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Episode 51: Embracing the Bible's Story This Season · The Habit Lab

• 1:08
  Speaker 1: We all have areas in our life we might feel stuck or overwhelmed.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So join me, jenna Zint, habit Coach, teacher and follower of Jesus, as we go after little bits of better by building offensively small habits that create big impact.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: This is the Habit Lab Podcast.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Habit Lab.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: I'm Jenna Marisant and I want to talk about making Jesus the reason for the season, which sounds, I think, when things it's funny because I make like sing song slogans and I tease that they're often because they help me remember them.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: But when I'm saying someone else's, it sounds cheesy, but I'm like, wait, there's an actual, there's a.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: I remember it for a reason.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: So big picture.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Zoom out a couple years ago, like I would always say that and try to remember, like, hey, it's not about gifts, it's about Jesus.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And then it wasn't probably until about two years ago when I read the Bible through for the first time.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Actually, it's cool, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I had shame around that because I've known Jesus for so long Like I've been a Christian pretty much my whole life but it was the first time I had read the Bible through and I just felt some shame.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: It didn't mean I didn't read the Bible, but it was very much more like cherry pick when I was reading.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: And then also the other thing for me was I mean, frankly, I did not read it often.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: There'd be seasons where I read it more or less often.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: So when I was going after consistency with my Bible reading, one of the things I realized is like having a plan makes it so much more helpful to show up consistently versus.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I realized how much my Bible reading was.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: I would have said I was trying to be spirit led, but it was really emotionally based.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: I tried to decide what I should read or what would be helpful, so whether I really felt like the Lord lead me or what I just needed to hear.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I could go either way.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: But then, based on how I felt after I read, it is how I would judge whether or not I must have heard the Lord or if I missed it.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: If I didn't really emotionally connect, then what's the point?
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Or I'd flip somewhere else because I'd be like I'm not emotionally connecting.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: That means the Holy Spirit's not here.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: So I think one of the things that was super helpful was reading it consistently just made me realize that it's shaping me slowly, even if I don't Some days I have really, I would say, more spiritual connections and I can feel God and parts of the passage are really profound, but I would say a large part is not.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: That's not true, where in the past, if I hadn't had a plan, I would have been like it's not working or I'd feel shame or yeah, and it would kind of cause me to disengage or make it higher stakes.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: So I think I loved the plan where it's like, oh, I thought maybe that it would be more religious and it would be drier, but I think I now have value, for it's made it easier to be consistent.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And then, too, I've gotten to the which is I'm going to get to with this podcast.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Is it made me see it as a big story rather than just a tool to hear the Lord's voice?
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Does that make sense?
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So it's like I would, when I'd read something and however I'd connect with it was either the Lord, you know, giving me the encouragement I needed or giving me a truth slap to adjust my perspective, like where I was off, but which I for sure think the Lord, I mean like God speaks through his word to the live, and well, that's true.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: But I think, if what I'm trying to get at is I didn't understand the value in seeing it as a story as well, like this big picture story, until I did it every day and read it slowly.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So when I got to Christmas, cause you spend nine months in the old Testament so you don't get into, you don't get to the new Testament until, like I think it's October I can't remember if it's November 1st or October, I should remember but so you're like deep in the hard parts, the slower parts, the you know God being mad, and then Jesus.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: So I've never experienced a more anticipation for Christmas than I did a couple of years ago, because I was waiting for the plot twist to happen.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: And it was this beautiful shift of oh yeah, add Jesus back in or don't let consumerism take over.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Was what maybe, when I would hear Jesus is the reason for the season.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: That would be more of my mindset, where it really shift to like no, no, this whole, like this gratitude, the weeks leading up to Christmas, that he came and that I live on this side of the new covenant rather than the old side, and it was this like it almost felt, like I couldn't wait for this plot twist, like you could see it coming, since we know the end of the story a mile away and it was like, ah, my heart like longed for it and I realized like, oh, that happened because I read it through as a story.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: So what, my takeaway has been this year, actually for 2025, if you'd love to join, if you want to join reading the Bible together, we're going to just do the New Testament.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I found a book that is just the New Testament in a year.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: So it's true like way shorter.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Obviously, the passages can be read for sure in about five minutes.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: We're going to just do that for 2025.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I'm actually going to make a group where we're going to meet monthly.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: There'll be like a small fee to just compensate for my time in organizing it, but I actually really want to get into it and talk about what I'm learning more often.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: So, and then two, I'm actually really excited.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I really really love john mark comers.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: He has this.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: He's been over a course of a few years.