Latest / She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ / Dwell: 90 Days At Home With God With Sandra Byrd
Transcript
- 0:02Hey there. Welcome back to she speaks life.
- 0:04Hey, did you know that you could see this episode and other
- 0:08episodes live on my YouTube channel?
- 0:11If you go to Jamie Elizabeth, she speaks life, make sure you
- 0:15subscribe. So you get the newly released
- 0:18episodes as they come and you can hop onto my website.
- 0:24Jamie Elizabeth.com and I will give you a free.
- 0:28Gift is e.e. book. Called God's ID, my ID that
- 0:32talks all about God's characteristics and how they
- 0:36apply to your life today. Okay.
- 0:38With me, today is my guest Sondra bird.
- 0:42She is a gifted writer of fiction and nonfiction and has
- 0:46recently published a devotional with our daily bread, called
- 0:51dwell 90 days at home. With God, we talk about how God
- 0:56dwells in Us and how we dwell in him as believers.
- 1:00Christ and how we can always enjoy his security love and
- 1:05companionship, right where we are.
- 1:08Sondra shows us beautifully. How to discover an experience
- 1:12with Jesus? That brings us closer to him and
- 1:15makes us feel right at home. And I love this conversation so
- 1:20much and I know you will too. So, let's nestled in.
- 1:25Here's my guest, Sondra bird. Hi Sondra, welcome to she She
- 1:30speaks life. I'm so excited.
- 1:32You are here with us today. I'm excited to be here to thank
- 1:36you for inviting me into your digital living room.
- 1:39Yeah, I am excited about this message that you're going to
- 1:43deliver about God's dwelling in us, and us, and him, and it's
- 1:48just beautiful. You wrote gorgeous, devotional
- 1:52called dwell. 90 days at home with God.
- 1:56And before we dive into that and find out more about you, I love
- 2:01to ask each guest what their favorite scripture verses and
- 2:05why, you know, I think my favorite as it were would
- 2:09probably be rotating a little bit, just because the word is
- 2:12living and active. In every time I pick it up,
- 2:15something new, jumps out for that day, for that heart.
- 2:18So I don't know that. I have an all-time favorite, but
- 2:21one of my most favorites is Hebrews 11:6 which is and
- 2:26without faith. It's impossible to please God
- 2:28because anyone who comes to him, Him must believe that he exists
- 2:32and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
- 2:36The reason this is one of my all-time favorites is because so
- 2:40often I just want God to change the circumstance, don't make
- 2:43this hurt anymore. Don't make me.
- 2:45Wait anymore. I don't want to be anxious
- 2:47anymore, I don't want to be fearful anymore, so I kind of
- 2:50asking him, hey, fix this real quick.
- 2:53But this, this scripture reminds us that, if I don't have that
- 2:56extended leg in between, when something happens, I have a
- 3:01prayer request and he answers. There's no room for my faith.
- 3:04That's where my faith is, is put to work, and do I want to make
- 3:09him happy? Of course, I want to make him
- 3:11happy. I want to please him, and so
- 3:13that requires me to, to have that Faith between the initial,
- 3:18you know, situation, whatever it is, and his answering it.
- 3:22Yeah, that's so good because it's in that waiting time is
- 3:26when we really grow and you're right.
- 3:30I mean, It's all about our character growth and refining us
- 3:34to that builds up our faith and that we can really trust in the
- 3:38Lord while we're waiting and resting in him.
- 3:42And so I love that because that's where the growth happens.
- 3:46And I don't want to jump too far in advance but one of my
- 3:52favorite DeVos that you wrote was running away from home and
- 3:57this book, and I know that touches On, you know, that
- 4:02disappointment in your circumstances.
- 4:04And so we'll go through that because I would love for you to
- 4:09share that little Snippets. So let's hear more about who I'm
- 4:15a. I'm a daughter of God.
- 4:16I'm a Christian, I came to know the Lord at the age of 19.
