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Sarah Stokes: Feel Deeply, Love Deeply · Why I Believe

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome back to another episode of why I believe today I have my dear friend with me, Sarah Stokes.
• 0:09
  Sarah, can you give us a brief introduction of you and why you decided to be on the podcast with us today?
• 0:14
  Well, sure.
• 0:15
  I'm always here for a human following their heart and their call on their heart.
• 0:22
  so Michelle, it's awesome that you are.
• 0:24
  And I am like, whatever I can do to support you and help others feel the love that
• 0:32
  I believe we all want to carry as a Christian.
• 0:36
  I'm here for it.
• 0:37
  So that's why I want to do this and who I am.
• 0:40
  am Sarah.
• 0:41
  I am a business owner, have been for 12 years before that.
• 0:45
  I was a TV news lady in people's living rooms for 17 some years.
• 0:50
  Mom of two, my husband and I have been married 20 years and I get to live my dream through my business and motherhood and faith walk.
• 1:01
  as well as literally live in my dream place, in the woods, on the water, and in the beautiful state of Wisconsin.
• 1:10
  like life is full of joy for me.
• 1:13
  And that's what I'm really here to embody and try to do more of is live more joyfully.
• 1:20
  Awesome.
• 1:20
  Well, congratulations on 20 years.
• 1:22
  That is not for the faint of heart.
• 1:25
  ah
• 1:28
  Since you brought up marriage and since it's 20 years, do you have any advice for those people who are young and younger in their marriage?
• 1:34
  m And how has God played a role in that keeping you guys together for so long?
• 1:41
  um Giving a lot over to God and also knowing what's in our control, what's not in our control.
• 1:50
  uh My favorite quick prayer in crisis is God, don't know, but you do please help.
• 1:56
  Amen.
• 1:57
  And then come in handy.
• 1:59
  Yeah, God, I don't know, but you do.
• 2:01
  Please help.
• 2:03
  Because I think as a, know, Midwestern farm, farm family lineage, we forget we can ask for help.
• 2:11
  And so for sure in life that has come in handy, but also in marriage and advice wise, it's like, well, if I could rewind all the way.
• 2:22
  Chris would be like, Hey, wait a minute, hold slow down.
• 2:24
  Don't rewind all the way.
• 2:25
  What would have happened if you rewind all the way?
• 2:28
  I would just say to, to younger married folks is like, if you knew you couldn't change this human, cause we can't there, that's between them and God, right?
• 2:39
  Um, can you find a way to enjoy each other just as they are?
• 2:45
  And then any shift is a bonus because we have evolved both of us.
• 2:50
  He did not marry.
• 2:51
  who I am today.
• 2:52
  I didn't marry who he is today.
• 2:54
  Thankfully those paths are working.
• 2:57
  They don't always.
• 2:58
  I mean, if you'd have done this podcast with me three years ago, I'd been like, we're in a bit of a crisis friend.
• 3:05
  But like, I believe he believes we are traveling to the same place, right?
• 3:09
  We both want what's best for our family.
• 3:14
  uh
• 3:16
  Thankfully all of our values really do align.
• 3:19
  It's just those personality clashes where I'm like, he is his own human.
• 3:24
  am my own human.
• 3:25
  Golden rule helps a ton.
• 3:28
  Truly like, all right, how would I want him to show up for me right now?
• 3:31
  How do, how can I show up for him?
• 3:33
  And not a lot of grace.
• 3:37
  A lot of grace, a of grace, lot of grace and humor and humor.
• 3:41
  laugh, we laugh through so much and
• 3:46
  We cry through a lot too, but we laugh through most of it, which helps a lot.
• 3:50
  Yeah.
• 3:50
  And you know, I think you said something that's truly really important to say out loud again, is that three years ago, the answer would have been different.
• 3:59
  And I think, I think a lot of younger folks think that marriage is a big rom-com and a big love story.
• 4:06
  And it is, it truly is in a long game, but it is a long game.
• 4:10
  And you know, Mike and I have been married almost 18 years, right?
• 4:13
  And it's
• 4:14
  It's the daily intention of choosing to stay together, choosing your person over and over again, right?
• 4:21
  Because it's not going to be easy.