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: He's been releasing series like little bible studies on different spiritual practices, and his um bible study on the practice of reading scripture is coming out in January.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And I feel like a nerd, you know, like those people who nerd out about Marvel movies coming out.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: That's how I feel, which just sounds so nerdy saying it, but that's how I feel about the scripture one coming out because all the other ones have been so impactful.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: But I've been walking out this, you know, like making the spiritual or scripture habit for a couple of years now.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: So to hear what he just has a way of bringing in history and context that I've never heard before, and every one of the spiritual discipline Bible studies that I've done through him, which has been fasting Sabbath generosity, I think those ones I've done so far have flipped my perspective of those spiritual disciplines on its head.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: So I have a ton of excitement to get to the scripture one, because I've already been so I would say like I don't know for revival or a revolutionary experience of how I've how 36 years Jenna experienced scripture versus the last two years you know.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: So that's already been my experience.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: So, hearing him, I'm like, oh, I can't even imagine what he's going to do for my perception of scripture.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: So why I'm telling you this is one.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: If you want to do it, you're welcome, do it on your own.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: But if whoever joins me who wants to be part of that monthly membership of doing the Bible Habit together.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: We're going to start I think they're releasing it end of January but we're going to actually do that.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: It should be only like four.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: They do four week studies.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: We're going to actually kick off whenever they come out doing them, them together and meeting weekly, cause I think that'll set a perception for the rest of the year how we're going to dig into the scripture.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: So it feels like so perfectly timed.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: I really nerded out when I was like and that's when we can start our new, you know, 2025 reading plan and everyone who's doing it with me could do that.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: We could do this together, cause I the reason I'm doing a group that's a little high, like not just a free one, but like a little bit more often, therefore charging a bit so that I get compensated for the effort I'll put into organizing it is that I ones who want to talk about it, because I get so much hearing from people's perception or what stuck out to them in that passage and I'm just kind of hungry for doing that with people.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: So if that's interesting to you at all, I think, yeah, I'll give more information.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I'll stop there.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I did want to tell you about his scripture, bible study, the four-week, the spiritual discipline, because that's available, you whether or not you do this Bible habit with me next year, so you should definitely look into that.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: But what it's changed for me, and getting back to Jesus being the reason for the season and how, when I started reading the Bible, like when I read it through the whole story my anticipation of that being true, it wasn't like I remember to make Jesus the main thing.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: It was like all of my awareness was like, oh, this whole season is about you changing the terms of our relationship, you giving up everything so that I could experience you in a whole new way.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: And I'm so, so grateful that I'm on this side of the covenant versus the old covenant.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: So that was a big shift.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So my takeaway has been that I have been I think I told you guys that for a while I was doing communion most mornings and I would say I'm doing that less this year, 2024.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: My Jesus habit has looked a little bit more like I retell the redemption story like start to finish, thinking about like God creating the earth, and it usually takes me a couple minutes, I would say.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: But in doing so, and then I think about how immediately they fell and then how he gave them the covenant to try to help them enter in relationship, because he's perfect and we're not and the sacrifice is required.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: And then how many times they fell and they fell and they fell and he sent a prophet and they fell, and how many times they were captured and then he redeemed them and then they fell again.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: And just thinking about that, and then how Jesus came, and then I think like I really pause on the idea of what it must have felt like for Mary to get that, and how Mary was just an ordinary girl, like how he uses really ordinary people.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: And then I think about what it must have felt like when she had a baby.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: You know, she was told that this baby was from God, which to me I'm like well, god impregnated you.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, there's lots to unpack there.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: How do we feel about that?
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: How I wonder what she experienced, what was her emotion?
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: And it's like we get the high level view of the conversation she had with the angel.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: But I was like, what about the nine months before she actually gave birth?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: What was the experience there?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: So I just kind of try to emotionally engage.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: What a human would have been experiencing, because I think a lot of times we can relate to getting the word.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: We feel really clear in the moment.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: But then the walking out until the promise happens how often there's highs and lows and emotions that happen in between.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: But she stayed faithful.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: So trying to humanize and empathize that.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And then I imagine, after she gave birth, what it must have, just a normal baby Like.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Did she ever in her heart think, like, is it really?
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: We're sure?
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Like there's no halo?
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: That came with him?
