Latest / The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast / Trusting God with the Ones You Love |a conversation with author and speaker Jodie Berndt

Transcript

Trusting God with the Ones You Love |a conversation with author and speaker Jodie Berndt · The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast

0:17
SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, welcome back to the Simply Wholehearted Podcast.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: And if you are new here, we are so glad you've joined us.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Ashley Pittman and I, Amy Wicks, are your hosts of the Simply Wholehearted Podcast.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: We believe we are all on a journey to live out the mission to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and spirit.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to inspire and equip you to live unplugged, purposeful, and intentional in every season of life.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: We hope to encourage you by sharing stories of friends, new and old alike, who are living out their calling and purpose with passion.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Thanks to our friends from Enter the Worship Circle, Ben Pazley and Carla Adolph, who have been so kind to share their song, Heavenly Things, from their album down here and up above.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Be sure and follow them for their latest releases and profound thoughts at entertheworshipcircle.com and all things social.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: During this first month of the year, the six fantastic women from last season's Unseen Journey group are back together.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: We are taking three weeks to dive into our individual stories and insights to how we begin each new year.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: So often we approach New Year's Day with the thought that we should have it all figured out.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: These amazing life-changing resolutions, words other people seem to be talking about, and it's a lot of pressure for just one day.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: And to top it all off, it's after just getting done with weeks of travel celebrations and expending ourselves in so many different ways.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: But what if instead we allow ourselves some time to ease into the new year?
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Giving ourselves to prayer and fasting, quiet spaces to wait on the Lord for his word for a year, and even allowing ourselves to sit a while to dream his dreams.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: We are inviting you to join us for three weeks into a new year.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: This week we are talking about finding your word for the year.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: I even put together some questions to ask yourself in this finding your word thing is new to you.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Hop on over to the Simply Wholehearted Facebook page to download or click in the show notes to get your copy.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: We hope to have you follow along with us, asking your questions, sharing your testimonies, and your words you'll be discovering these next few weeks.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Today's guest is my new friend Jodi Burnt.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: I've benefited from having a few conversations with her, getting to know her heart for prayer, and the women she writes for and serves in her community.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: She is a Southern Kinder Spirit Torah, Ashley, and is all about pursuing joy, celebrating grace, and living on purpose.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: She is still crazy in love with her four-grown kids and her husband of many years.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: She is truly as beautiful on the inside as on the outside.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: Her newest book is about praying for your adult children, but it also happens to be sort of a sneaky parenting book, both for the parents of adult children and adult children to better understand and pray for their parents.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm currently reading through and taking a ton of notes on one of her books previous to this, Praying the Scriptures for Your Children.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: She shares how to pray specifically and expectantly for their faith, character, safety, relationships, and future.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: And through the encouragement of True Life Stories, you'll gain new biblical perspective on God's purposes for your family.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Also, next week, be looking on our social media sites for a giveaway of Jodi's newest book.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: And even though we are just past holiday gift giving season, I imagine our parents or in-laws would always be happy to get a gift from us.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: And this book is a perfect gift to send their way.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's our conversation with Jody Burt.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm so glad you are joining us today and we're getting this in.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad we figured out the technology yesterday.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: So this felt easy, hopefully, and um we're like we're just excited because both of us are mamas.
4:02
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: Ashley has an older dollar, daughter, dollar has an older daughter in college.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but then she has three kids, my kids' age, so right there in upper elementary.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: And so she she understands praying for your adult children and praying for your children.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: And then we're about to enter those teen years again here shortly.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: So we're about to re-enter those.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:31
SPEAKER_02: My oldest daughter just left them and now we're about to go back in.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, you're you're much more ready then, right?
4:38
SPEAKER_02: I hope so.
4:38
SPEAKER_02: She's hoping so.
4:39
SPEAKER_02: I hope so.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: These, yes, they're all so different though.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's very true.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna look different.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: And I just get to watch and learn and be nice.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Nice to have a partner that you can watch.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: I love being the guinea pig for all all of my friends seem to be younger than me.
4:56
SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: I feel like they're all more mature than me, but younger, and they're all watching.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, maybe you shouldn't be watching me over here.
5:03
SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure.
5:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh I don't know.
5:05
SPEAKER_02: But my oldest daughter, she turned out she's a great.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: So she really is.
5:10
SPEAKER_02: I take I don't take credit, but she's fabulous.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: Anyways.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: But I always wanted an older sister, so I am always looking for.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: I can't say maybe I didn't always want a big sister, but when I knew it was good for me, I've wanted a big, you know, older sister.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: And so I love it.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: I love having you, Jody, in my life and Ashley in my life, and so many others that I'm like, tell me, give me your wisdom.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that the truth?
5:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh funny.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: That's the first time anybody's ever really described me in that way.
5:38
SPEAKER_02: Older sister-like.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, totally.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: We could, it would work.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna talk about all your books.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: I want a little bit of history too, because um, we got to have a long phone chat.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it was at the beginning of this month because we were talking about podcasts and book study.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Right.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: Because you just had to like cram in a quick book study for your new book releasing um in December.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: So this podcast is gonna air um in January.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: I think that's right, because we were totally booked.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna air in January.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna talk about the book that released last month.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So December 5th, right?
