October 1, 2025 • 58 mins
What happens when the role you loved ends overnight—and you’re left asking who you are now? We invited Kaylee Harvey to share how an 18-year athletic journey closed just two weeks after she surrendered her life to Jesus, and how that collision reshaped identity, boundaries, and purpose from the ground up. The story isn’t tidy. It’s honest, funny, and piercing, moving from bedrest and Bible pages to bold faith in everyday places.
Together we walk through the difference between performing for approval and living from secure identity in Christ. Kaylee opens up about grief after losing her mom, the “colorful” prayers that God welcomed, and the relief of learning we don’t need to be perfect—just committed. We unpack practical ways to “leave people without an excuse” about who Jesus is: visible habits at home, quiet integrity at work, refusing gossip, wise limits around indulgence, and small invitations that outlast arguments. One teammate’s ask changed her eternity; now she encourages us not to say no for people, but to keep a seat open and keep asking.
We also step back to the creation story—God defining good, people made in His image, and why true diversity belongs in the church beyond race into age, class, and story. Identity, justice, discipleship, and vocation connect here: ministry isn’t a title, it’s wherever you’re placed. Teachers, officers, parents, students—everyone carries influence. If your platform vanished tomorrow, who would you be? Rooted in Christ, you’re still seen, secure, and sent. Press play for a candid, hope-filled guide to rebuilding your life on the One who doesn’t shake.
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find these conversations. Your support helps us keep the table open.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 03 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Walkthrough Podcast with your
hosts, Gianina and Kiley.
This is the place where we getreal about life, faith, and the
lessons God teaches us along theway.
Today we're so excited towelcome Kaylee Harvey to the
conversation.
Kaylee shares her powerfulstory of walking through an
identity crisis after herathletic career of 18 years
(00:22):
suddenly ended just two weeksafter giving her life to Jesus.
She opens up about how Godredefined her identity, taught
her the importance ofboundaries, and brought her out
of the desert season into aplace of renewed joy and
confidence in him.
You're gonna love this one.
This is so much fun and soexciting for me.
(00:51):
I was actually telling Kylie alittle bit about you before you
hopped on and like how we gotconnected and things like that.
And I know we've had thisconversation too, where I just
said everything that you saidwhen we did um the Krigma
retreat was like pointing backto Jesus.
And that was just, I mean, likeyou would imagine that that
would always be the case inchurch, but especially when
(01:14):
people share in a panel or in ateaching way, I think it's easy
to put your opinion andinterject your opinion in that,
which is totally fine.
But I just loved that.
I was like, man, literallyeverything is well, this is what
I think Jesus would do, or thisis what I think Jesus would
like say in this situation, orwhat what he did do in this
situation.
So I'm just excited to have youon and thank you so much for
(01:36):
just sharing your gifts and yourtalents with us too.
So thank you.
unknown (01:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (01:42):
Well, I would love it if you wouldn't mind just
sharing a little bit aboutyourself and your story and how
you came to know the Lord.
Speaker 01 (01:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
My name is Kayleigh Harvey, andI live in the wonderful state
of Florida with my wonderfulhusband.
But I did not always live inFlorida.
I actually grew up in uhsouthwest Missouri.
And that is actually where Imet the Lord.
Um, I was a senior in collegewhenever I met Jesus.
(02:11):
And growing up in like theBible belt in small town USA,
you know, you know about Jesus,like whether you like it or not.
You're gonna find out about himeventually.
And I grew up in one of thosetowns that, you know, you were
real, real smart about who youstayed the night with on
Saturday night because you weregoing to church with them,
(02:34):
whether you liked it or not.
So you were real smart aboutwho had the cool youth group and
then who didn't.
So always growing up, I knew ofJesus.
Um, but it wasn't until mysenior year of college that I
actually met him.
Funnily enough, was there wasthis man, I say this man like he
was random.
He was the college age pastor,but in my mind, he was just like
(02:56):
this man who kept popping upeverywhere that I was.
And they would feed our trackteam.
I ran track in college, and sothey would feed our track team
all the time.
He was always around and wewould chit-chat.
And eventually he asked me tojoin a discipleship group with a
bunch of Bible collegestudents.
(03:17):
So it's like me, this randomathlete who is not a believer,
and all these Bible collegestudents who, in their own
right, thought they were thesmartest theologian in the
entire planet.
Which more power to him, theyknew more than I did.
But um with that, actually, Iwas in this discipleship group
(03:37):
for probably about a year, andthen I finally won church
service, um, gave my life toJesus.
And really, I ended up at thechurch service because I I had a
track teammate who invited me.
Um we were not, we were notfriends.
I would probably say at thetime we were we were enemies,
(03:59):
didn't like her, didn't like me,but we shared a death in our
family at the same time.
Funerals were on the same day,came back at the same time, and
God has jokes, and our lockerswere right next to each other.
So we came back and they werejust full of notes from our
teammates, which was so sweet.
And we found ourselves in thelocker room at the same time,
(04:20):
and she was crying, and um I'mjust like sitting there because
I'm like a little uncomfortablebecause I'm like, I don't know
what to do.