• 4:23
  There's going to be those bumps in the road.
• 4:25
  And having God in that relationship with you is really important because God is love, right?
• 4:31
  And so he is part of that relationship too.
• 4:34
  And he helps keep everybody on the same path.
• 4:39
  Yeah.
• 4:39
  Right.
• 4:40
  And so think it's, I think it really is important to point out that it's not always
• 4:43
  flowers and candy and roses and there's hard days and there's days that you don't like each other.
• 4:50
  Yeah.
• 4:50
  You know, I'm like, don't like you today.
• 4:51
  I still love you, but I don't like you.
• 4:54
  And that's super important because it's not always going to be a walk in the park.
• 4:57
  It's not.
• 4:58
  And remembering like, just like the relationship with ourselves, it evolves and it's like, yeah, I'm, I'm getting to know me in this era of my life of
• 5:10
  I also need to get to know you in your era, but the more work I do on myself with Christ, it helps my marriage, honestly.
• 5:21
  It doesn't mean I excuse bad behavior from myself or him, but the more and more I learn to love me, the more I actually relax into loving him.
• 5:33
  So, and that's probably true for the relationship with God too.
• 5:36
  It's the more and more I relax into loving me.
• 5:40
  the more more open space I create to let Christ light in.
• 5:45
  Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 5:47
  So how has God and Jesus, how have they played a role in your life in these more recent years and to the Sarah that I know versus Sarah from beyond?
• 5:58
  Whoa.
• 5:59
  So, so if you would have met me in my early days, you would have seen me gold star chasing and that started in three year old Sunday school.
• 6:07
  You know, those shiny metallic gold stars they put on attendance charts.
• 6:11
  Your girl was hooked.
• 6:13
  And I just, I think that's part of, know, who I am and what, what I'm about.
• 6:19
  But I remember wanting to get it right in Sunday school.
• 6:22
  And then I wanted to get it right by teaching Sunday school.
• 6:25
  And I wanted to like be the most, the best good girl you've ever met.
• 6:32
  Right.
• 6:33
  Aside from teenage life and.
• 6:36
  and rebelling and all of that.
• 6:38
  But the spirit didn't truly sink in, because it was more, I didn't know any better, but performative Christianity, that's kind of like, we went through the motions.
• 6:52
  I was in that Sunday school seat every single week.
• 6:55
  ah My parents were committed to making sure I got there.
• 7:02
  But looking back, I'm like, I didn't, I was just trying to get it right.
• 7:07
  And now I'm like, actually in it to win it with, with Jesus and in a different way where it does not look like anybody else's.
• 7:17
  It does not, it does not look like gold star chasing for me anymore.
• 7:21
  I'm not going to win the Bible Olympics.
• 7:24
  Michelle asked me like, what's your favorite verse in my prose?
• 7:28
  like, Oh, I know what I want to express.
• 7:31
  I'm not going to win any, like, mm-mm, I'm not going to win at anything, but it doesn't matter because I am actually walking with God now in a way that has been unfolding for me
• 7:44
  for years.
• 7:45
  So I would say the shift happened um when it was time for me to make my own choice about a church home.
• 7:52
  When we finally got to put down roots, we traveled.
• 7:54
  I was a weekend news anchor.
• 7:56
  Sunday church was not available.
• 7:58
  I was working.
• 7:59
  Right.
• 8:00
  And so when we...
• 8:01
  down roots in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and actually had our weekends off for the first time in decades, we got to choose and that's when it's like, what do I want to choose?
• 8:12
  And then when we bring babies into the world, what experience do I want them to have and how do I want to introduce God to them?
• 8:22
  So the Sarah you know now is a woman who is choosing.
• 8:26
  She's choosing to have this very alive fluid
• 8:30
  evolving curious relationship, that's mine alone.
• 8:37
  I'm not going to pass any purity tests on if I'm in the pew every week.
• 8:41
  I'm not, and I'm not dissing those who do.
• 8:44
  have so much respect, but, literally like my life has led me an hour away from my church.
• 8:51
  So we have to drive a half hour to get to church.
• 8:55
  Not a problem.
• 8:56
  We do it.
• 8:57
  And
• 8:58
  I'm in this like, okay, sir, if it's just between you and God, how do you want to show up?