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Is that when it officially is the release?
6:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: And that one is gonna be praying scriptures for your adult children.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Now, I know you have um you have four kiddos.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Is that okay?
6:34
SPEAKER_00: And they what are their ages now?
6:36
SPEAKER_01: Okay, oh gosh, you know, I'm sorry.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: I feel like the person who says, you know, I know I have four children.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: Can we complete it there?
6:43
SPEAKER_01: Right.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let me think.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: The eldest is gonna be 22 by the he's turning 22 next week, or the youngest.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: The youngest, sorry.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: So so ages 22 to 28 is what they will be in January.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, wow.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: That's so you packed four kids in in a short amount of time.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we had four kids in six years, and then we have two sons-in-law now.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: So now we have six kids in six years, which is really fun.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's awesome.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: So you have some true experience to write from in these.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: When did you start writing the books?
7:15
SPEAKER_00: And when did you even think about this?
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Because I know you lived it out for a while.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: But what's the shift to record?
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Let me just ask you, we're not recording, right?
7:22
SPEAKER_01: We're just chat chatting.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, we're re we're recording.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: No, we're not.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: We're recording.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: We record from the beginning.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: I thought I told you we do these soft starts.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: But but we can also I'm the editor, so if there's something you want to say that you want edited, I can just do a little snip job and it'll never notice.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're so funny.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: No, seriously, like I thought you did a um, you know, a hello, here we are kind of thing.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: No, this is it.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: This is what we just ease in.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: It makes it so much more comfortable, and then you don't feel like that.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Ashley, you poor thing.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: What a mess we've made for you.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: But that's all.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, this is all fun.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And people really love, I really like I love it, and others really enjoy the authentic conversation.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: We cannot be perfect.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: I just cannot live to that and I cannot achieve that.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So we just more go, okay, we're having coffee and we're sitting around and we're sharing our coffee chats because perfect.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: I do have coffee in one hand and water in the other.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: I do have my coffee.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: And then we do have our, you know, mm-maestro editor here.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: That is perfect.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: That is great.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: Well, thank many thanks to you both.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you'll have to remind me then of whatever we were talking about.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: No, you're good.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to know, I wanted to know.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you've written three books and the third one, is that right?
8:41
SPEAKER_00: Three books and the third one is releasing.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, three three books about praying for your children.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so yes, I've written um, I guess nine books either on by myself or with other people.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, but these, the ones about praying for your children are the ones that I'm really most passionate about.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: My stepdad was so cute.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: He said, Well, because praying and children are the best, you know?
9:01
SPEAKER_01: And I thought that's really true.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: So you've written or co-written over nine books, but your top picks here are praying the scriptures for your children.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: And you have praying the scriptures for your children, praying the scriptures for your teen, and then December 5th, um, you released Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know Sarah Hagerty heartedly endorsed it um to me and then to others when we were sharing books to read and books to put on the Christmas wish list um for um last year.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Um so talk to us a little bit about your journey through that and what got you into writing.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: And I know you have a career in television too, but um, you also had four babies in there.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it kind of all jumbled in there.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: And just you mentioned Sarah, and she is just my absolute hero, and I absolutely am crazy about her books, love unseen.
9:52
SPEAKER_01: So what a big treat that is, and I'm so grateful to have you interview her as well.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, so the praying the scriptures journey uh began sort of as so many things do, accidentally.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: I was praying for my children when they were young, you know, they were in first grade and under, and I was getting a little bit bored of my prayers, you know, help Hillary on her spelling test and let little Virginia feel better.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, golly, I hope God's not getting bored too, because these are starting to sound a little repetitive.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: And I started um, I was reading my Bible and I started seeing things in there that seemed like they would be really good um prayers, you know, clothes, clothe my children with compassion out of Colossians or those kind of things.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: So I began um praying that way and loving to see how that sort of re-energized my own prayer life.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And also God seemed to be doing some great things.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: So um I started, I asked some of my friends, I said, you know, what would you want God to do for your family?
10:51
SPEAKER_01: And when they would tell me, you know, what they wanted, they'd want their kids to be uh kinder to each other or selfless or have wisdom or you know be healthy.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: And I would look up in the Bible and find verses that matched, and I began to realize, oh my goodness, scripture speaks to every need that we have.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: So that year it was uh coming up on Christmas time, and this was before email or anything fancy like that.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: And so in our Christmas cards, I put a survey to everybody we knew, and I said, if God, if you could ask God to do anything for your family, what would it be?