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: He didn't instantly start turning water into wine.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I then wonder, I'm like I wonder if she had any doubt.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if doubt's the right word, but like why isn't he doing miracles?
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: And then I think about how.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: You know, he was pretty ordinary until whenever he stopped not being was.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: How was that?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: How did they introduce?
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Like, what did they tell his siblings about him?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: What did the small town they live in think about?
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: The story that Mary said she was immaculately, you know, conceived.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: And then they're looking at a very ordinary boy, like what did they think or believe?
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: And how did Mary's heart handle, you know, a decade of walking out, a promise that's kind of fulfilled but not fully revealed.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: And then I always like, apply that to my own life and then I think about how he doesn't start.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: You know, jesus starts his ministry at age 30 and it's only three years.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my gosh, how much of my life are there different parts where I feel behind or I'm missing it and wasting time?
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: But we know that God's plan was perfectly carried out with Jesus.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: So we can say that God's plan was perfect for God to or for Jesus to not start for 30 years.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: So God doesn't think he was wasting time or behind or failing.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: So I try to remind, like, where in my life am I walking out with the Lord?
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: But the timeline hasn't been what I thought.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Where, like, am I falling into the trap of I'm behind, I'm missing it?
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Where, like what did Jesus?
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: What was it like for him to peacefully carry the waiting, you know, like for 30 years?
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: And then God decided that three years was all we needed to for humanity to get this window into what heaven on earth would look like, you know, like be exposed to his nature.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: That's like like offensive, but like it blows a lot of my paradigms about my timeline or stewarding things or how long process should be or what process should look like or what, when I get a word from the Lord how it needs to be rolled out.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: It's just been helpful for me to really slowly, if you notice think through this big redemption story.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And then I get to fast forward, thinking about him leaving, you know, like after his resurrection, of course, like that's a moment, because that was kind of where I was camping for 2023, 2023, thinking about the crucifixion.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: And then I think about what the new church must have felt like when they thought you know all the followers that he's bringing, he's the new king, but then he leaves and then they have a whole new person.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: You know paradigm, when the Holy Spirit comes, and how that must have been.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: And then I think about what's the next one?
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, how the new church thought he was coming back super fast, so like two years, three years.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: He said he was active for three years.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: So they probably I'm like if I were them, I would put some of those timeframes or parameters around when I thought he would do it again.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: But here God is doing it totally different.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Who was offended about how long it took?
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: How did they process that?
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: How did they hold on to the tension of the and suddenly like he'll come back.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: But it was 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, you know, and how, here we are, 2000 years waiting for the and suddenly but I think we have it's a little easier for us because we're not so close to it, you know.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: So what is helpful in me thinking through?
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: And then I think about sorry, left off with them, waiting for Jesus to come back.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: So then I think through, like what is my role, what part do I play in this grand redemption story?
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: And I think about eternity and what's to come, and then how like.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: But what it does for me is when I think through the whole redemption story every morning, when I'm like doing either before or after my Bible reading Because one of the things that I think I like plug in when I read to where it fits in that story is it reminds me that I am a Pete, like one teeny, tiny player in the teeny, tiniest section of his redemption piece, like his big redemption story, and what that has done for me is remind me of how small my problems are in comparison.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: What I'm not saying is he doesn't have empathy for me or what's hard about my life, but it's this helpful perspective shift to see like.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: One of the reasons going back to like why I started the Bible habit was wanting to read it as a story.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: But my little tagline for myself was I want, I'm learning my inheritance and my legacy from studying the past and in doing this I find like I'm studying his or seeing patterns in his nature.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: When I look over you know, gosh, I'm going to butcher it my husband, when she was here to fact check me, however long, like, let's say, 4,000 years, 2000 till Jesus came, 2000, to when Jenna's alive Totally butchering that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry for all of you theologian, wannabe theologians out there.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Details are not my strength right now.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Anyways, my point is noticing in the 4,000 years his patterns and how he shows up and how often that when he speaks something, how different the fulfillment of the word looked like.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: The word was still the same but the implicate or the application is so different than what they thought and just thinking of all the old Testament prophecies about the savior would look like.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And they thought it was going to be a real king and they thought he was going to come in a champ, you know, like war gear up, sword raised on a horse, bringing new Jerusalem with him, whatever their mental you know, human hearing what they heard about the testimonies and how they pictured it, how many of them got offended because the picture, their picture, was so different than the actual implementation of those words that God did.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: And that's really helped me think through.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Like where in my own life am I holding onto words that the implement or the application of the word, the word, still like what I feel like I heard the Lord say, but what it actually looks like in real life is so different?