• 9:04
  Phase, you know what I mean?
• 9:06
  And so that causes me a little bit of Lutheran guilt because I used to be that lady, right?
• 9:13
  All the committees, all the things.
• 9:16
  And now I'm like, okay, but if it's really about who I am as a human and how I show up on this planet at this time, I feel like I'm, passing my own test.
• 9:26
  I'm my own test with God.
• 9:28
  Yeah.
• 9:29
  Yeah.
• 9:30
  That's so important because you you said you may not be the peer every weekend, but our relationship isn't going to be perfect because we are human and are not perfect.
• 9:42
  We are sinners.
• 9:42
  We're not going to get it right every time.
• 9:44
  And I don't think he expects us to, right?
• 9:46
  I think the key is we're making that choice again, that word, right?
• 9:50
  We've talked about it with marriage and talking about it now with God, right?
• 9:52
  We're making that choice to have that relationship.
• 9:56
  And every relationship is different, whether it's your marriage, your friend, your relationship with God, it's all different.
• 10:02
  And Sarah, you I've been talking to a lot of people since this, since I was called to start this podcast.
• 10:08
  Some of them are going to be on the show.
• 10:09
  Some of them are not going to be on the show, but one thing is we made clear.
• 10:13
  They have made a choice.
• 10:16
  I have heard people talk about it.
• 10:17
  In fact, our first, my first guest on the show, she even said, I inherited my faith and then I chose it.
• 10:27
  And when we make that choice, it's a whole different relationship.
• 10:32
  It's a different ball game altogether when you make that choice.
• 10:36
  Yeah.
• 10:37
  And so I know you said that you're not in the pew every weekend.
• 10:39
  I get it.
• 10:40
  Like that's a drive and life and sports and schedules.
• 10:43
  Right.
• 10:43
  So I see that.
• 10:45
  But I also know that for you, church doesn't necessarily always have to be at a brick and mortar.
• 10:53
  Right.
• 10:54
  You, you experience
• 10:56
  the outdoors as part of your church.
• 10:58
  So why don't you tell us a little bit about that?
• 10:59
  Because I want people to understand that for, know, for me, I go to church, but I also see, I see it outside when I walk out my door.
• 11:07
  I see it when I'm sitting in my pew and the other week there happened to be a beaver on the waterfall behind the altar.
• 11:13
  Right?
• 11:13
  I mean, just things that you wouldn't see all the time.
• 11:16
  So yes, please enlighten us.
• 11:19
  Yeah.
• 11:20
  And I'm already crying because, um, churches every single morning outside my front door.
• 11:25
  bare feet on the snow or grass or moss if I'm lucky under probably a hundred and fifty year old white pine named Aggie I guess I have an emotional support tree but I look up
• 11:40
  literally to the heavens and I invite Christ light into my heart every single day and let me tell you that is beyond any experience that I ever have anywhere else
• 11:54
  It's like me in the wonder of the creation of the miracle.
• 11:59
  It's a living miracle every single day to be outside and seeing like nature is the it is my church and that's where I feel so full of love and uh that's where I feel like I'm like
• 12:20
  called up to be the human.
• 12:23
  I was
• 12:25
  called to be.
• 12:26
  That's where I get my courage and that's where I fall to my knees and everything in between.
• 12:32
  And so yeah, nature is the fastest way aside from song that I can connect to God.
• 12:40
  Like, wow.
• 12:42
  Because I love nothing more than minute by minute miracles.
• 12:46
  I don't care how small, I don't care how nerdy.
• 12:50
  If I'm the lady stopping to look at every mushroom, I am because it reminds me.
• 12:55
  of this, I mean, you can, it's awe inspiring how everything works together.
• 13:01
  And it's like, that's what reminds me how big God is and how we're, we're all here to be a small cog in the wheel.
• 13:11
  But also like when I connect that way and just invite Christ into my heart every single day, it keeps me in that right sized humility of, yeah, I'm
• 13:25
  I'm a child of God and I have a job to do and I'm also so small and I need help and all of the, all of the big feelings around it.
• 13:33
  So yeah, it's, it's heaven on earth for sure.
• 13:38
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:39
  Yeah.