- 4:19I thought I was a Christian before that, but but no, I
- 4:23didn't have a personal relationship with Christ.
- 4:25I've been married for, I think it's going to be 37 years, this
- 4:29June, I Have a daughter and a son, and a son and a lot in a
- 4:33son-in-law and my grand daughter who's 17 months old, who's the
- 4:38light of my life and everybody in the family's life.
- 4:40So I've been author. I knew I wanted to write since I
- 4:44was very young maybe six, maybe six years old.
- 4:48Yeah and and God prospered that and speaks to me in that and
- 4:55give, you know, all spiritual gifts are for the benefit of the
- 4:57body. So he shares things with me that
- 5:00I can Chair in my writing that I can share with my sisters in
- 5:04Christ and and that's how the DeVos come about.
- 5:08Mmm so good. Okay, so I love the how this
- 5:13whole devotional. I saw just this repeat pattern
- 5:18of you having these illustrations as analogies when
- 5:23it comes to trees and plants and flowers.
- 5:26I am a huge Garden nut, I love all the flowers.
- 5:30Our soap like instantly. I mean, I'm just drawn to this.
- 5:35I love how you just entwine, nature into God's presence and
- 5:42how we learn in life and our circumstances and stuff.
- 5:45So, start us off with what led you to write this devotional.
- 5:51So, I think what leads me to write all devotionals and then
- 5:55what gets focused in as I've got kind of as a grounding verse 4
- 5:58that as Deuteronomy 11. Teen where he shares, teach them
- 6:03which is his words to your children, talking about them.
- 6:05When you sit at home, when you walk along the road when you lie
- 6:09down and when you get up and to me that just leads me to look
- 6:14for him everywhere and every place that I am not just on
- 6:18Sunday morning or not, just at a praise thing or not just a
- 6:22highlight in my life but I don't because I don't spend most of my
- 6:25life there. I spend most of my life watching
- 6:27dishes or weeding or doing grocery shopping.
- 6:31And so to look for him in all those places and then to share
- 6:36them with our children, in the carpool lane, or when we're
- 6:39picking up toys, that's what led to this.
- 6:42Most of our time is spent at home and so to see him every day
- 6:47in the places where we dwell and that he's dwelling with us is
- 6:51really what? Drove this Depot.
- 6:53Mmm. It's beautiful.
- 6:55So right? It's in our everyday tasks,
- 6:58right? Well yeah that that's where.
- 7:00Happens. And is there ever a time that
- 7:05you felt far from God? Do you have like a circumstance
- 7:09or a struggle that you can share with us?
- 7:12That really ended up actually bringing you closer to the Lord?
- 7:17Yeah, I'll topa nup that a little bit on Seasons.
- 7:21I think one of the things is about seasons is that they show
- 7:25up and they show up regularly and that's really scriptural if
- 7:28you even go back to Ecclesiastes and some other Oh things,
- 7:30there's a winter, there's a spring, there's a summer.
- 7:33And there's a fall and that's not just the physical world are
- 7:36circumstances. And, you know, relationships and
- 7:40everything. Follow that to where I get stuck
- 7:43is either. When I think it's always going
- 7:45to be winter and things are never going to change and gods
- 7:47never going to help me and I'm not going to feel them or I
- 7:50think it's always going to be summer.
- 7:52Hey this is a high point I'm never going to face another
- 7:54roadblock or challenge again. I think remembering that summer
- 7:58will lead to Spring I mean to Which will lead to Winter which
- 8:02leads to Spring helps us know that whatever it is this, this
- 8:06too shall pass. I've had I struggled with
- 8:10infertility. That was, that was a very
- 8:12difficult season. My husband has had cancer twice
- 8:15and he's still not completely clear from that.
- 8:18That those are difficult seasons and it's a persistent season.
- 8:22I'll tell you something really interesting a couple of a couple
- 8:26of weeks ago. I woke up in the middle of the
- 8:27night and couldn't go back to sleep and I told the Lord I feel
- 8:31distant from you. I haven't even had time to
- 8:34really read scripture. I've been so busy, I haven't
- 8:37done anything and I feel lonely for you.