11:21
SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, included my address for them to mail it back, and then I'd hand the same survey out in the preschool carpal line.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: People thought I was a stalker.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: I'd be like, it's also something to fill out.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: And what was really neat is I wound up getting more than a hundred back, and I took the top 20 concerns, you know, things like I've mentioned before, character traits like wisdom and compassion, but also things like sibling relationships and relationships with teachers and coaches or a sense of purpose in life.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: Or I even met uh heard from a couple of moms of really young children who were praying and wanted God to give their kids a good marriage partner, which I thought, wow, you know, your child is four, but what a great thing to start praying about.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's awesome.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: So I took I took those survey results and um used them, pick the top 20 to make the table of contents for the first book, praying the scriptures for your children.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: And that one kind of takes people through all ages because there are prayers in there for your child's management of time and money and a sense of purpose in life and what they'll do when they grow up.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: So it really spans the ages.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, but that that was that was that first one.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love it.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, I've been reading that one um because it's really what is applicable to me right now.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: And um, I remember and I I don't I I guess I don't want to compare too much, but I did get um the Stormy O'Martin books about praying for your kids when I was pregnant with my first one.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, like 12 years ago.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: And um I've I've read through that, but I feel like your book and the way you pray through it, it just um it's a little less form formulaic and it it just gets to the heart of the matter too, even where like I'm wrestling through the scripture a little bit more and I'm praying for it, and it's it's just bringing to mind some different um just a different perspective of prayer and the way I've even thought about the promises of God and even what is it that I want for my kids and how I frame how I even frame conversation with them.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, and you know, Stormy is amazing.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: She's just a hero for uh for younger moms.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: Um but when I started writing, I was looking for other books on prayer, and I did find that a lot of them were very um theological in nature, great content, but as a young mom, I kind of just wanted somebody in the trenches with me, and certainly our kids gave me plenty of fodder, both good and bad.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: And um and so I just wanted something that was a little more um user-friendly, like, hey, I hear you, I get you, I'm in this too.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: We're all in this together.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: And so that's where that kind of came from.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love it.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's really, really good.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, what were some of the things um that you did pray for your children when they were young before you really, you know, made this a little bit more of a written process?
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I I I uh I giggle because people will say, you know, what do you most remember praying when your kids were little?
14:14
SPEAKER_01: And of course that was a long time ago, and my memory is not really good.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: But honestly, I think our biggest need, we had three girls and then a boy.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: And so the um the challenges in our house or any kind of squabbles tended to be more verbal than physical, at least until our son got older and began, you know, learning how to use his sword and things like that.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: But um, but earl early on, you know, we really struggled.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: And I put myself right in there with them, um, but with our words, and we'd we'd get in the car and you know, it'd be a fight about who's sitting where.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: It just I know we just had those this morning.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: I know.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: I remember my father-in-law and mother-in-law, they came to babysit our children one weekend when we were out of town, and we got back and he said, Um, you know, Jody, we got in the car and the kids were just fighting about where they were gonna sit and who got the best seat and this and that.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: And I said, if that if grandma and I were gonna be staying longer, we would not have any of this.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: We'd get this settled.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: And your daughter, my daughter Virginia looked at him and said, Well, Pop Pop, it's a good thing you're not staying any longer.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: I would pray.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: I would pray, and I'll tell you, I was so excited when I discovered Ephesians 4.29, which you may know.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: It says, Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what's helpful for building others up, that it might benefit those who listen.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, okay, you know what?
15:42
SPEAKER_01: We need talk that is helpful, that builds other people up according to their needs.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: It's what it says, and that it will benefit, be like a gift for people who listen.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: And so that was probably um, if not my daily prayer, it was certainly my weekly prayer for years as uh as we raised our family, just that we would be nice to each other.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: I have been saying too, that's been my mantra.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, it's been sometimes in the shortened version, is this building up or tearing down?
16:07
SPEAKER_00: But then when we have a little bit longer, is this helpful?
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Is it kind?
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Is it beneficial?
16:12
SPEAKER_00: And if we measured everything with those three words, oh man.
16:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I would have said I would probably probably would say a lot less.
16:19
SPEAKER_02: I certainly would have said the things I said in the car this morning with my children when I was frustrated and I was trying to bring some correction.
16:26
SPEAKER_02: But and I had to apologize.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, guilty.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: That's so hard.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: They they can pick it out.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we might have something beneficial to say, but is it kind?
16:47
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you should wait till later.
16:49
SPEAKER_02: Yes, then you're not frustrated.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: And it may be necessary, but is it kind?
16:53
SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's awesome.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Now, did you have um, and you talk it sounds like um your in-laws were some influence in your life, but did you have a good circle of friends, of mom friends that you could pray with and talk through these things?
17:07
SPEAKER_00: What did that look like for you?
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yes, I did, and you know what?
17:11
SPEAKER_01: I think that is so critical.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: You look through scripture and you see Daniel and his friends, you know, when he's with the king and you see Esther calling all the people to pray.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: And I know, I know we can go one-on-one with God, and there are definitely times to do that.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: But for moms and especially young moms who are just exhausted half the time, yeah, um, to have a circle, one, two, three, uh, of praying friends who will come alongside you in the good, the bad, and the ugly is just, I think, transformational.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: And we moved a lot.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, my husband's job took us all over the country.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: And every time we'd get to a new place, I became like a prayer partner stalker.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: I would sit in church and I would watch you if you were in front of me, and I'd think, oh, she looks good.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe she'd be pray with me.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Because I just want that's awesome.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: I wanted someone who could, you know, stand in the gap.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: And um and I'll tell you, you you all have probably heard of the organization Moms in Prayer.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: And I joined that and uh spent about 20 years doing that with our kids in school.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: Um their website, if anybody wants information, is momsinprayer.org, but they just meet once a week um for an hour and pray for their children and their children's schools and teachers.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's really prayer.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: It's not, you know, chatting about the upcoming football games or school concerns, it's prayer.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: And that for me was a lifeline that I knew every week I could come and these gals would lift up my kids, and and I just looked so forward to that.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's awesome.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Did now was that called Moms in Touch at one point?