• 13:44
  I wish, this is my wish for everyone is that the way you see nature is the way that we can see each other.
• 13:52
  Wow.
• 13:56
  Was that beautiful?
• 13:58
  I mean, you, you see nature and you appreciate it for what it is.
• 14:03
  Right.
• 14:03
  And you see that.
• 14:04
  And I really, truly hope, and this is my wish is that we can look at one another and see the heart of the person.
• 14:13
  and see the goodness in everybody because we're all brothers and sisters in Christ.
• 14:18
  You know, we all came from Adam and Eve, the original centers, right?
• 14:24
  And I think it's so important to give people grace because you don't know what they're going through.
• 14:29
  You don't know what happened five minutes before you walked into their life.
• 14:35
  We just have no idea.
• 14:36
  And somebody could be the nicest person in the world and you meet them on their worst day.
• 14:43
  and their worst moments, you're probably not going to get the best version of them.
• 14:48
  I can guarantee you probably wouldn't get the best version of me in that sense, right?
• 14:52
  But we have to truly understand that we can't judge people for the worst moment.
• 14:59
  I even, I'll go even farther to say like, really truly try not to judge people because God is love and he says, love thy neighbor.
• 15:08
  It says,
• 15:09
  God will come again to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
• 15:13
  Not Michelle is here to judge you to see what she thinks of you to see if you're going to go to heaven.
• 15:18
  That's not my place, right?
• 15:19
  That's not our job.
• 15:21
  That's not what we're here to do.
• 15:22
  We're here to love one another like Jesus loves us.
• 15:27
  Yeah.
• 15:27
  And I think it's so important that we remember that and we look at each other like you look at nature, Sarah, and like you see people.
• 15:36
  Right.
• 15:36
  And we see people for their good and their heart and for who they truly are and not judge them by their worst moments.
• 15:43
  Yeah.
• 15:44
  And I have to say, this is a good invitation for me because I'm like, wow, it's much easier to love a patch of moss than it is somebody I don't know.
• 15:55
  Or, you know, I want to think I'm that person all the time, but I am, like, Ooh, that's a, you are inviting me to a uh really great.
• 16:05
  opportunity for me to be like, how am I so much more inspired by nature?
• 16:11
  And how can I offer that to people?
• 16:14
  Thank you.
• 16:15
  Cause I do and I don't and I don't I'm like, Oh no, it's much easier for me to love a birch tree than it is my neighbor all the time.
• 16:26
  I'm sure.
• 16:27
  Right.
• 16:27
  The tree doesn't talk back.
• 16:29
  It doesn't.
• 16:30
  doesn't talk back.
• 16:32
  No, right.
• 16:32
  It doesn't look at you with content, right?
• 16:35
  It doesn't have other feelings.
• 16:37
  Right.
• 16:37
  And so super uncomplicated, uh super complicated.
• 16:42
  And you know, I'm not perfect.
• 16:43
  I get it wrong.
• 16:44
  I, like I said, I try and try is the key word there, but the more and more you do it, like I know in my head, I'll say like, Oh, seriously, you couldn't have just, and I'm like, no,
• 16:54
  Michelle, Nope.
• 16:56
  Stop.
• 16:56
  Just stop.
• 16:57
  Yeah.
• 16:58
  And you start to learn how to stop yourself.
• 17:00
  Yeah.
• 17:01
  And it's a beautiful thing.
• 17:02
  It really is.
• 17:05
  Now I want to get into this a little bit.
• 17:08
  So you had an experience that kind of changed you a little bit.
• 17:15
  Had some divine intervention in your life.
• 17:17
  Not too long ago.
• 17:19
  In fact, what was it?
• 17:19
  Was it last summer?
• 17:20
  Yeah.
• 17:22
  Yeah.
• 17:22
  yeah, June.
• 17:24
  Yeah.
• 17:24
  All right.
• 17:25
  So for those of you who ever been in a car accident, we're to talk about car accidents.
• 17:29
  uh
• 17:31
  And we're going to go there.
• 17:32
  if you need to turn off, I understand.
• 17:34
  If you want to stay to see what happened with Sarah, please do.
• 17:38
  All right, Sarah, why don't you tell us about that day?