- 8:39Kind of right away popped into my mind.
- 8:44I think it's on 22:13, I should have written it down but the
- 8:47Lord, dwells the Lord God inhabits the Praises of his
- 8:50people and I think what he was telling me is you know, just
- 8:54praise me right now and I'm here with you.
- 8:57I'll be living in that with you, right?
- 8:59Right at that moment. So close.
- 9:01I Am Lord. You are magnificent.
- 9:03You are omnipresent soon as I say that I felt him there so
- 9:07then I got up the next morning and I looked up in Blue Letter
- 9:09Bible that verse and sure enough inhabits is the word dwell.
- 9:13And so here we are right back to the Devo, he led me to write and
- 9:18even when I was far from him, as I was working for him, he he
- 9:23brought me right back. It's beautiful.
- 9:26Okay, let's talk about that little snippet that Evo called
- 9:31running away from home. Can you at the top of your head?
- 9:36Share that little story? Yeah.
- 9:38I know. You'll see it better than me.
- 9:40Yeah. For sure.
- 9:42So. So when I was a little girl I
- 9:44was I don't know. I might have been six or seven,
- 9:46I can't remember exactly. But I'd had a disagreement with
- 9:49probably my mother because she was home and I wanted to do
- 9:53something and she didn't want to let me or she didn't help me.
- 9:55Until I said find that I'm going to run away from home so I
- 9:58grabbed a brown paper bag. Through, I don't know some
- 10:01clothes in it. Mrs. Beasley probably, because
- 10:04she was my constant companion and I'm like, well, then I'm
- 10:07leaving. So I open the front door.
- 10:09We had a front door in the screen door in front of it.
- 10:12I open the front door and then I closed it behind me and stood
- 10:14kind of like a wedged between the two of them for a minute.
- 10:18It was raining out and I can clearly remember.
- 10:20Okay, now what do you thing to do?
- 10:23All right, where are you? And your brown bag and mrs.
- 10:25Beasley going to actually head off to in this rain as a child.
- 10:29It's not going to happen. So after a little bit I you
- 10:32know, hung my head, I went back in the house, I'd put my stuff
- 10:36away and you know, I'm sure it meant that my mother helped me
- 10:38at that time but it reminded me that sometimes I feel that way
- 10:41about God, he's not fixing it, I don't feel good, he said no you
- 10:47know those all the things I don't understand why this was a
- 10:50good thing to say no and I am like that.
- 10:53I'm not going to run away from you then then you're not helping
- 10:56me what's the point and it, you know, but he just like a Parent.
- 11:01He just helps me unpack. All that.
- 11:02I put it back. Here's where you belong.
- 11:05No condemnation, no, no harsh words.
- 11:08I know this is rough. You know, we're going to get
- 11:10through this together. It's going to be okay.
- 11:12I'm still attentive and then it brought me back to Psalm 73 23
- 11:17to 25 which is I'm always with you, you hold me by my right
- 11:21hand, you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will
- 11:24to afterward. You will take me into Glory whom
- 11:27have I in heaven, but you and we don't have any Buddy.
- 11:30But him he is our home and and so we can't run away from him
- 11:36but that's a good thing. Yeah.
- 11:38Yeah, I mean it was just beautiful.
- 11:41I was reading it, it brought me to a place when, you know, I was
- 11:46disappointed. And I'm like, what in the world?
- 11:49And I love that. You actually said, didn't,
- 11:51didn't he say the faithful prayers of a righteous person
- 11:54Avail much. Yeah.
- 11:56And James 5:16 you wrote. And, and then we, Sure.
- 12:00Sounds like, was that a not righteous or faithful?