18:39
SPEAKER_00: It used to be.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, I asked that.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: It it was moms in touch, yes.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I spent a lot of years with moms in touch, but at one point they decided to be a little more, I guess, obvious about who they were, and they changed it to moms in prayer.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's so good.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's a national organization.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: So yes, international.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: It's it's all over the world.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: Really oh wow, that's really awesome.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of I I see it as like the next step from Mops, um, where MOPS is a really great, you know, um aspect to connect, but then kind of that when your kids are at school and praying for them.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: That is that is so great.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: Now, did you have community um where did you end up looking for that community wherever you moved?
19:19
SPEAKER_00: You talked about having to move a lot because that that's really hard, I think, for a lot of people, especially today's day day and age.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Like we rely so heavily on social media for connection, we don't have true authentic uh connection and community.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Well, I do think you know, people get down on social media and me probably first of all, because I'm so stinky at it, but um you do just fine.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: It does, it does afford, you know, a connection, which I think is really kind of special.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Um sometimes with people you don't even know, you can sh share a prayer request and you feel like they're in it with you.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: But yes, that sort of face-to-face, I know you, I know your life stuff is I think irreplaceable.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: And whenever we moved, that would be um my first prayer request for me.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, we're all praying for our kids, but and I wanted my kids to have friends desperately, but I really wanted God to provide those for me too.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: And there's something about coming alongside somebody and having them say the name of your child to your heavenly father, and you think, I like that person, even if you don't know them, they might be a stranger, but your hearts are suddenly knit together.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: So that really is a great community.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: It's powerful.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Recently, um, I have a Voxer, a couple Voxer prayer groups, and um, one of them we've been going on for a while, and we decided a couple different months to focus on praying for each other's kids.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: And it was it was just really special to share some of those things that are usually your inside your head prayers, um, just between you and your father with people who were, you know, that you could trust, and then to hear them ask, Well, how is that child doing?
20:52
SPEAKER_00: And have you seen breakthrough?
20:54
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, you know, and to just how yeah, like pray for them by your name.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: It was really endearing and powerful.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: And I had no idea that that would be a result.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: It really is, and it also um I tell the story in one of the books, and I'm sorry, I don't remember which, but um when you are uh a mom of of younger kids, or teenagers too, you can find yourself, I think, um, getting discouraged, feeling like maybe something will never change.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: And I know we were there.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: Our son, um, as I said, he was a boy, we'd never had a boy before.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: He was a lot more physical than the girls.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: And it was the first time my husband and I had ever been called to the principal's office.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And it was because he would he would do things, and sometimes, you know, he would shove a kid, hit a kid, whatever.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: And there it got to the bee where I literally, and I'm not proud of this, but I thought, you know, I just don't even think I can pray for him anymore.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: I um feel like I'm just done.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: I was so exhausted.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And my prayer group said, you know what, take a break.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: We will pray for this child.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: And y'all, the transformation that happened over that year as they Prayed for him and and we did too.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: We hung in there.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, if you could see this young man now, he's certainly not perfect, but the Lord has really staked a flag in his life.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: Robbie's 21, he's walking with Jesus, and he's got his anger and his, you know, physical, all that stuff just really um under the spirit's control.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: And I really credit those women who I was ready to buy that kid a pack of cigarettes and set him out in the speech corner.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Oh God.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Because I just, you know, I figured that's where he's gonna wind up.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: So just let me cut out the middleman and put him out there now.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And yet, because they came alongside me, they gave me hope and encouragement, and God was faithful.
22:39
SPEAKER_02: So I just want to thank you for sharing that story.
22:42
SPEAKER_02: I feel personally encouraged because I have those talks with a child, and I'm like, you know, where this land's, you know, juvenile detention facility.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: Do you want to go there?
22:51
SPEAKER_02: You know, you're like, you know, it's yeah, it's real.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: You get in those moments and you're thinking, All hope is lost.
22:57
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: But it's good to hear that you A felt that way and B, he's thriving.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Right.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, well, thank you.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm grateful to the Lord and to my prayer partners.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: So well, okay, that kind of leads us right into your next book about praying for your teens.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there is quite a transition there.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: And what were some of the biggest transitions as you were praying for them during those years?
23:22
SPEAKER_00: And I know each one is different, but yeah, some of these.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: Each one is different.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that book was funny because I I wrote Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, intending, fully intending that to be a one and done.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, I put I put stuff in there, like I said, about their management of time and money, about their future job purpose and direction, about their marriage partner.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: And then my kids turned into teenagers and they started driving and they started dating.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: And I opened the book looking for these prayers, and I was like, what the heck?