• 17:42
  Well, and I know you know.
• 17:47
  Michelle asked a good question getting ready for today and it was like, how has there been a moment?
• 17:52
  And I'm like, ooh, lots of moments.
• 17:54
  um And I think what is sinking in real deeply right now is how close I came to not being here.
• 18:05
  ah June 5th, my son and I were on the way to the dentist.
• 18:11
  Normal, like I had just left a stop sign.
• 18:15
  And I could not see a car barreling at us.
• 18:17
  Could not see it.
• 18:18
  There was a huge power pole in the way.
• 18:21
  I couldn't see it.
• 18:22
  Thankfully I was only going, creeping out from a stop sign, right?
• 18:27
  But we crashed and I think about a millisecond later it would have been over, lights out for me.
• 18:36
  And I don't know what would have happened to my son.
• 18:39
  And I don't know what would happen to the other driver.
• 18:40
  um This was...
• 18:44
  best case scenario, close call.
• 18:48
  And it was still pretty hard on everybody, even though we all walked away.
• 18:53
  It was scary.
• 18:56
  So we had enough of an impact.
• 19:01
  Airbags were off, uh ambulances, the whole thing.
• 19:05
  And it was obviously upsetting and obviously like, thank God.
• 19:12
  These kids are okay because the other driver was 16 and I couldn't figure it out.
• 19:17
  needed to figure it out, right?
• 19:18
  My brain wanted to figure out what happened.
• 19:20
  How could it have happened?
• 19:22
  How did I not see him?
• 19:24
  How, how could this be possible?
• 19:25
  And then there's a cop interviewing me and all I remember is the, to not trigger anybody.
• 19:33
  I just remember the chemical airbag haze and my son saying, what just happened?
• 19:41
  And I said,
• 19:42
  We were in a crash and I had to be so procedural to get through the actual like process of getting the cars out of the way and making sure the other kid was okay.
• 19:54
  But when his mom rolled up, all I could do was fall apart in her arms because I almost had to hug her for a different reason.
• 20:04
  And I didn't even think about how close I came until honestly weeks later because I had two kids in the situation.
• 20:12
  My son's 14 at the time and her son was 16 and it was just mom to mom heartbreak for this scary thing that happened.
• 20:21
  I'm so grateful to God that no one was killed or hurt worse.
• 20:28
  But as I like got distance from the tactical and the thank God the boys are okay.
• 20:34
  It was like, my goodness.
• 20:37
  I was spared that day.
• 20:39
  I don't know how.
• 20:40
  I don't know why, because you know, when we're dealing with something frustrating or hard or, um, I'm having trouble even looking up.
• 20:49
  Um, I was mortified that I'm such a good driver, right?
• 20:55
  And then how could this have happened?
• 20:56
  And is it my fault?
• 20:58
  And so I had to deal with all of that tactical stuff, at maybe month two, I was like, it hit me.
• 21:06
  like, I really could have, I mean, it was within a hair.
• 21:11
  And I'm like, okay.
• 21:13
  That was my wake up call again, that this life is short and it is a gift and we better make sure they were doing everything we can to bring love and joy into it because.
• 21:28
  It could be a whole different story.
• 21:30
  And for many people it is every day.
• 21:32
  As you know, you've been through how many brushes with death.
• 21:36
  And it's like, not everybody gets to go home at night.
• 21:39
  And so if we do, how can we make this world worth living in?
• 21:44
  You know?
• 21:45
  Sorry.
• 21:47
  So, um, that question really brought it home again, like, whoa, I want to make sure that I am.
• 21:56
  expanding into what this gift is every day.
• 21:59
  And I, we get caught up in the laundry and the blah, blah.
• 22:02
  But it's like, when we get to have these conversations, it's like, Whoa, Michelle, we're here.
• 22:07
  So what are we going to do with it?
• 22:10
  You know?
• 22:11
  Absolutely.
• 22:12
  pastor Kregel Schell said this at a time when I needed it, came into my world.
• 22:17
  And he said, if you're still here, you're not done.
• 22:22
  God still has a reason for you.
• 22:25
  And I can't remember after which, you mentioned, Brush with Death, was, but it really just kind of put that into perspective.
• 22:31
  Like there's still a reason.