- 12:03What did I do? Right deserve this is kind of
- 12:06our knee-jerk reaction to rejection our disappointment and
- 12:12things that we thought were gonna go this way and you know,
- 12:16God's, you know, making it a closed door or whatever it is
- 12:22and I love that you bring it back to well, where am I going
- 12:26to go without God, you know and that He holds you, in unpacks
- 12:33your bag, and hold you close, but that you say it's not that
- 12:38it's fixed, but that you don't know what it's gonna look like
- 12:44our how it's going to work out, but just know that he's holding
- 12:47you and his loving arms. So I just love that because I
- 12:52think brings this back to what's important, right?
- 12:55Exactly. And it's just like, when you
- 12:57have a kid who's hurt and they're upset and they go sit on
- 13:00the Edge of their bed. And if you're a parent, or if
- 13:02you had a parent sits on the edge of the bed with you, I'm
- 13:05sorry that heard. I know this isn't the way you
- 13:07wanted it to be. Everything's going to be okay
- 13:10though. And, and that, you know, he's,
- 13:13he's there to do that with us, wherever, wherever you're
- 13:17sitting wherever you find yourself, running away, or
- 13:21drawing close. I think that's one of the big
- 13:24hopes that I have for people who read, well, is that they will
- 13:28see that. He's, he's always with them.
- 13:30And In them and we're in him. And that's the best comfortable.
- 13:34Mmm? Yeah.
- 13:35Well, they're beautiful. They cause any motion is
- 13:39relatable, and I love the photography and it.
- 13:43So if it features, just incredible pictures so which
- 13:49helps set this contemplated mood for us readers.
- 13:55So what are? Let's talk about prayer.
- 13:57What are some other ways that it Hates us in prayer.
- 14:02The book, first of all, when they put together those those
- 14:06photographs I cannot tell you how thrilled I was.
- 14:08Sometimes you know, people because the I wrote the book and
- 14:11then somebody else designed the interior and it was up to her to
- 14:15choose to choose the photos but she just she just supernaturally
- 14:21picked exactly the right things to convey the mood of the words
- 14:24and to be partners. And what that does is it brings
- 14:27another sense in. So we've got the spare virtual
- 14:30and emotional sense in the words and we've got the visual and I
- 14:34like that. If I'm having, you know, what we
- 14:36would call a quiet time or time away that's, you know, dedicated
- 14:39to that Devotion, to add some other things.
- 14:42For example, I always drink jasmine tea, but that's the only
- 14:45time I drink jasmine tea. It's very floral smelling and it
- 14:48tastes good. And that adding that sensory
- 14:52ritual into my prayer time, it's like, ushering me into a time
- 14:56that it's just, it's just me and God apart sitting somewhere.
- 15:00See whether it's on your porch or in your in your living room,
- 15:05wherever is a cozy place just for you to sit.
- 15:08So you know, I'd listen to a podcast one that said in the
- 15:13past when people were setting up for Sabbath, they had to think
- 15:16ahead to do that, they had to buy their food and prepare their
- 15:19food and clean their house. So that everything was ready for
- 15:23them to enjoy Sabbath without working.
- 15:26But I think we need to do that for our devotional prayer time
- 15:28to set it up the This is my set of time set aside time.
- 15:32This is what, I'm, you know, the tea that I'm drinking, or the
- 15:35coffee that I'm drinking. This is what I'm reading.
- 15:38This is where I'm going. Mmm, such a great idea.
- 15:41I mean, we were always told pick a place you know pick a quiet
- 15:45place but never did. I really think about our senses
- 15:52of taste or smell? You know like put on a special
- 15:56candle? Yeah we're told you know maybe
- 15:58light a candle but to Lee, get that special sent for that time
- 16:05with the Lord, what a great inspiration to do.
- 16:10Okay, so, why in 2023 is the concept of Home such an
- 16:16important one because I know it's all about your home
- 16:20throughout these devotionals which I love.