23:50
SPEAKER_01: How did I not put a minute?
23:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm missing some stuff.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: I know.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, there's nothing in here about dating.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: So I had to go back to scripture and kind of start, you know, looking at those verses as well.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, in some ways, praying for and parenting teens is no different in that we serve the same faithful God who knows our children better than we do and can meet their needs better than we can.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: But in other ways, I think it is trickier because things may be a little more hidden.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: We might not know um everything we knew when they were little.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: They might confide in us less.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: Um they might not be with us as much as they used to be.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: You know, there were times when my kids were teenagers, I wasn't even sure where they were.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: Thank goodness now parents have find my phone or whatever.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: But right.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: All these GPS trackers.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:38
SPEAKER_02: Oh gosh, I got my eyes on you.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: I think the the real um beauty and and help at that point for me was relying on the Holy Spirit because I could say, you know, show me how to pray.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: And there were times when he would.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: And I could also say, you know, rely on that Romans 8 passage that says the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, you know what?
25:00
SPEAKER_01: I might not know everything my kids need, but God does, and he's praying for them.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is lifting them up and lifting me up.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: And so for me, um, I think the Holy Spirit became a real lifeline during the teen years of just saying, We gotta we gotta partner on this, because I don't know.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: There's a and also uh I love that in Chronicles where King David's surrounded by you know three different enemies, and he says, Oh Lord, we don't know what to do.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: And actually, it's not David, I'm messing up, it's probably Hezekiah, it's somebody.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: They look around and they say, they say, Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, okay, that's my teenager prayer right there.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what to do, Lord, but my eyes are on you.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: And he is so faithful.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that is a good one.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: How about talk to us about praying with your kids?
25:44
SPEAKER_00: And you know, these books are about praying for your kids, but how did you intertwine that?
25:49
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm pretty sure with your kids turning out the way they did, that was a key ingredient to your parenting.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: So just how did you approach that and what did that look like?
25:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a great question because I think there are a lot of parents who maybe didn't grow up in a household where prayer was super common or practiced.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: I have one cute younger mom friend who has been using my books, and she said, Jody, you know, I didn't grow up with this, and honestly, I felt like it was so awkward because I felt like praying was what the minister did.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: Um that's what we, you know, did silently.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: Or and she said, But I don't want my kids to grow up like that.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: So even though it feels really strange to me, I'm trying to pray with them.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: That's so good.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: And and I just thought that was precious.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, when our kids were little, um we had we tried to have morning family devotions.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: And before you like hang up and on me right now, let me just say here's what here's what happened.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Because my memory of that is just disastrous.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: Describe that.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: I felt like it was really important to model to them to begin the day just depending on Christ.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: But the reality of four kids in six years meant that nobody knew where their homework was or their shoes were or anything.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: Now, the blessing for us was that we lived on a cul-de-sac, so we could hear the school bus coming up the street and we knew it would turn around and come back to us.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: So that was our warning.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: And that was like that was like the call to prayer.
27:11
SPEAKER_01: We would yell, bus, and all the kids would run to the front door.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: And so when I say family devotions, I just want your listeners to know that anything, anything you can do is better than nothing.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: It's it's pointing your kids.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: So we would grab everyone and we would say, you know, walk with the king today, be a blessing.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: We would say, you know, if we knew something like a big test or a conflict with a friend or something was happening, we would pray for that.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: But we sent them out the door sort of with a I love you, Lord bless you.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times when they were young, that's what devotions looked like.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: And it was not a big deal, but it let them know, hey, we can talk to God anytime.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to get right to this perfect place and be in church and be holy.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: It's it's part of our daily conversation.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: Then as they got older and a little more able to manage their time, we would say, Hey, breakfast is served at seven, you know, get down the stairs, and we would try to have, and it still didn't get much better, maybe five or seven minutes, but read a little something from scripture, a little something from Jesus calling, a little something from another family devotion, just to sort of um start that day.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: And again, to model to them the doability of it, to make it be part of their habit so that as they grew, um, they would know that that's that's really where to begin.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: It's what you want to kind of honor in your day.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: And then um honestly though, I think a lot of the praying that we did, quote, with our kids wasn't even really with them.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: They might be, I would maybe leave an index card on their bed or tuck it in their book bag if there was something I was praying for them just to let them know.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'll tell you, uh kids might roll their eyes, and um I'm sure I did it my mother and my kids did it me, like, oh yeah, yeah, praying for me.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: But but I can't think of a greater blessing or comfort to a child than to know that their earthly parent is talking to their heavenly parent about their lives and what they need.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: And so even if they're rolling their eyes and they think, Mom, come on, I'm late, you know, just just that little card, that little, you know, I love you, and here's what I'm lifting out of scripture for you today, and be a blessing.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those are things that are are are you know building blocks in our kids' lives.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: And I think it opens the door sometimes to conversation that wouldn't otherwise happen because you know, some kids hesitate if they think like, oh, there won't be a solution for this, or they'll want to fix me, or but I think if we approach things more of well, I don't know the answer and I don't have the solution, but let's pray about it together and let's you know seek the Lord who does have the answer and the solution.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: And I just think sometimes it opens the opportunity for my kids or they share some things they wouldn't otherwise share.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'll tell you, um, I think one way too to build this into our kids, and I love that this is airing in January because it's a great thing to do around the first of the year.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: Um every year I would think about each of my kids when they were younger, and I still do that now.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: I've done this for maybe 20 years, and I would just kind of ask God to show me what their needs were, maybe physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, whatever.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: And then I would try to find one particular verse uh that would address that need.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: And when the kids were little, we would trace their hands on a piece of paper and I'd write that prayer, you know, right out there.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: When may Virginia be wise, shining like the brightness of the stars, you know, that from Daniel.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then as they're got older and their hands wouldn't fit on the paper, I'd, you know, make bookmarks for them or something.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: But I would do that every year and I'd lam laminate them.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And then the following Christmas or New Year's, we would pull the things out.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: And what was really cool was they then could see how God worked over the year in their life.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of times we say a prayer and we forget what we prayed.