• 22:32
  I may not know what that reason was and I did it at the time, right?
• 22:36
  I'm figuring it out now, right?
• 22:40
  But I didn't know.
• 22:42
  And really it's how do you, and anytime we encounter something like this, we don't walk away from it or hobble or whatever that looks like.
• 22:53
  the same person we were right before that accident.
• 22:57
  Yeah.
• 22:58
  You are truly a different person.
• 23:01
  And I think, and you know, you're still crying about it.
• 23:03
  I'm crying about it.
• 23:04
  Cause I feel the feels.
• 23:06
  And I think people forget that at some point, and you said you were talking like two months down the road, we actually have to grieve that person that once was because we're
• 23:16
  not that same person anymore.
• 23:18
  That person is gone.
• 23:20
  This person has evolved.
• 23:23
  Right?
• 23:23
  And you may or may not walk out with the same, all the same equipment or you might have new equipment put in or whatever.
• 23:30
  ah But you are different.
• 23:33
  And I think people don't realize, you know, I got to say, I didn't realize it before my car accident.
• 23:41
  how people were like still talking about a car accident like months ago that weren't necessarily injured, you know, or that didn't have something horrific happen, you know,
• 23:53
  thankfully.
• 23:53
  Yeah.
• 23:54
  But it really does take a toll on you.
• 23:56
  Yeah.
• 23:58
  Mentally, emotionally, sometimes physically.
• 24:00
  All the above, right?
• 24:03
  Yeah.
• 24:04
  Yeah.
• 24:04
  And I have to say, um even though it was
• 24:11
  like shocking the next thing after the airbags were angels.
• 24:16
  Out of the literal smoke, there were people all of a sudden helping us from every angle.
• 24:25
  They came out of the apartments, they came out of their cars and everybody was held.
• 24:29
  Everybody was like, it was unbelievable.
• 24:32
  And then poof, they were all gone.
• 24:35
  The ladies who handed us water, cause it was a really hot day.
• 24:38
  They stayed for like another little bit, but everybody else.
• 24:41
  was like, they were just these angels that popped in and popped out and I never got to thank them.
• 24:48
  Cause they just came out of the smoke, helped us out.
• 24:51
  Called 911 and uh.
• 24:55
  Yeah, I wasn't the same.
• 24:57
  also like, holy smokes, angels are real.
• 25:01
  You know, I know they were actual humans, but they were earth angels that day.
• 25:06
  uh, yeah, you aren't the same person and the opportunity to go to, like fear or woe is me was there because yeah, injury.
• 25:21
  surfaced after my nervous system settled down enough for me to realize like my neck wasn't right.
• 25:27
  You know, um, and just the journey of that is wild too, but like, I'm grateful for this chance to review it with you.
• 25:35
  Cause it's not something I get to, I haven't talked to, I wasn't even ready to talk about it.
• 25:40
  Um, and then like you said, not, not everybody understands either.
• 25:46
  It's just weird.
• 25:48
  Yeah, it is.
• 25:49
  Uh huh.
• 25:50
  Or it's a
• 25:51
  I don't know, my husband, I think, thinks it's oh like a punchline now.
• 25:56
  He's like, well, I've never been in a crash if I'm correcting his driving.
• 25:59
  And I'm like, wow.
• 26:01
  Thanks, dude.
• 26:02
  Yeah.
• 26:03
  You know, like, mm I'm like, we're not actually doing that again.
• 26:06
  That's actually really not funny because it does.
• 26:10
  It changes you.
• 26:10
  And it was awful.
• 26:12
  Not helpful, not helpful, not helpful, not helpful.
• 26:16
  And he's like, sorry, I didn't, you know, didn't mean it like that.
• 26:18
  But yeah.
• 26:20
  you don't get it until, unfortunately, hopefully you never have to get it.
• 26:25
  Yeah.
• 26:25
  And one of the things that comes with that is PTSD, right?
• 26:28
  And so, um, you may be fine for so long and then something happens and all of a sudden you know, you're not sleeping.
• 26:37
  Yeah.
• 26:38
  And so it comes out of nowhere sometimes Sarah.
• 26:40
  So just be, be prepared for that.
• 26:42
  Thank you.