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Cause then it reminds me that's true of who he is Like.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: I see lots as I look at the whole redemption story.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: I see how often that happens, like that's actually more normal than God saying I will be, I will send your king, and sending an actual king, full grown man and all of his glory.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: That just instantly trumps everything Like, oh, that is actually I can't think of an example.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Feel free to DM me if you think of something that there was a word and then there was a literal exact to the T application of the word.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: So that's one thing.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: I noticed how different the word, the application or fulfillment of the word is, how often it is that my human perception would assume.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: And then that gives me comfort and perspective for my own parts of my life, that I'm waiting for those words to be fulfilled, like, oh, how could I, you know?
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Like, is there something?
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Is there actually fulfillment in process that I'm missing because I'm expecting it to look this way?
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: And is there something already growing that maybe, if I get more creative how God tends to work, there's already something's in process?
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: And then the next thing I noticed is how different his timeline is from ours.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Just time and time and time again, even from, like, you know, like until the Savior came, till when he said I'll be back soon, like those big chunks are so different than what I would expect.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I always think about Daniel in the Old Testament, the lion's den, and how different.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I can't remember the exact part now, but obviously the lion's den and then the other part of his story I think is like a dream interpretation.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: I can't remember.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: There's some other big thing that I remembered back then but apparently can't now.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Reading through it I was like what?
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: That's like 60 years.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: I thought this was in.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: You know, like he waited and then bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: He's just all this stuff's happening.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, and they're just reading slowly, like even Joseph, and like how different the fulfillment looked.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Or even, like I said with Mary, how she got the word and she was pregnant and then it was 30 years before it started becoming evident that the word she got was actually happening, like, okay, there is a gap between his timeframe and how he moves and what I would expect him to do.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: So those two big takeaways have really helped me when I think about the big, when I replay, when my habit of replaying the redemption story, but then also it reminds me, like I said, how I am a player in this story.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I'm not the hero, I'm not.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: That actually takes some pressure off for me, specifically for people who are maybe counting on me, or even as a coach.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Honestly, a lot of my prayer before, like before I prep for a day of meetings, or even after a meeting, when I'm carrying someone's emotional pain or the hardship they're facing, I start to feel really like burdened or heavy with it and I have to actually sit.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: And this is when remembering I'm just a player in his story, not the hero, is really helpful and I'm like, oh, yeah, like I actually I think I'm creeping into savior mode and I actually can't save anyone.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: And there's this one scripture that I've been stewing on about how plans and wisdom of man fail.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: But, um, this gosh, of course I'm laughing and I'm like I'm stewing on the scripture, but I can't quote it.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Cool, cool, cool Cool.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: If you can't tell, I'm fighting a sinus infection, so I'm going to use my scattered brain, use that, as a little bit more of excuse.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: But it's this idea that, like man's plans are so subpar, what God's going to do, and I actually take comfort in like okay, like actually it's not up to me to find the best strategy.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do my best and move when you're moving, but you're ultimately like you're writing this story, you're the author and the finisher.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: I'm just a piece in it.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: So it's helpful for me to remember that when I think about the grand scan scam, the grand scale redemption story being like, oh, when I feel overweighted or overburdened or over responsibility, I actually just step back and be like what's my role, what's not?
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: I feel it feels so big, but it's actually never has, because he's done 4,000 years without me.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: He's got this.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: He doesn't actually need me to be perfect or superior.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Like it's okay that I really feel like when I preach as a real life example in front of people, I feel a lot like Moses who said you know, like with my lisp they can't understand me.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Pick someone more qualified to be, you know, your representative, whatever Words are really hard.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: I feel like that with my ADHD a lot of times, because I jump around and I'm sporadic and I get really energetic and then it can be a little scattered, and I actually in the last month had a time after teaching that I started like I was just cried on the way home and I was like I shouldn't speak.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Someone who doesn't have ADHD would be so much more clear at communicating in a way that's easy to follow through.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: And it was just this beautiful time of processing of like wait, actually I'm not stumbling, like, I'm not plugging up the Lord's plans, like His strategies and solutions.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: And this huge redemption story for people, or what he wants to do healing-wise, or what he's going to release to the crowd, is actually not about me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: It's not been for 4,000 years.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: He got my willing, yes, but he's going to have to far Trump and be able to move in ways that my own limitation is not the ideal candidate to be chosen, like, oh, this is what Moses must've felt, like Moses was, his lisp was why he was like choose someone else.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: But my ADHD is like, well, shouldn't you choose someone else?