- 16:24Yeah, I think, you know, we've come out of a pandemic for the
- 16:28most part. And so, all of us, Us were home
- 16:30a lot. We were working at home, we were
- 16:33schooling at home doing things a lot at home and I think on the
- 16:38one hand that made us really appreciative of what our home
- 16:41environment could be even if we hadn't been spending as much
- 16:45time in it and we kind of got routed, but now we're now we're
- 16:50flying away again a little bit. And so I think it's important
- 16:53for us to take the best of the things that we learned in that
- 16:58stay-at-home era about Drawing away and making food together
- 17:03with our families and not worrying so much if there's a
- 17:06mess but we're all together having a good time making time
- 17:10to do board games. I mean, people don't don't do
- 17:13that so much anymore, but just that our home is our sanctuary
- 17:18and then I think we can take that almost metaphorically.
- 17:21We love to be at home, home means so much, and then we put
- 17:26that with God. Are we at home with God is?
- 17:29Is he He and our home. One of the things that my family
- 17:32has come to do, is not just ask the Lord to bless our meals, but
- 17:37to invite him to dine with us. So, you know, come and sit sit
- 17:40down with us. Lord, have it have a seat at our
- 17:43table be with us in this in this meal and recognize that he's in
- 17:48our home doing that too. Yeah, more and more.
- 17:52I mean we just find Jesus always breaking bread with people
- 17:57having meals and I think that's Really becoming a prominent
- 18:03thing lately about us opening up our doors.
- 18:06Again in our home, and inviting people, over for these feasts,
- 18:11and being intentional with that, just like how they did and the,
- 18:17the early Believers, the early church time, and it's just such
- 18:22a great way to fellowship and spread the gospel that way while
- 18:28we're sharing a meal with someone.
- 18:30One. And it's so great.
- 18:32And that brought me, it's not a table with chairs, but I love
- 18:37the Divo that you shared about your couch.
- 18:41And I have a dog and you have a dog and how mine's not allowed
- 18:47on the couch. But I can just imagine how
- 18:51excited she would be if I just did a little Pat next to me and
- 18:55she would in a heartbeat jump up and curl up next to me.
- 19:00But And how that's like how the Lord is doing with us.
- 19:05It's just like he, no come and sit with me.
- 19:08I'm here already. Exactly.
- 19:10You to draw close to me and it just brought this, just Vivid
- 19:16picture of God's hand, just patting, you know, the seat, the
- 19:20couch next to next to him saying, come on over daughter.
- 19:24I just want to spend time with you, is such a beautiful
- 19:27illustration? Yeah.
- 19:28He's there. He's waiting.
- 19:30He's Excited. He's he's provided the couch and
- 19:33he's provided his presence. And, you know, I just think we
- 19:38forget about that life can become so busy when you were
- 19:41talking about sharing and breaking bread.
- 19:43But yesterday I was reading my husband reading an ax and one of
- 19:46the last things that the Lord does before the Ascension is,
- 19:49he's eating with the disciples as says he stayed and that verse
- 19:52can be translated to a Z8 with them.
- 19:55One of the last things he did before the crucifixion, see, a
- 19:58with the disciples. I mean, all of the place, Is
- 20:00when Peter when he came back and Peter was not feeling so good
- 20:03about things there. He was fixing breakfast.
- 20:06I just think it's good for us to remember that.
- 20:09These, these whole me meal together with family and friend,
- 20:13Gatherings are places that were really going to sense his
- 20:16presence. And yeah and if we open
- 20:19ourselves to that so then I know I'm just thinking about him
- 20:23feeding the 5,000. I think that's always got food
- 20:27around. Yeah his miracles performed
- 20:30Through even meals. That's so great.
- 20:33Okay. So dwell is Rich with the
- 20:35scripture passages. He can take us through a few
- 20:39that you use and the book that have a particular meaning to
- 20:45you. Yeah.
- 20:47I mean there's a few and I'll do them real quick so we can do a
- 20:50few. One of the ones that I love is
- 20:52Jeremiah 29 5 where, you know, the Israelites are in captivity
- 20:57and he says make a home here, plant a garden do things.
