can you just tell my amazing audience where they can find you if they want to follow you in the work that you're doing?
52:15
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: So um, you can follow me on alexhudson limefoundation.org.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: All my contact information is on there.
52:24
SPEAKER_01: The link to my book is on there.
52:27
SPEAKER_01: And like I said, I respond to every call, every email.
52:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, even if it's not Lyme related, people want to talk to me about anything.
52:37
SPEAKER_01: I really am all ears.
52:39
SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes people just need to know that.
52:43
SPEAKER_01: Like there could be somebody listening today that has nobody for whatever reasons.
52:48
SPEAKER_01: You're not alone.
52:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you need somebody to talk to, I know you don't know me, but hey, I'm a good listener.
52:55
SPEAKER_01: So I would be happy to take your call.
52:58
SPEAKER_00: That is fantastic.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: You have been such an amazing guest.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you you said things that I wanted to prompt you to say.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm flipping through all my questions because you just said all the perfect things.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: It's just been such a joy having you.
53:13
SPEAKER_00: Higher Pursue Tribe, I know you've been impacted.
53:17
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are probably wiping away unexpected tears like I was the first time I spoke with Jody about Alex.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you relate to her story because you're battling a medical issue, or someone you love is battling a medical issue that seems to be going on and on and on, even though you've prayed.
53:33
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you connect with being a parent, facing a faith challenge for your child, or being a working mom, holding down a job while being assaulted by a crisis.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you relate to how Jodi developed faith in the fire, a faith that went beyond Sunday morning and had to rise up at midnight.
53:54
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm glad that you are challenged by her story.
53:57
SPEAKER_00: But I have a challenge of my own for you so that you can leave this podcast with a takeaway that you can implement tomorrow.
54:03
SPEAKER_00: I want you to take everything that Jody has said, and I want you to identify three important connections.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: Listen up.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: They're up, in, and around.
54:15
SPEAKER_00: Say that out loud.
54:16
SPEAKER_00: Say up, in and around.
54:20
SPEAKER_00: Up is who are you running to?
54:23
SPEAKER_00: Are you vulnerably?
54:25
SPEAKER_00: I can't even say that word, vulnerably, bringing your fear, your anger, your questions, and your disappointment to God, or are you withdrawing from him because you don't understand what he's doing?
54:38
SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about in what is filling you?
54:41
SPEAKER_00: What are you putting in?
54:42
SPEAKER_00: Where are you regularly encountering scripture, worship, prayer, and the presence of God?
54:50
SPEAKER_00: Because when your faith tank is empty, you need somewhere to be filled again.
54:56
SPEAKER_00: Jodi and Alex found some great churches and they found a faith community.
55:02
SPEAKER_00: What about you?
55:03
SPEAKER_00: And then around, who is with you in this fire?
55:08
SPEAKER_00: Who understands your battle?
55:10
SPEAKER_00: Who can surround you with wisdom?
55:13
SPEAKER_00: Who can believe when you're struggling to believe?
55:16
SPEAKER_00: Jodi searched for those people rather than suffering alone.
55:20
SPEAKER_00: So before this day ends, identify one action that you can take in each direction, up, in, and around.
55:30
SPEAKER_00: Remember what the word says in Hebrews.
55:32
SPEAKER_00: It says, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: For he who promised is faithful.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, but encouraging one another.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
55:52
SPEAKER_00: So, Jody, on that note, would you kindly pray us out?
55:57
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
55:58
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, for everyone listening who is in the middle of a storm right now, I pray that they would know they are not alone.
56:08
SPEAKER_01: When the circumstances feel overwhelming, remind them that you are still there.
56:14
SPEAKER_01: When they cannot see a way forward, give them the faith to take the next step.
56:20
SPEAKER_01: When they feel weak, be their strength.
56:23
SPEAKER_01: When they are afraid, give them your peace.
56:27
SPEAKER_01: Lord, sometimes we learn things in the fire that we never could have learned from the pew.
56:33
SPEAKER_01: We discover that you are faithful, that you can carry us when we cannot carry ourselves, and that your presence does not disappear simply because our circumstances are difficult.
56:46
SPEAKER_01: So the hurt for the person listening who is hurting, grieving, worried, confused, or exhausted, meet them right where they are.
56:56
SPEAKER_01: Give them hope for tomorrow and grace for today.
57:00
SPEAKER_01: Help them remember that the storm is not the end of their story.
57:05
SPEAKER_01: You are still writing it.
57:07
SPEAKER_01: And when they come through this season, and they will, may they look back and realize that even in the darkest moments, you are holding them.
57:17
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name, amen.
57:20
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
57:21
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
57:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to thank you all for joining us on the Higher Pursuit Podcast.
57:26
SPEAKER_00: And until next time, have a blessed and empowered day.