• 26:43
  Yeah.
• 26:44
  It's not fun, but you see something sometimes.
• 26:47
  You know, I really appreciate when you were writing this down that you're like trigger warning.
• 26:52
  I, that's great because I think people don't realize certain things can trigger.
• 26:57
  And that's why I made that announcement before we started talking about it, just in case they needed to, they weren't ready for that conversation.
• 27:03
  So, cause it's hard.
• 27:06
  Yeah.
• 27:06
  And I didn't get that until I got it.
• 27:08
  Honestly.
• 27:09
  Yeah.
• 27:09
  Yeah.
• 27:10
  Well, I mean, in news, I covered how many.
• 27:13
  Right.
• 27:14
  And I.
• 27:15
  you know, I don't want to be that lady that was like, Oh, another crash.
• 27:19
  Let's go get footage.
• 27:20
  It's a life changer.
• 27:22
  Yeah.
• 27:23
  And until you're, I mean, that's just unfortunately part of the human condition is you don't get it until you get it.
• 27:29
  Sometimes you have compassion, but I'm like, Whoa, each fender bender even changes someone, you know?
• 27:37
  So I'm like, woof, big giant hugs to every single person who's been through that.
• 27:44
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:46
  All right, Sarah.
• 27:48
  Well, as we wrap this up, would love to know, is there anything that you would like our listeners to know today?
• 27:54
  What is one message you want to share with them?
• 28:03
  Honestly, I think the
• 28:06
  thing I could ask is that people actually make room for the hard feelings and grieve.
• 28:14
  Grieve feel the pain because what it does is it actually makes room in our heart and we might feel like we've been through it and through it and through it and the pain is so
• 28:23
  much but we got to feel it because those are the like those are the moments we our heart gets even bigger even though it feels like it can't
• 28:33
  And that's why I specifically talk about inviting Christ into my heart, because that's where the pain lives.
• 28:39
  And that's where I'm like, I would like more and more love to live.
• 28:44
  it, isn't mutually exclusive.
• 28:47
  So we think about how much grief or pain we've had and like it, it has to live alongside the joy.
• 28:53
  if we can feel, feel more, if we can feel more, which Americans, are the worst at letting ourselves actually have feelings because we're such
• 29:03
  soldier on right if we can feel more it makes more room for joy and love and God and all of the above so that would be my biggest prayer for all of us is that we can feel and make
• 29:18
  room feel and make room and do it again and again again because our hearts have a lot of capacity as you know a lot of capacity for miracles so
• 29:32
  Yeah, I hope that makes sense because that that's just what's coming to mind is can we feel deeply so we can love deeply?
• 29:43
  Feel deeply, love deeply.
• 29:45
  I love it, Sarah.
• 29:46
  All right.
• 29:47
  With that, let's take you into the last thing of the day.
• 29:49
  And what is your favorite Bible verse?
• 29:52
  Okay.
• 29:53
  So right alongside nature, what gets me closest to God is song.
• 29:57
  And so if you are next to me in the pew,
• 30:01
  I'm singing, I'm singing, I'm singing, and then I'm probably crying and crying and crying because song activates God in every cell of my body.
• 30:11
  So when Michelle's like, okay, how about a Bible verse?
• 30:14
  And I'm like, okay, it's gotta be make a joyful noise because uh I think music is a conduit to more uh closeness with God.
• 30:25
  it would be Psalm 98 for, I had to look it up because remember I wasn't passing Bible Olympics.
• 30:31
  But sing a joyful song unto the Lord or make a joyful noise that one because wow does that just like snap me right into just true gratitude for this faith walk is song and yeah so I
• 30:48
  hope that I hope that sparks a song in someone's heart today.
• 30:54
  Sarah thank you so much for being here today I appreciate you taking time out of your day to share your faith.
• 30:59
  your story, your choices that you make day in and day out.
• 31:03
  And I am so grateful to call you one of my friends and I hope you have a very blessed day.
• 31:08
  I feel the same about you.
• 31:09
  Thank you for doing this.
• 31:11
  Thank you for the opportunity for those of us getting the gift to talk about this.
• 31:16
  And thanks for letting me cry it out with you.
• 31:20
  Thanks Sarah.