- 21:00And I think that it's good for us to remember, no, no matter
- 21:04where we find ourselves in the world.
- 21:05No matter what kind of financial situation is, what your home is,
- 21:11where your home is, how often you have to move, you wants us,
- 21:14to make it a home and a home that we feel comfortable in a
- 21:18place that he feels comfortable in.
- 21:21And I think that that sometimes people wait until they get their
- 21:24quote unquote forever home and then they're going to make it
- 21:27all, then they're going to buy that couch.
- 21:29They've been holding on for this.
- 21:30Then they're going to plant the garden and I actually had a,
- 21:34what I thought was my forever home.
- 21:35It was my perfect home, everything I wanted.
- 21:38And then when my husband got cancer, it became clear that we
- 21:41were going to have to move for a number of reasons, treatment
- 21:43reasons and I said to the Lord, Lord, I thought this was my
- 21:46forever home and then he just gently said you have one forever
- 21:50home and it's not here. Yeah.
- 21:52And I'm like, you know, you're right.
- 21:55Exactly. Yeah.
- 21:58And you know what, it wasn't even arguing goes so far.
- 22:00Bring it was like whether I move you A B C or D, have a good time
- 22:04playing Gardens have fun, but you don't need to get yourself
- 22:07all tied into how long you stay or how long you don't stay there
- 22:10because you do have a forever home.
- 22:12I've got it for you, it's ready to go.
- 22:14So that was a good thing. I also love that I have a
- 22:20medieval in there about night lights and that we are
- 22:23nightlights. But people are provided night
- 22:25lights for us but that we as Christians are nightlife, we're
- 22:27shining a little light on the paths and we're bringing a
- 22:31little light into dark situations and so John 14 and 5.
- 22:35Of course, the light shines in the darkness and the Darkness
- 22:37has not overcome. It is important to me.
- 22:40There are some dark areas for people to go through but but we
- 22:44are we are still the lights. I'm teaching my little
- 22:47granddaughter, You Know, This Little Light of Mine.
- 22:49Yeah. You know, and there's a lot of
- 22:51good Theology and encouragement in those kids songs.
- 22:54Yeah there is yeah we retire my girl forever home.
- 22:58That's the same thing that happened to me.
- 23:00Is living in Southern California, and we moved to
- 23:02Austin 10 years ago and I thought that home in California
- 23:06was the forever home. That was my dream home and and
- 23:11you know, God has other plans and it wasn't a Health crisis,
- 23:15but it was a financial crisis for us.
- 23:17So he just kind of shows you like, no, it's me, it's not the
- 23:23materialism superficial stuff. It's Eternal being in his
- 23:29presence that We have this eternal home.
- 23:32So totally one of the things that reasons why I wanted to
- 23:35write this. We have so many things wrapped
- 23:37up in the in the word home. Dream home.
- 23:39You just said, forever home, you know, Grandma's house, mom's
- 23:43home childhood home, home has such a an important meaning, in
- 23:48all of our lives. And so, when we feel uprooted,
- 23:51for whatever reason financial reasons, health reasons,
- 23:54whatever they are, you know, it feels a little uncertain, it
- 23:57feels a little fragile. So I just think if we Focus on
- 24:01the fact that he is the dream home, he's the forever home,
- 24:04he's got a forever home, he tells us, he's got it for us,
- 24:07you know? He's he's all of those things.
- 24:10It doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the homes that he provides
- 24:14for us here. Of course, we can, we just need
- 24:17to not put all of our hopes and Security in that basket.
- 24:22Yes, yes, that's not our source God's our only source, that's
- 24:25it. Yeah.
- 24:27For sure. He loves to teach us that right?
- 24:30Yep. Okay, you have this devotional,
- 24:35it encompasses five senses and means of meditation and prayer.
- 24:41So beautiful you're someone who you call a foodie.
- 24:46What are some ways that a taste can bring us closer to Jesus?
