Latest / Armed Anchored Adorned / For the love of Jesus & Jake - Kasey Ewing
Transcript
- Armed Anchored & Adorned: was this for you today? You're not alone. God whispered these things to my soul first. And then he whispered, there's more. When you hear that, who do you think of? Who stirs in your heart when you hear there's more? Pray about sharing this with them. Yep, them. Yep, you. Remember, we don't go to church. We are the church. Well, hello, welcome. I am so excited. We have the beautiful Casey Ewing with us today. Welcome. Every one of us has a start and a finish line. Every day we get to choose how we will run that race. Will we choose ordinary or counterfeit or will we choose that abundant life that Jesus died to give us? Welcome to the Armed, Anchored and Adorned podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Kasey Ewing: Thank you, so glad to see you face to face Armed Anchored & Adorned: I, I love we still have that though. At least, I mean, cause otherwise I would have never been able, like how do I connect with her? So thank you Lord for Facebook. So Casey, you live in Alabama, right? Kasey Ewing: to. ⁓ We actually are Tennessee now. Armed Anchored & Adorned: You're in Tennessee? Man, all the good people are in Tennessee. Both my kids, both my big kids wanna live there. Kasey Ewing: Thanks. so quote just really means a lot to me and was very helpful for me at this period of my life was the, ⁓ and I can't even remember who said it, but it says that Satan is not a respecter our grief. ⁓ And ⁓ that really kind of helped me understand that I wasn't insulated from him and his Wait It's great. We're south of Nashville. We're actually, my husband and I are headed to Chattanooga. We're about an hour and half from Chattanooga. So we're just taking a little weekend away this weekend, this afternoon. So it's just nice to get to go little places and we're enjoying that. And ⁓ because when something tragic like this happens or anytime we're hurting, a lot of times most people around us respect what's happening in our lives. They check on us, they take care of us, they are praying for us. Hopefully we have like a community around us that kind of wraps arms around you and says, hey, we wanna help in the middle of this. But it can give you this false sense of security that everybody is respecting. Armed Anchored & Adorned: That's exciting. All Kasey Ewing: where that's when Satan is going in for the jugular and saying, hey, all these things you think about God, they're not true. He starts planting these seeds of doubt and these, I mean, it's stories all this time, look at Adam and Eve, know, did God really say this? Is this what he means? Do you think he's good? This kind of questions, and these little questions can really cause us to start to doubt God, could cause us to lack of trust in him. And, you know, I really struggled because there was these times where I just, Armed Anchored & Adorned: Okay. Kasey Ewing: wondered, of course, why, you why did he allow this? Why was it didn't happen to us? And, you know, we saw so many miracles and so much good come out of it. But for a little bit, I really struggled even with the good coming out of it, because I didn't even want I mean, in my honest, true, you know, self, I was like, why did you use him for that good to come out of it? Like Brad's dad was saved and Armed Anchored & Adorned: Very good. Bye. Thank you. Kasey Ewing: So many people were like, we turned back to the Lord and we've heard your story. But there was this little part of me that thought, God cause this so the good could happen? And that's why our theology is very important. It's very... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank you. Kasey Ewing: that we know in the good and that we're really pouring in God's truth when things are good so that when this doubt starts to come, we can combat it with the truth. And I really had to learn, God didn't cause this to happen. We live in a world of sin and death and that happens. No one's fault, it happens. Sometimes some things happen just that our people's fault, but we still have to. But what God does is he gets good from the bad. Armed Anchored & Adorned: we in Colorado Springs together years years years ago. ⁓ Gosh, that like 20 years ago. Excellent. Thanks. Kasey Ewing: was... ⁓ that's crazy. Armed Anchored & Adorned: It is, it really is. I love numbers like that. Just makes me feel so sprightly and young. Something's happening. Yeah. Kasey Ewing: not cause as bad to get good. ⁓ And that sounds like a wordplay, but it's really not. Like when you're hurting and crying out to the Lord and wondering why your whole world has been shattered, if you believe by any moment that God causes bad and that there's not all good in him, then that can really