30:58
SPEAKER_03: Right.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, or or God, when God doesn't answer, you know, right away, we think, well, that didn't work.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: And yet when you give God a year and you just return the same prayer over and over again, um, it's really cool what happens both in in your life and in your child's life, and to see God's hand and his faithfulness revealed.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: So that's a that's a cool thing for folks to do in January.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great idea.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: And I I I think even um just this year, because we've gone from homeschooling and doing co-ops and some, you know, our drive time looked very different than it does this year with a full-time school.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: And so I've just been looking for strategies in praying in the van and incorporating the time to point out to the Lord.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Amy, Amy, that's a great book title.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: You need to write praying in the van.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
31:51
SPEAKER_00: I've actually I've thought many van prayers.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm just thinking about like I kind of related it to the idea that John, um, John Wesley, I think that's right.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Um who in England, like the floorboards of his house, like in his closet, were actually worn from him kneeling and praying.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: And I just think about the routes to and from school, how they're kind of a worn path um with my minivan.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: But how how great if I like you know change that to like it's a spiritual path of prayer where I just worn in, you know, these prayers and agrees back and forth into their heart.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's really cool.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Really cool.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's your next book.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we co-write that.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: That would be a tricky with your wisdom in there.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: It would be, it would be so great.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to find out more um about the newest book, um praying the scriptures for your adult children.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: I am intrigued to read it myself, even though I do not have adult children.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: I am an adult child, and I think this could give some great perspective on that dynamic of relationship between you as an adult and your your parent, and obviously vice versa.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: So to I just want to know more because I do have a copy here and I'm so excited to read it.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: But you're sweet.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, I I laughed because a couple of my younger mom friends have told me they're getting it for their parents or even better for their in-laws.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: I had one mom tell me one one sweet gal said, you know, my mother-in-law is really involved, and I knew exactly what she meant.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: And she said, I can't wait to give this, you know, to her as a tool.
33:28
SPEAKER_02: So this is the way to involve yourself from a distance.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: The best sort of involvement.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um, well, that one again, just you know, I write the seasons that I'm in.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: So after our kids ended their teen years and entered the adult years, um, I decided, hey, they need help getting jobs and they need help finding marriage partners, and there are health concerns, and they're, you know, the book deals with some very tricky stuff in there too, mental health and addictions and kids who are walking away from their faith.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: So it really does run a gamble of issues.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: But I think for a lot of parents, and you girls aren't um there yet, but when you get old like I am, you start to feel um you start to feel kind of alone because you don't have, you know, you're not on the sidelines of the football game or the soccer game with all these other parents that you can say, hey, what do you think about so and so, or what are you gonna do with um and and so you don't have that sort of organic parenting community.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: People are scattered, your kids may be scattered, you don't know what they're doing or who they're with.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: And so you can have this sense of isolation.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, you know what, I want to write this book to let parents know they're not alone.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: You we really are still all in this together.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: God's in it with us, we can lift up one another.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, and there are tools we can use.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: And I had another friend say to me actually just this morning, she said, you know, um, I feel like sometimes when people's kids are grown and out of the house, they kind of give up.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: They think, well, you know, that's done.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: I've did the best I can.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: But God's never finished writing our kids' stories, He's never finished writing our stories.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: And um, I just want to encourage parents to um keep at it.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: You never stop being a parent, you never stop praying, and God never stops being faithful.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: And so um I I really felt like I wanted to encourage parents of adult children that um we can still be in the game.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's so powerful because you really never outgrow your need for a mom and a dad.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: And I know that everyone approaches it uniquely based on their upbringing and their pain, even.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: Um but I think especially we never outgrow our need for our parents' prayers.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, there's um there's just such power in that.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And and I think it's a way to knit our hearts together in a real healthy way that it helps bring about the balance that we're I think that the parents of adult children are trying ultimately trying to achieve, and then us as children, um, adult children are trying to also achieve that fine balance of what does that look like to be parented still, but be um a d an adult and a parent yourself, and um just all those those tricky interrelational di dynamics that you know come across and walking that season out tenderly.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, that's a great way to put it, walking the season out tenderly with love and with kindness.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because it there I mean, because everyone does approach it so uniquely, there's always that tension of like, are we you know too involved or we're not involved enough?