- 24:52You know first of all it's interesting you know if you
- 24:54think of that verse you know taste and see that the Lord is
- 24:57good and I'm going to go back to my Not her again, but she's got
- 25:01a thing right now, just because she's trying new food, she'll
- 25:03put a tiny Pinky and, and then she'll taste it and decide if
- 25:07she wants the whole thing in her mouth.
- 25:08But, you know, God's kind of encouraging us to do that.
- 25:11Just give me a, you know, give me a try taste, my for yourself.
- 25:14Don't listen to what a food. Reviewer has to say about me.
- 25:17Give you, you try dip your pinky and I am good, you know, try it
- 25:22and see and I think if we can take that, you know, perspective
- 25:28of how we look when when we do Enjoy a meal, especially a meal
- 25:32that someone has prepared specifically for us.
- 25:35I talk in the introduction about how we meet colleagues at a
- 25:38restaurant, but we invite friends and family into our
- 25:42homes and God has prepared a life and a world specifically
- 25:48for us. So, to taste and see that as
- 25:51good, it's, it's as good as your mom's lasagna, it's as good as
- 25:55the highest paid, you know, highest cost anniversary dinner,
- 25:59you might have. It.
- 26:01Yeah. And I think that that's the way
- 26:03to do it. Mmm, I love that.
- 26:06Let's talk about Seasons. I know you talked about it
- 26:09earlier in this episode, what season of your life?
- 26:13Do you find the most difficult spiritually?
- 26:16How do you adjust your prayer life in that season?
- 26:23Well, if I was gonna tag it to Physical World seasons, probably
- 26:26fall fall to me is like, I'm pretty Be sure all the
- 26:31happy-go-lucky plus I live in the Pacific Northwest so fall
- 26:33means what we call literally the big dark is coming.
- 26:37So you know what I'm aware and fall, but the big dark is
- 26:40coming. And you know, when might need to
- 26:43put my head down for a little bit, I wrote a devotion in there
- 26:46about dormant seasons and plants in a dormant season are not
- 26:52doing nothing. They're storing energy.
- 26:54They're growing Roots, they're learning how to withstand wind
- 26:59and all of those things. Make them a stronger and more
- 27:02fruitful plant. So I try to remember that when
- 27:06when fall is coming that I might have to grit my teeth a little
- 27:09bit, I might have to just hold in place and be all right, but
- 27:13God, always is going to bring me through to Spring and I will be
- 27:18a stronger plant. I will bear more fruit and the
- 27:22Sunshine will come again. So, I think for anybody who's
- 27:25looking at a big dark, I think it's helpful to remember that
- 27:28the sun is coming. Mmm, Gosh, what a great
- 27:31reminder. Yeah, that was one of my
- 27:33favorites, too. I love that looking at the
- 27:37dormant season. All whole new light.
- 27:39Now, I'm like, yeah, they're actually doing something.
- 27:41Okay, great, they're not bad. That's right.
- 27:44No, they're not. There's life under there.
- 27:47Okay. So what tips do you have for
- 27:50making devotionals? A regular part of your daily
- 27:56prayer? While I think you have to find
- 27:59some devotionals that you really Because nobody wants to, you
- 28:02know, will find an excuse to not go to a book or to anything, if
- 28:07we don't love it. So I end up looking for
- 28:09devotionals that I love and then I'm eager to spent to spend time
- 28:14with them. I do, I do set it up like a
- 28:17date. It's a date between me and the
- 28:19Lord. And the same way that if my
- 28:20husband and I had a special day that wouldn't let everybody, you
- 28:23know, which their way into it. If I did it would be showing my
- 28:26husband in a way. Hey you're not as important as
- 28:29my phone or whatever. It's going on right there, so I
- 28:32think to just set aside a time. I think one of the reasons why I
- 28:36like, writing short devotionals is because people can have a
- 28:39short period of time. They could even read them in the
- 28:41carpool line. If that's when they have that
- 28:44moment. Or, you know, there's no joke,
- 28:46you know, as soon as I'm in the bathroom, everybody needs me.