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: So in that being, though, it just reminds me when I play out the redemption story, I'm like, oh, it's okay, like my almost comfort in my shortcomings.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that I'm not growing, it doesn't take the pressure off to continuing to want to heal and be the wholest version of myself.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: But the flip side is this, this fear of messing it up or not being enough.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I'm never actually going to be enough.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I could grow for the rest of my life, but I'm not the savior in this redemption story, this big story.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: And then the next thing for me which is helpful.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: So, like when I feel unduly weighted down when I tell the redemption, like the big story, I'm in awe of what he's doing, and what he's done it's almost like watching.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, I'm aware of how he's shown up in my own life, but it's like recounting how I show up and how faithful and he's going to be, because he's the same as he was.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: He's going to be the same for me today, and it gives me like it just reminds me.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: I feel like I get really acquainted with his nature in a way that I need to apply for today and it's it's a hilarious juxtaposition of it reminds me of how small my problems are compared to.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: You know, like last, like last year, this time I was just remembering that my new car, the sunroof, was leaking and it was so emotionally sad to me because it was such a gift that we were able to get it and it felt like such a God thing.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: So then I remember thinking thoughts like it's my God gift is being spoiled by this leak, and then, like just kind of getting into some self pity and and I felt overwhelmed, I felt sad and I felt gosh fear about how much it was going to be, and then end up being a really simple fix where my sunroof drainage system like I guess there's like a tube that runs the length of your car and it was unclogged and it was making it leak somewhere that I would thought it was not related at all and I was convinced we're going to have to get a whole new roof, which I'm laughing now.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: But my point is in that that little problem felt so big and overwhelming to me.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: But when I play the redemption story the perspective of a leaky sunroof to the Israelites leaving Pharaoh and facing the Red Sea I'm more aware of how big my God is when I tell the whole redemption story than I am, how big my problem is, and it's just the shift for me that is so helpful.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: So when we go into Advent season, I'd love for you actually in Christmas specifically, it feels like such a climax to this redemption story.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: It's like oh, and the plot twist happens.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: I sometimes compare it to you're gonna giggle at this example, though it feels like in like dubstep or electronic music I probably didn't say that right, they have this line.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: They're like I can't wait for the beat to drop because it's like they purposely make the music in a way where you can tell like a big twist is gonna happen in the music, in a way where you can tell like a big twist is going to happen in the music, like it's going to, like it keeps rising and then it's going to fall and it's going to be like that really awesome beat.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: There's a really funny video that I'm imagining right now, but that's what I feel like with going into Christmas with the Advent season, like this anticipation that the plot twist of all plot twists in this huge story that we're all a part of, this redemption story, is happening.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: And I wanted to, like I was going into this season and be like, okay, I'm so aware of it, but how do I bring my whole family into it?
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: And it was a silly little light bomb moment where I was trying to.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Nowadays, when I experience a pain point, I'm like what habit could I make to fix this, to get different results?
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: And it was like, oh, this is why Advent exists, like real small readings about you know, jesus's birth.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: And I did a little research and there could be a little bit of a difference with Advent.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: There's like Orthodox, there's Lutheran, there's Catholic.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: I actually made because I was on this own journey of trying to find a habit where I felt so aware of making Jesus the reason for the season with my reading, that I wanted to do something to bring my whole family, my kids, in it.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: So it was like more of an experience together.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: And then I was about to reinvent the wheel and I was like, oh, that's why Advent exists.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: But I did for you, I made a Advent tracker.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I just made a calendar where you could print it out pretty easy, it's free.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: I'll put it in the show notes and what it is.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: My thought is you print it out and then you leave it in your Bible like as your bookmark, and I'm going to put my Bible, like probably on my kitchen table or my dining room table so that it serves as a visual cue.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: And they're real short readings.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: I don't think anything was over like 10 verses.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: I think most things were five verses or less.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: So that's like half a chapter.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: You know pretty short.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Which five verses or less?