36:33
SPEAKER_00: And um, but prayer, you can't be in too involved or under involved if you were praying um so specifically for your kids.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: And I I love um I I heard the image recently, you know, that as parents of adult children, we've moved from the front lines to the sidelines.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think for a lot of parents, they think, okay, well, we're on the sidelines, we're marginalized, but we're not, we're still very much in the game of loving our families, having a purpose in our children's lives, but we're doing that um through prayer.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: We're, you know, slipping our hand into the Heavenly Father's and working with Him to accomplish His purposes, and really that's the most effective way we can be as a parent.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, that's so good.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we all are familiar with situations, maybe in our own family, where there's an adult child not making great choices.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: And how do you as the parent um pray for them and bless them without endorsing it, or even love them through it when you don't like the choices they're making?
37:35
SPEAKER_01: That is a that's a great question.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, I would say that's a foundational question in the book about praying for adult children because I think when we have younger children and we see something maybe that we think should be changed, we have um a greater hope that through good parenting or outside help or whatever, you know, this or that can be changed.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: But then when they're 25, 30, 35 years old, you can, as a parent, say, I don't know what to do.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: I don't agree with uh that lifestyle choice they're making or how they're raising their own families or whatever it is.
38:08
SPEAKER_01: And yet um God would say, Hey, mom, that's not your job, you know.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: Philip Philippians says it is God who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: And I read a verse like that and I'm like, wait a minute, okay.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: So, guy, what you're saying is it's you, not me, right?
38:24
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you know, and and so um I think that when we lift our kids up to the Lord and trust him to work in them to think and to behave in uh in line up with his good purposes, that's very freeing for us as parents.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: It frees us up to love our kids and not um worry.
38:41
SPEAKER_01: I had one mother, I I tell the story in the adult children book, whose um adult children were believers, but it was a young couple living together um instead of getting married, and she felt, you know, that that was contrary to scripture.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: And so she told me, she said, I just prayed and prayed that the Holy Spirit would convict them, that they would know what they were doing was wrong.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: And she said, and finally God said to me, Stop, stop.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: They they know, they know your job is to love them and to trust me.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: And she said, you know, that changed her parenting and her prayer strategy.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: No longer was she praying for the Holy Spirit to convict them, she started praying for them to see God's love and his kindness and be drawn to him and let him work in their lives.
39:28
SPEAKER_01: And so not only did it change her praying, it changed her relationship with them because suddenly the door was open where they could really, she could be free to love them and they could be free to receive that love.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: And and you know, we all have dynamics like that in our family.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: And um, so I yeah, they're story after story like that of parents, um, and because we really can.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: You asked about blessing and endorsing.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think if we can wrap our minds around the fact that we can bless someone without endorsing their behavior, and whether this is a child or a grumpy neighbor or a coworker, right?
40:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, we can still speak God's favor over them.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: We can still forecast um future blessings in their life by praying, Lord bless you, Lord bless you, you know.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and that is giving someone a blessing, but it's not saying I approve of or endorse your conduct.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: It is just saying, God love you, God bless you, God do good things in your life.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: And that's a wonderful thing for a parent to do.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: And because ultimately the whole idea with prayer is not what it does in others, it's what it does in our hearts and how it changes our hearts and therefore our attitude and our behavior towards the people we're praying for.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's powerful.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, I you know, this as we kind of talk a little bit about these hard things, you know, some of that, you know, not endorsing but blessing and loving them, even though we don't like their choices.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: What about the parent who's in the thick of this and it just feels like there is no hope?
40:58
SPEAKER_00: They've wandered from the Lord, they're just on a path to destruction.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: And um we feel maybe even like a failure, like somehow it was our fault.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: And you know, this is where really the point that we have to go.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, this it's our we're all have we all have free will and they are responsible for their choices.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: But where does a parent find hope as they just even try to maybe muster up the strength to pray for these children?
41:24
SPEAKER_01: Well, there's a there are a lot of points you made just in that question, all really good ones.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: And the first thing I would want to say to somebody who's feeling like it's their fault, like maybe they've blown it as a parent.
41:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, scripture says we all like sheep have gone astray.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: Each of us has turned to our own way.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: And so when our kids turn to their own way, the reason they do that is because they're human.
41:45
SPEAKER_01: You know, we've all done that, we've all walked away.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: And um it's not uh a parent's burden to carry that, oh, they've blown it, they've done it.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: And the other thing is that God is in the business of redemption and restoration.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: So even if you have mistakes and who made mistakes, and and honestly, who among us has not, you know, whether we want to take back the words in the car this morning or we want to take back we want to take back 10 years of parenting that we wish we could have done differently, whatever it is, um, God says, you know, I will restore the years the locusts have eaten.
42:19
SPEAKER_01: I will redeem that's that's the whole reason Jesus came, to redeem our messes.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: And um, and so I would encourage parents that there is hope there.