- 28:48But if you need to go there and open your Devo and sit on the
- 28:51floor, or whatever in the bathtub, I know people who bring
- 28:55their DeVos into the bathtub, and that's their special time
- 28:58apart to do it. So to find a way to make it.
- 29:01Restful and relaxing and pleasurable, and joyful, and
- 29:04then that's an appointment that you're going to meet ya.
- 29:07I know whenever I get kind of, you know, it just kind of dull,
- 29:13I think, oh, I need to start looking into some stuff to spice
- 29:17up my spiritual walk, you know, whether that's a new Bible
- 29:22translation, you know, going from and IV to NLT or the
- 29:27passion translation or grabbing A devotional book that's new to
- 29:32me and it really just brings on a newness to your quiet time
- 29:39with him and I love the length of your devotions to and because
- 29:45it doesn't need to be long and lengthy to make impact and your
- 29:51words just really draw the reader in and encourages them.
- 29:55It's relatable and it causes an emotion.
- 29:59Whether something Inspiring or motivating or you know, calming
- 30:05and soothing by showing how much God loves us and that he's here
- 30:09always with us and it's so great.
- 30:12You're such a gifted writer. I love it.
- 30:14So, would you finish us off with a takeaway for our friend here?
- 30:19Listening something they can ponder on or take action in?
- 30:22Yeah, for sure. So, when I started thinking
- 30:25about dwell, and I say that when we're at home with someone, it's
- 30:29someone that we feel secure. During that we feel with piece
- 30:32that we might laugh that we learn from.
- 30:35So I want us to feel at home with God and hopefully the
- 30:38devotionals will help someone do that.
- 30:40And then you might think to yourself how can I make my home?
- 30:43And, and my heart, and my day open to God dwelling in it and
- 30:47do I recognize that he dwells in me, like, Ephesians 3:17 and
- 30:52Hebrews 3:6 a and I dwell in him.
- 30:55Which is first John 4:13? Do I see us?
- 30:58Do I see us dwelling in each other him and me.
- 31:00Me and him. And then do I take joy and
- 31:03comfort and pleasure from that and if not, is there a way that
- 31:05I might? I might start doing that more.
- 31:08Beautiful. Okay, where can everyone grab
- 31:11their copy? Because I know, they will want,
- 31:14they are wanting one right now. Yeah, you can grab a cut and you
- 31:18can grab a copy at our daily bread.
- 31:19Who's the publisher? You can grab a copy at Amazon at
- 31:23Christian book distributors at Barnes & Noble.
- 31:26I mean any place that you would normally reach out to get the
- 31:29book there. Just I love the full color
- 31:32illustrations, I can't imagine anyone would be disappointed
- 31:35with spending some time with that.
- 31:36It just will be a treat. I think for them to spend time
- 31:40in that with those with those pictures.
- 31:42Yeah. As a treat for me.
- 31:43So I know it will be for our friend here.
- 31:46That's listening. Thank you so much Sandra for
- 31:49coming on here and sharing about this wonderful.
- 31:53Beautiful devotional called dwell, 90 days at home, with
- 31:57God, the link to purchase It is below this episode in the show
- 32:02notes friend. Thank you for coming on here.
- 32:05Thank you. Thank you so much for listening
- 32:09today and I trust that God has encouraged you through this
- 32:12story. Did you know this podcast is on
- 32:15YouTube, hop on there and subscribe and you can see a live
- 32:19recording of each episode and for more information on this
- 32:24ministry and to access free downloads, please visit my
- 32:28website at Jamie Elizabeth.com that's ja yme Elizabeth.com and
- 32:34let's connect Beyond this. Just by going to my Instagram
- 32:38handle, Jamie Elizabeth she speaks life or Facebook until
- 32:42next time my friend. I hope God reveals himself
- 32:45through your own life story.