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: So that's like half a chapter.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: You know pretty short, which is great, because I have young kids, but the idea of, oh, consistency compounds.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: So actually us all doing this every day will help our whole family have our perspective shift of this anticipation of the savior being born, because we're all focusing it on together and it's going to be like shape our season in a totally different way.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: And we've never.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: I've tried a couple of times but we've never successfully finished.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: So that's why I made this tracker.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I was like, okay, I'm going to use all my habit principles, which would be how could I change my environment to set myself up for success?
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: What visual cue can I give myself.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: How can I make tracking it easy?
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: How could I invite the kids in?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: So you're welcome to download that, that's free.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: The cool part is that tracker is just one page in my 40 page new ebook, advent's one of the sections.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Because again I was like oh, I'm planning a peaceful Christmas.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: I want to define what my goal is, my hope, and invite the Lord into it.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: So my heart and my emotions are connected with my plan.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: I just don't jump into planning.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: And then I have a section where you're literally just practically planning.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: There's like a chart of list all your traditions.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: What was I make you go through?
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: What was the outcome last year?
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Did people cry?
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Did we love it?
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Did we learn?
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Did we hate it?
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: And then I make you list the emotions.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: I'm saying this because it's fresh in my mind.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: I just led an in-person workshop to start using the planner, because I find we all buy these things but I need some motivation to actually begin.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, I can give people a one-time meeting where we begin.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: So I did an in-person one last night.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: So I'm thinking about all the conversation we had.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: It was so helpful hearing other people's tradition too and how people had tweaked it.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: And then the next section I get you through to like oh okay, what were the pain points of the habits that you want to tweak or edit?
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: What are some pop like, brainstorm some solutions and then what do you need to do to do them differently this year?
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: And then there's a section about family.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: It's called reunion roadmap.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: I actually list even like scripts for starting conversations with your family so that you can all get on the same page with expectation and kind of coach you through just what we do with our family trip habits.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: We've been doing it for a couple of years.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Oh, I actually have a podcast that I did last year about it.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: I probably won't redo one, so I'll just link that.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: If you have experienced pain points from un-vocalized expectations or just some pain points around family visits, I have a podcast where I just kind of list my habits.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: But my ebook has the script and like makes you think through it a lot more.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: And then the last section of my ebook is about Advent.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: So it's like the fifth section and you get the free tracker regardless, but in the book I actually take you through walking really detailed, making a habit.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: What are you going to do Like some edits, some suggestions.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: There's like a page about that.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: But then I actually made again wanting my goal, my heart behind this habit is creating almost like the same experience that I've had for the last couple of years for the whole family, where it's?
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: We're not trying to remind ourselves to keep Jesus at the reason.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: It's this habit that has kept it there with, like, getting in scripture and remembering how much a part of the whole big story it is.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: So I went on YouTube and made an Advent video clip, cartoon calendar that corresponds with the reading we do, so my family will read it and then watch that video calendar.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And that video calendar is only available if people buy the book, but if you want just the free Advent tracking reading, that's just totally free.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: And then I actually made a little support, a private Facebook support group, because I need to check in whenever I'm doing something new and it feels like a big shift.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: It's like turning a.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: I always think of an airship.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: I forget those, I'm clearly not in the Navy at all, but the aircraft carrier, that's it.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: It's like if they're going to turn an aircraft carrier, it's not this like slight pivot, it's not like turning your bike, it's like this slow motion.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: So whenever I do something big like that, I'm like I want to do it with people, because I know I'm way more likely to find success with accountability and I have my hands in the air right now because I really mean it.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: So the accountability group for Advent and then also the video Advent calendar is what is available only with the purchase of my ebook, but the tracker's free.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: So, anyways, I hope that's helpful.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: The point of this episode was to talk about how keeping Jesus' reason for the season is so much tied with awareness of how this season fits into the redemption story and how, almost like hyper-focusing on this climax, this epic plot twist that changed everything for us, and realizing how just a simple, easy way to do that with your whole family is doing the Advent reading for the 24 days leading up to Christmas.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: It's just December 1st to the 24th.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Again, really short sections.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: That's for free in the show notes, but I was hoping that this episode there'd be a few of us doing it together, knowing that, oh like I think the idea sometime of hopes for your family versus a reality.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: I think the bridge from what I'm hoping happens to actually what really happens there needs to be a habit, there needs to be an application, and that's the.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: So my hope is that, in between the hope for your holiday and the actual what happens is this little advent habit, which anybody can do with my little free tracker, because I want our whole family to experience the awareness, the gift that Jesus was for us.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, have a great day everybody.