42:27
SPEAKER_01: And for those who are feeling like, wow, um, I don't see uh how this could change, or this has gone on so long that I don't have faith to believe God could intervene.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would point us all toward the story.
42:41
SPEAKER_01: And you I think you maybe mentioned the word prodigal, someone who's walked away from a faith.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: That story of the prodigal son who, you know, left and hurt his family, um, went and spent the whole inheritance, basically said to his dad, it was like he was saying, You're dead to me.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm taking the inheritance and I'm out of here.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: And yet that father never stopped watching, never stopped loving.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, the fact that he could see his son on the road when he was still a long way off is just a beautiful picture of God watching for us and looking for us.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: Um and we can count on that, that as much as we love these children and want them to come home, God does even more.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: And um, and and I would also point people toward Hosea, that book in the Old Testament, and I think it's chapter 11.
43:26
SPEAKER_01: I could be wrong.
43:27
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's just it's just this beautiful picture of Israel's unfaithfulness to God and God's love, because God says, you know, I taught you to walk, I bent down to feed you, I cared for you, and yet you walked away from me, you turned away and you ran after other pursuits, other pleasures, other gods.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: And God's so honest in Hosea because he says, I was so angry, I was so angry.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: And as parents, we we get that.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: And he says, And yet my compassion was stronger than my anger.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: And so God had to keep loving.
44:01
SPEAKER_01: And he says at the end, he says, I will, I will r roar, I will draw you from wherever you are, and I'll bring you home.
44:08
SPEAKER_01: And I read that and I just think that's my prayer for my kids when they stray.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I'm sorry, I get I just get weepy thinking about God's love and his faithfulness.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: That's one of my favorites.
44:21
SPEAKER_01: So for parents who are praying for those prodigal kids, just know that God knows exactly your pain and he knows and he loves you and he's gonna be with you in this.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so powerful, Jodi.
44:32
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: This is beautiful.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Um before we run out of time, real quick, because um I I not only are these books really important, I think, for uh parents everywhere to read, but um you've also done a study guide.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: I know for sure for this new book.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Um what tell us a little bit about that because I feel I feel the need too as I read through, praying through um the scriptures for your children um to just you know be able to write, take that time to write it down and work through it and maybe even work through it with a group of women.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: Um tell us a little bit about the study guide.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: That guy's gonna be a good idea.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I thank you for asking about that.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: The study guide is actually free, which is super fun.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: It's on my website at um jodyburnt.com.
45:13
unknown: Awesome.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: Um and it's a way I did it so that um we could have time for individual reflection as we're praying for our kids, but also to help facilitate that sense of connection between parents.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: So if you could grab um another couple if you're married, grab a friend, um, a couple girlfriends, whatever, um, and just work through it together.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, what I tried to do was dig a little bit deeper into some of the scriptures than we could do in the book, allowing us to look at what the Bible says, not just about our kids, but also about us and our reactions, um, and just let God sort of use his word, which you know we know is alive and active, yeah, to flesh these things out in our lives and to um help us use and apply his truth.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's awesome.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: Jodi, I've loved this.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I know that I would love to personally keep talking with you, and I hope that um we get to keep the conversation going and um just and I I even just being mentored from afar by watching your life and you live these out um really beautifully, and um you just have a beautiful family and um some really great fruit on your life to just show that you know that's the best thing we can do as parents.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: We might mess it up and we might do things wrong and have to apologize a lot, but um, going back to the word of God and his promises for our kids and for our own hearts, it's like the best thing we could do.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: That is so true.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: That is exactly true.
46:36
SPEAKER_01: And I'll just leave you with the Philippians 1, verse 6 that he who began a good work in you and in your kids will bring that to completion.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: You know, God is faithful and he's writing our stories and he's writing our kids' stories.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Jody.
46:51
SPEAKER_00: We're excited to get the word out about this book.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you, girl, so much.
46:55
SPEAKER_01: Such a such a treat to talk to you.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Bye.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Bye.
47:01
SPEAKER_00: Isn't she a true Southern gym?
47:04
SPEAKER_00: I am so grateful for her time, wisdom, and insight.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: I hope if you are a parent or know of one, uh, well, pretty sure that's all of us, but I would hope that you would share this podcast and Jodi's book to encourage them on this lifelong journey of parenting.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: You can find all the ways to connect with Jodi and how to buy any of her books in our show notes.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: And while you're there, would you be so kind as to take a quick minute and leave a five-star review on iTunes for this podcast and share your favorite episode on your favorite social media spot?
47:35
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we always love to hear from you at the Simply Wholehearted Podcast, and we would love podcast interview recommendations.
47:43
SPEAKER_00: Comment on our Instagram or Facebook page with your ideas.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: We always respond.
47:48
SPEAKER_00: Next week we're gonna have the witty and clever Dana White, aka Nani from Slob Comes Clean.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: If you are itching for some practical organizing help for your life and home, I know you will appreciate next week's conversation.
48:01
SPEAKER_00: So until then, we hope you'll be joining us as we discover more ways to live a simply wholehearted life.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: Unplugged, purposeful, and intentional.
48:10
SPEAKER_00: Until next time.