mess with you. And so that really led me into why I wrote the book and why I really dug into the book of Job, which is what most of the book is. Armed Anchored & Adorned: you Kasey Ewing: Work hard, guys. Armed Anchored & Adorned: So Brad, your husband and I started working at the same church at the same time and you guys had just relocated. and we just in love with you guys. And then ⁓ were this young married couple and we ⁓ loved baby Jackson. that. Kasey Ewing: is really centered around is how God allows us to ask these questions. He allows us to ask him why. I think it's really important just who we're bringing the questions to. ⁓ And so, I mean, we could talk about Job and we could have a podcast for the next, lifetime on just the truths and the things that we can glean from God's Word. But there were just a few like key things that helped me. Yes. Armed Anchored & Adorned: We got to babysit him a couple times made me so excited to become a mommy. And mean, wait until I'm done and then, it's third. Kasey Ewing: love that and that's because Jackson just got married this summer. Armed Anchored & Adorned: ⁓ my gosh. Kasey Ewing: that we're discussing. He, summer. process my grief while reading the book of Job. And ⁓ I didn't even have half the things happen that Job had happened, nor do I have the clarity of seeing God's word as the whole. Job is just kind of living his life, has no idea that all these things are happening, where we're watching his story play out. And so it's ⁓ comforting for me. And then I hurt for Job. I'm like, he even responded the way he did in the midst of this. is in the military and he's off right now doing all kinds of things that us as moms want to know what all they're doing right now so we leave it at that. Armed Anchored & Adorned: in fact, we don't have it. Perfect. Kasey Ewing: get the blessing of having God's word right here that says in black and white, this is what's happening to you. This is what you can expect. God says the world's gonna be full of trials and tribulations, but be a good cheer, I've overcome the world. Do you know, so it's like we have this in... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Amen. ⁓ my gosh, he was so squishy and just delicious. He was ⁓ so cute. ⁓ I'll forget that baby. He was, he was so fun. Kasey Ewing: We. God's word is right here. So we talked a little bit about our son and our oldest, I mean our youngest Jackson. The one you got to babysit as a baby, it now went through boot camp not too long ago. And at boot camp you can't hear, well especially now that he's married. He did get to make two calls, but of course he made them to his wife. But we got some, yes, which is what it needs to be. It's the way it's supposed to be, but you know. He was like. He's a fun kid. Armed Anchored & Adorned: . So. ⁓ The way it's supposed to be. You just don't have to like it. You, while we were there, we went on a couple women's retreats and you were bold enough to share a really raw part of your story, you're in grads and And gosh, since then you wrote a book. Kasey Ewing: I was like, I raised that child, no. But we got to write letters back and forth. And when we got a letter or when she got a letter, we, I'm telling you, I can't tell you the excitement and the longing to hear from him and what he was going through, what he was experiencing. And she would FaceTime us, we would FaceTime her, we would read the letter to each other. I still keep them in my Bible and I still read them. Yeah, that was the first time I'd ever shared really our testimony that way like in a public setting. You know, we would share it with different families or people, but not just stand up in front of women and say, this is what happened. that will mean a lot because it was just that ⁓ I think Lisa Rafferty is the one that even said, hey, I think it's time to share this. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Okay. ⁓ Wow, I'm getting really sad. Kasey Ewing: because that was the only thing we had of him that was concrete, that was saying, hey, this is what's going on. And the Lord just totally convicted me of it and just said, I've given you this whole book. I was like, are you sure? Are you sure about that? But that had been probably, I'm trying to think, it had been a good, at least five years. ⁓ And so we had kind of, at the five year mark around there, there is this, especially with grief, an easing, I think, you you're starting to live, ⁓ you're figuring out what your new normal looks like. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. How long? Right. this. Kasey Ewing: And this is my letter to you about what's going on in your life and how to deal with your life. And I get a letter from my son and the whole world stops. The whole world stopped. We FaceTime'd each other. We read it again and again and again. And if we could just get that in our, let our hearts sink into that of what really is the power of this and the words that he's giving us. And that's what Job was for me at that time. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Right. All right. Kasey Ewing: ⁓ So I was definitely more able to talk about it without feeling like I was just going to break, ⁓ share the story and to let people know what happened. ⁓ for those that don't know, we had a son that passed away in a car accident. He was in the driveway. I was trying to get him in the inside. The door was locked. It got caught. Brad had to leave. He went to chase after Brad and the car hit him. He didn't. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. Kasey Ewing: It was like life giving that Joe was experiencing a little bit of what I felt I was experiencing in deep grief and heartache. And he was just crying out to God saying, why in the world have you allowed this to happen? And God's saying, it's okay to say this. There comes a point where God says in the end where he's like, okay, you've asked all your questions, now let me ask you some questions. So he has his parameters, he does. And there's a time where he's like, okay. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank Yeah. Kasey Ewing: It's enough. It's time for you to let me talk. ⁓ You've shared all your things and he, but in his response to Job was still him showing himself to Job. And a lot of times when I'm like, the world is going crazy. I don't understand what you're doing. I just read the last few chapters of Job because Job's, God's response to Job was, did you create the world? Were you there when I had to, when in the morning, when I tell the sun to rise, are you there? so that just like, as hard as that was, as devastating as that was, I knew that Jesus met him that day and he was waiting on him. so even though, sorry, ⁓ you still tear up at ⁓ but that day forever changed trajectory of our life ⁓ is still a ⁓ perfect reminder this is not ⁓ home. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Jesus. Yeah. Good. Can't imagine. Kasey Ewing: Do you hold the hail in the storehouses? Do you tell the beach where to stop? And it's question after question of like, I am single-handedly keeping this whole universe in place. ⁓ So don't you think that I can handle your life? And he's not being, I mean, he's just being caring. He's caring. ⁓ Exactly. and we're all one day are gonna meet Jesus and there's a decision, in that there's a decision for all of us to make, do we know Jesus is our personal savior? So we've seen so many things come from that. ⁓ Even at the funeral that my uncle did, Brad's biological dad came and he was saved that day and ended up, ⁓ he just had a hard life, passed away not too many, a few years ago. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Okay. Thank Mm-hmm. Right. I would be snarky about that, but he wouldn't be. That's how I would say it to my kid. I brought you into this world. Right. Kasey Ewing: We see it as snarky because we're snarky. I am. Yes. Like, okay, I've had enough of you and I can take you out. Yes. And that's the... ⁓ yes. That's very true. And there's probably... He's gentle and he's kind. And there are times when he says, okay, enough. And he did with Job. He gave him... But he gave him a good 34 chapters to just hash it out. It's been a while, but we were even confident in that because of that. So we got to see all these different miracles take place. you know, ⁓ I'll be honest, I wasn't always, I felt in the beginning a little bit like, God, use that for other people. And I'm like, well, why did you have to use my son? know, like, it felt, you know, with that, the beginning bitterness of that just reality, you feel like, Armed Anchored & Adorned: It's true, but he's so much more gentle. Absolutely. Pour it out. ⁓ Kasey Ewing: Pour it out, which is to me is kindness. It's his kindness. He knows we feel it. So just get it out of there. it's very, ⁓ just, Job just was that book in that moment that I felt like God wrote that book for me at this exact moment ⁓ in time. And if it wasn't for that, I don't know that I would have. But every book, then I'll say, ⁓ this is my favorite book, because it's speaking to me right then, that's what I needed. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Kasey Ewing: did you use my but it you know the Lord kept showing me you know he didn't cause that to happen in fact that that happened he caused good from it ⁓ and so often we can get our theology why theology is important because if when we get that mixed up in our head we think God's causing bad things to happen so that he can create good and bad things happen in our world because of sin he gets good from it only he can Armed Anchored & Adorned: Right. Right. Thank you. Kasey Ewing: at that moment, but if, know, in all of us, when we're experiencing these good, the bad, the ugly in life, which is what we're gonna experience, ⁓ are we processing it through with the Lord? And that's probably the most important thing that I learned is that God allows us to process things through with Him. And ⁓ He shows us how. And it's such a gift. And ⁓ to be just, Armed Anchored & Adorned: Right. That's right. Great. Kasey Ewing: And so those are important truths to have to hang your hat on in times like that. And when we're seeing all the world and we're seeing all these things happening, know, the ultimate question everybody asks is why does God allow bad things to happen, you know? And we just have to remember that He's the one that causes good out of the bad and the heartache. steadfast in doing that in the good times and the bad because pouring that truth in when it's good, which is a lot of times not when we're always just seeking him because unfortunately if you're like me, it's when it's hard is when I'm really seeking him. And you know, very much. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Okay. Thank you. I hate that about us. Kasey Ewing: I do too, you know, it's like, Beth Moore always says this, I wish I had learned this on the pages of scripture instead of having to trial and error and mess it up, you know? And so a lot of times my prayer is, let me learn this this way, not through my mistakes, but a lot of times it's our failures that remind us that we need him. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Your peace and your joy, the way that you share. I'm so grateful for his living word that was able to minister to your broken heart and the way that you. love him and your love for him ministers to others. And when you were talking about why did you have to use my son, and I often hear his voice kind of coming back in a very loving and gentle way. He's like, I know that pain. I gave up my son too. so hard for our brains to wrap around, but he knows. He knows your pain in a way that nobody else really can. Kasey Ewing: Yes. mean, ⁓ my Bible reading plan, I'm in different parts of the Bible all the time, and it gives me such a good perspective. But I'm in Hebrews right now, and he's talking about our great high priest and how Jesus is our great high priest, and he sympathizes with us because he experienced everything that we're experiencing yet without sin. And that right there is like, just to, I can't even wrap my mind around it really. But I think so often we have an inaccurate view of God, that he's up there just judging the world and making all these decisions and all that. And it's his love for us. God's words is his love for us is what leads us to repentance. It's his kindness. ⁓ And that he is up there, he gets it. You know when we're always like, ⁓ we find that person, we're like, ⁓ they get me. Or there was the movie, ⁓ he gets me. We want someone to just understand us. And God is saying, I understand you. I get you, I did this. I experienced it to the fullest that we would never experience for you. And if we just really understood that love for us and that love for each other, it would make us live differently, act differently. And then when I understand that, His love for me and what I've done to Him, then Armed Anchored & Adorned: I do. Yeah. Lift. Right. Kasey Ewing: my actions towards others are gonna look so much different because I can be merciful with my husband, with my kids, with my coworker, because I realize it's God's kindness for me that leads me to repentance. It's God's kindness and he understands when I'm stressed at work and I've gotta make dinner tonight and I've gotta do this, he's like, I did all that, I get it. And I just think once we, my prayer is that we, Armed Anchored & Adorned: in such. Kasey Ewing: I understand, you understand more and more every day what that really means that he loves us. Because it's gonna change us and then we're gonna change everyone around us because we're living out of that, that experience that he did give his son up, he willingly did and he didn't have to. I didn't have a choice, which is a good thing, because I wouldn't have done it for you. I love you, but I wouldn't have done it. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Right. Right. No, I get it. So real, wow. I love that. I just love your clarity and the way that you see the Lord. It's really a gift. I hate that you had to endure. what I can only imagine, but I... absolutely just love your fire for the Lord. That's, and would you say? that your faith increased or I mean would you say that that grew you? I mean of course we've grown in our life but do you think it drew you closer to him? Kasey Ewing: Mm-hmm. For sure, I mean, there was moments where I'm like, I'm not getting through the next five minutes. Now, you know, I'm not getting through this day without just total utter reliance on him because I didn't want to get through the day. I mean, there's days I'm like, I don't want to do this, you know, and ⁓ it created just this dependence on the Lord that I don't think, not that I ever want to go back to that kind of pain, but there was a sweet time there that... ⁓ I don't know that I'll experience again in that way. I experienced the Lord in different ways. We grow in our knowledge and ⁓ our dependence and our intimacy with him. And it looks different in different stages, I think. And that moment, I needed him so real because I was questioning every single thing about my life, the world, him, everything. And he's like, I'm here, I'm real. Sometimes that's all I needed is just to know that. ⁓ Armed Anchored & Adorned: which is... Everything. Kasey Ewing: And then over the years, you take those lessons and they become deep rooted in you. And then you can trust, okay, we got through this, we're gonna get through this next thing. we haven't experienced anything as tragic as that since then, but we all experience grief and pain and frustration in life, normal life. doesn't make that one instance kind of solidified the way I... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank you. Kasey Ewing: my relationship with the Lord, I guess you could say, but at the same time, you build on it, you build on it because no one can keep experiencing that type of tragedy over and over over again, but we still hurt, you hurt, I hurt, know, pain, we're in a world of suffering. Like the word says, trial and tribulations are gonna come. They might not be as earth shattering, but sometimes those can be just as hard. If not, not harder, but... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. It's still here. Great. ⁓ Right. Kasey Ewing: The daily, mundane life can be just as exhausting as dealing with great grief, because you don't have this like, okay, we gotta get through this. We're all rallied together. We're just like, okay, we're just trying to get through life today. And sometimes that can be just not as hard, but you know I'm saying? it... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Sit. I get it. Kasey Ewing: It just, pain is pain, and when we hurt, we hurt. We can hurt for more extended times if it's deeper, but there is this, also, am I living the same way as I did two weeks after Jake today? Am I that dependent on the Lord? That's a question I have to ask myself. Armed Anchored & Adorned: That's a great question. I've been recently talking to the Lord about just that. Lord, I want to remain desperate for you every single day. I don't know why I would ever think that I can do anything apart from him. His word tells us we can't. And I know it's true. But I'm like, hold on, go ahead and I got this. And no, I don't. Kasey Ewing: Yes. Armed Anchored & Adorned: that desperate dependence. Kasey Ewing: that's a great way of saying it because you long for that and it's like, do I keep that going in everyday life without ⁓ interruption? And what does that look like? And how do I kind of put some practices in my life that gets me where, is it at lunch where I have to just kind of reorient back to, okay, I got up that morning, I had my quiet time, and then by lunch I'm like, Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. Kasey Ewing: I'm on auto drive again. Yes. You know, so it's like, do I need to take a little walk and okay, Lord, you'd think I could get through three or four hours, but I can't. So here we are again. Here we are. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Derailed. ⁓ Mm-hmm. Nope. And he's just ready whenever we are. Kasey Ewing: He is, you know, and one of the neatest things that I think I'm learning, and you'd think this would be something that you learn from the very beginning, but it's really, and God's word says it over and over and over, that we will show his love by the way we love others. And, but yet I get more frustrated with others than I do anybody else. I mean, if I looked back at the last week, when I was frustrated or mad or, Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank you. Kasey Ewing: stressed about something, it was because of someone else probably, and I blamed them. If this person wasn't doing this, then I'd be fine, and if this person weren't doing this, I'd be stressed, and if this child didn't do this, and if this person's clothes weren't here, and think about it. But we see maturity in Christ as like this knowledge in this, ⁓ she knows God's word, ⁓ she knows this. When God says maturity in me is how I love those around me. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. Kasey Ewing: Okay, that is like wrecking. Because on the way home, I yelled at a driver. I got mad at Brad for this. I did that and he's like, that's maturity is how you treat those around you. And I'm like, I would rather just go inside and read my Bible because I can do that. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Right. Yeah. No. to stay in my, yep, I want to stay in my quiet little place with my Bible and my journal and my coffee and I just want to sit with him. I never want to leave. But we have to, we have to, and then we have to go out and let the love of Jesus compel us to love others. Well. Kasey Ewing: But the way I treat my neighbor. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And a lot of times I'm like, okay, Jesus, like literally, I can't not love this person without you. And he's like, I know. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank you. Kasey Ewing: Now I'm like, really? Really? Can't do it. Armed Anchored & Adorned: So real. So real. my gosh. just Kasey Ewing: ⁓ Armed Anchored & Adorned: So you shared with me ⁓ several times that the Lord drew you in even outside of scripture, just through others. And will you give us an example of something like that? Kasey Ewing: Yeah, even like one of my favorite scriptures is it's in Matthew and it talks about how faith as little as a mustard seed grows and when it grows it becomes a tree and then this tree is the shade that others can rest in. And I think we always hear the faith of a mustard seed and we're like, we have faith of a mustard seed and then it grows. but we forget the part about where it says that we become shade for others to rest in, for the birds of the field to rest in that. And what God says is when our faith is growing, we become these trees that people can rest in. when all those things, when Jake had passed away and all of this was coming, different people, Armed Anchored & Adorned: Mm. Thank Kasey Ewing: allowed me to rest in their shade. When I was, the trees, the faith that they had built, I'd had a mentor that had lost a son that mentored me in college. You know, this is craziest story of just, I ended up going to this precept Bible study class, which is how I learned how to study God's word with, they call themselves the gray haired ladies. And it was me with a newborn baby in college with all these ladies in the afternoon studying. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Good. Well, yes. Kasey Ewing: ⁓ God's Word, but she had lost a son. And so later she got to pour into me, you know, and she wrote me all these letters. And I just, again, poured over those same type of letters when my uncle did the funeral and ⁓ he said something that's brought me such great comfort. And he said that Jake was running. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Wow. Thanks. ⁓ Kasey Ewing: to his earthly father and his heavenly father met him that day. And that has given me such peace to know, yes, Jake was chasing after Brad and he wanted to see Brad, but he met Jesus that day. He met Jesus. And when all the noise was gone, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we grieve, but we grieve with hope because Armed Anchored & Adorned: That's right. Kasey Ewing: Jake was running to one father, but he met Jesus. And that just was that comfort that I needed. It kind of solidified it. It's like, okay, yes, this has happened. And... Armed Anchored & Adorned: Absolutely. Kasey Ewing: but Jesus intervened and Jesus met Jake that day. And I think of David when he got up after when he lost his son and he got up and the servants were looking at him and saying, why aren't you mourning anymore? And he said, my son's gone, he's with Jesus. won't see him here, but I will see him. I will go to him one day. And it's just that comfort that we get in that and knowing. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. It's. right. Kasey Ewing: When we know Jesus is our personal savior, that he will meet us. Sometimes it's in the quiet in the middle of the night or on our deathbed when we are gone, he will meet us. And that's the peace and comfort we can have and grieve and mourn and wail all the things that we can do, but we do it with hope and it's his hope. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank Thank you, Lord. Mm. he has. just made something. He has taken a grave and grown a garden in your heart from my perspective. That's what I can see in you and that's what he does and I can't thank you enough for sharing it, for not letting it be in the secret. For this, I read this years ago and it was beautiful and I had to go back and reread it now. Kasey Ewing: You Yeah. You know, it hasn't been pretty. It hasn't been pretty. I want everybody to know this. this is, and life after hasn't been pretty. Like, there's so many good truths, and God has revealed so much to me. But it's also been through deep, dark despair. And sometimes I haven't responded correctly. Sometimes I haven't. There's been times ⁓ where I've just... I've not done what I was supposed to do, what I knew I was supposed to do. So sometimes it's hard with these conversations. don't want it on the other side or at this moment it can feel, ⁓ she's finally not a right, she's in such a good place, but it was the hard fought place. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Absolutely. I don't know if you garden at all. I do not because it's so hard. So when I, mean, it is, it is constant and you got to pull the weeds, you got to feed, you got to make sure it's protected. Like it's hard. So I didn't intend to mean that lightly. Like you've just, he's just grown this beautiful garden and you like, I can imagine only what. Kasey Ewing: I don't. I kill everything. Armed Anchored & Adorned: what that weeding and pruning and I love how much he puts that in scripture of like, okay, this can't be here. Okay, this bitterness and I'm so grateful he is with us and able to. create a beautiful garden in such a broken place. Kasey Ewing: And he is. Yes. And I just don't want it to ever feel like. Armed Anchored & Adorned: It was easy. Kasey Ewing: And he does, he creates beauty from ashes or it's easy or that I was the one that had any part in it because left to my own device, I would be still in a pit, still just if the Lord had intervened in so many different ways and so many different over my lifespan ⁓ and really saved me from me. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yeah. Kasey Ewing: Save me from me because left on my own, I make a big fat mass of everything. Every day. Armed Anchored & Adorned: every day. Me, not you, me, yes. Kasey Ewing: No, I do. We can hear people tell their stories and be like, or we just went to Honduras and one of the ladies, she's like, I just don't have a great testimony. I just didn't do a lot of things. And sometimes people can hear our story and be like, I just don't have that kind of story. And I'm like, praise Jesus, you don't. Because you probably were not as, I mean, I am stubborn, I am rebellious, I am, you told me to do something, I didn't wanna do the opposite. You say red, I'll say green. just, it's, I, me and myself is the most rebellious, crazy person. And God's like, I have to keep my hands so hard on you to keep you in line. So praise Jesus, you didn't have to do all the things that I had to do. Armed Anchored & Adorned: ⁓ I feel that I am a big fat mess too. ⁓ Kasey Ewing: Because I have a big fat mess. ⁓ Goodness. Armed Anchored & Adorned: no, ⁓ I would, I could talk to you probably for like days. So, because I just let you draw scripture to everything and I absolutely love that. ⁓ Would you please ⁓ pray over that are grieving in whatever season, whatever that grief looks like and just cover their hearts. ⁓ Kasey Ewing: same. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Would you please? Thank you. Kasey Ewing: I would be honored to. Lord, we just, first of all, we come to you and we thank you that your mercies are new every morning and that great is your faithfulness, that you are faithful even when we are not. Lord, we thank you for that, we praise you for that. Lord, right now, I just ask that if there's anyone listening right now, if there's anyone that's not listening, but we know that they are just suffering deep, deep grief. I know my friend that just lost her dad, Lord. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thanks. Kasey Ewing: I pray that you would just give them, their whole family, anyone that's right now just, they are crying out like Joe did, why are you allowing this to happen? Why am I even alive? Why did you allow me to be born? Lord, that you would supernaturally come in by the power of your Holy Spirit and give their hearts peace, Lord, a peace that passes all understanding. Lord, allow them to grieve, allow them to hurt, allow them to feel, but to do it with your hope. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Thank you. you Yes. Kasey Ewing: Lord, that's what we pray, that by the power of your Spirit, that the hope would not diminish. Lord, that you would allow no weapon formed against them to prosper. Lord, that you would be their guide, that they would know somehow, some way today, that you are looking at them, that your face is shining upon them, even in the midst of their greatest heartache. Know that you are there, Lord, that you are causing this to work together. Armed Anchored & Adorned: origin. board. Kasey Ewing: all these little bits and pieces that maybe right now feels like a giant mess of a puzzle and you are putting each piece together and that one day we'll get to eternity and we will look back and we will see that it was light and momentary in the big scheme of eternity. Lord, it doesn't feel light, it doesn't feel momentary right now, but we know that once it's all said and done and you have come back and conquered the earth that we will be victorious with you. Lord, you've given us your name. Lord, you have given us your name and it says your name and your face shines upon us. So Lord, I pray right now that your face and your name would shine upon all those and those that don't know you Lord through this would come to know you. We ask all these in your precious name. Amen. Amen. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Yes. Amen. Amen. Oh. So beautiful. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing your heart. I know. I'm like, okay, we're gonna go up to Tennessee and we're gonna have dinner. I know Vince would love, I still play some of Brad's music. Kasey Ewing: Thank you for having me and getting to see you again. Yes, come on. ⁓ Armed Anchored & Adorned: and Vince will come into the room like, ⁓ I love that song. Kasey Ewing: I love it. Armed Anchored & Adorned: So, ⁓ okay, we're gonna wrap up with everyone's favorite question, what's for dinner? ⁓ Kasey Ewing: Let's for dinner. So our dinner right now, because we're empty nesters, it looks a little different, but this has been my tried and true for, because y'all, I'm not fancy at all. There's nothing fancy about my kitchen skills, and I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible. This, it's McCormick. is this, it is a marinade. You put a little bit of water, it's chipotle pepper. It's a little spicy, but not too spicy. Put a little bit of water and olive oil, and you marinate chicken. Armed Anchored & Adorned: I love it. I love it. Kasey Ewing: thighs, chicken tenderloin, chicken breast, whatever you love. You can put it in the air fryer after that. This is what I do, put it in the air fryer for however many, depending on your meat. And then we do a salad with it and a vegetable. And we probably have it once a week. Armed Anchored & Adorned: That sounds amazing. ⁓ you're two vegetables. Kasey Ewing: Mm-hmm, I'll try. Well, I I don't really like vegetables, but I make myself eat them because you're supposed to. My husband says I eat like a toddler, and I'm like, I'm an adult now. I can eat a popsicle for dinner if I want. There's nobody in our house but you. So you really don't want dinner advice from me because it might be just a popsicle. Armed Anchored & Adorned: Salad and a vegetable. Good girl. It's fine. That's right. Honestly, honestly, when I asked that, I don't even care if it's leftover chicken nuggets. I mean, it is just, we need some inspiration. And sometimes we need some straight up permission to not be Martha Stinkin Stewart, which we don't wanna be heard by. But just, we don't have to have this fancy spread. Like it's just dinner. Feed yourselves, be together and enjoy what you have. Kasey Ewing: Yeah. I, yeah. Enjoy, yes. So the easier the better. So I buy this by 12-pack from Amazon, if that tells you how much we use it. It's brilliant. Armed Anchored & Adorned: So, absolutely. That's brilliant. I love it. I'm gonna, trying it. Trying it and I will send you pictures. Kasey Ewing: It's wonderful. Yes, that kale salad that's got all the stuff in it, we get it at Walmart all the time. It's like a kale, it's got all the, like crunchy kale salad or something like that. And I don't really like kale, but the dressing, you put it on it and it kind of softens it. Anyway, you put that, put the chicken on top of it. And you feel like you're being healthy. I don't know if you really are, but you feel like it. So that's all. Armed Anchored & Adorned: ⁓ yeah. I guarantee it's healthier than some of the stuff I make. That's vegetables. ⁓ I'm gonna... Kasey Ewing: Well, you know, I did look at the ingredients on this before. I was like, I wonder if I'm telling people to eat like carcinogens or something. But the first item ingredient is sugar and then it's salt. So it's not healthy. That's why it's so good. Armed Anchored & Adorned: That's why it's delicious. Okay, we put a Kasey Ewing: Okay, probably not healthy, probably gonna kill ya. Armed Anchored & Adorned: We're not here for health advice. Kasey Ewing: Nah, you're not getting it from me. Go take a walk. Armed Anchored & Adorned: That's right, go walk it off. Casey, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for being you. I can't wait to maybe do it again, hopefully in person. I love you, girl. I love you. you. Bye. Kasey Ewing: Thank you. This was great. Yes, that would be awesome. Come see us. All right, love you. Bye.