This girl's like crying next tome, and she I remember she
looked up at me and was like,Will you go to church with me on
Sunday?
And I was like, Yeah.
Um uh because I'm not hard todo.
How can you say that?
(04:40):
Yeah, I mean, I'm not fullyknown Jesus, but I wasn't like a
heartless human being.
So I was just like, Yeah, sure,I'll go with you.
And um, it was that servicethat I actually um could not
tell you what the message wasabout, have no idea.
Um but I just remember at theend of it them just being like,
(05:02):
hey, like if you want to giveyour life to Jesus, if you
really wanna want to change,raise your hand.
And I I did, I raised my hand.
And two weeks later, I ended upinjuring myself.
I hurt my hip.
I thought that was what I wasgonna do the rest of my life,
and all of a sudden it was takenaway.
But luckily, happily, I hadgiven my life over to Jesus and
(05:27):
was like super about it.
And that's what I did with theLord.
And so my first month offollowing Jesus after that, I um
was injured and didn't haveanything to do.
And I thought I was gonna bethis athlete.
And then all of a sudden Iwasn't an athlete anymore.
I literally had hip surgery andwas on bed rest.
(05:49):
Really felt like the Lord satme down and was like, look, I
need you focused here.
I need you to understand whatis happening and what my word is
and what I say and who I sayyou are, not who you think you
are.
Um, and he made sure that I sawit.
He made sure that I read it,and he made sure that I knew it.
(06:09):
Um, and the only way, knowingme, the only way that was gonna
happen genuinely is if I was onbedrisk, because I'm always
moving and grooving and doingsomething.
So the Lord sat me down realquick and was like, You think
this is what you're doing withyour life, but you will be
mistaken.
So, yeah, that is like thereally quick roundabout way of
(06:30):
how I I came to the Lord.
I was a teammate.
Um, we're really good friendsnow.
My way ended up in her wedding.
And her being obedient to theHoly Spirit prompting her.
It's a lesson that I I havetaken with me in in ministry and
very much am an advocate of notsaying no for people.
(06:53):
Because I think that in hermind I was gonna say no.
But because she was obedient tothe Lord and the Holy Spirit
prompting her to ask me, itchanged the entire trajectory of
my life.
So definitely don't say no forpeople because you do not know
what a simple invitation tochurch is is gonna do to
somebody.
Speaker 03 (07:12):
For sure.
Absolutely.
Do you feel like during thattime there was ever a moment
where like you just met theLord, you know, like you just
really gave your life to him.
And then this big life-alteringmoment happens.
Was there ever a point whereyou were like, I don't want to
say blaming him, but kind oflike, really, God, like I just
surrendered my life to you, andnow my entire world is upside
(07:36):
down.
Speaker 01 (07:38):
Funnily enough, no.
There, there, and I mean, therewere times where I was like
angry and like, what the heck?
Like, what is going on?
Um, but it was never like a Inever have viewed it as a blame
game on him.
I've always viewed it as a likesaving point.
I don't know what I would havedone if I did.
(08:00):
And again, I know it's like twoweeks, but again, you I knew of
him.
So it wasn't like I went fromnever knowing a lick about Jesus
or or the Bible to giving mylife to him.
I knew of him.
And I had been in this likegroup and heard about him for a
while, but I never reallybelieved truly until that day at
(08:24):
church.
And I think it's in true Godfashion too to use somebody that
you don't like.
Um kind of like he he will doanything and everything to get
your attention.
I think he knew that again, Iwasn't heartless.
I was gonna say yes if she wastrying.
Yeah, I I never I never saw iteven today.
I don't, I never was like, God,how could you?
(08:48):
I think there were other timesin my life where I I thought
that.
I think that those questionsactually came in in my more
seasoned years as a believer.
Um I I lost my mom a few yearsago.
Um that was a moment where Iwould say that I was like, God,
(09:13):
what is going on?
Why would you do this to me?
My life was so like I was on myway to doing great things.
Like my mom never got to seethe other side.
She saw the struggle, but shenever got to see the other side
of things.
So there were so many thingsthat I was just like, God, why
wouldn't you let her see it?
Why, why would she go in thisin-between season in the not yet
(09:38):
season of my life?
I think that's funny enough,when I was more angry.
Never angry enough to walkaway, but we had a lot of
heart-to-heart conversations, alot of um colorful
conversations, me and the Lord.
During that season.
But I think in that earlyseason of following Jesus and
(10:00):
hurting my hip and my world kindof shifting, I saw him as a as
a saving point.
Not not a like, why did youtake this from me?
That, like I said, that didn'tcome until later in my life.
Yeah.
But definitely I've had that.
Yes.
Speaker 03 (10:19):
And I kind of love that you said that.
Obviously, I hate that you wentthrough that, but I love that
you shared that it's not a signof not being a strong Christian
or lacking faith because youhave that colorful conversation
with God when disappointmentcomes.
He created you to be colorful,so you have those colorful
(10:40):
conversations.
Speaker 02 (10:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (10:43):
Yeah, of course.
I I definitely don't think Godis so much bigger than our
questions.
And I I would fight the hill Iwould die on is that he would
rather me ask them than run awayfrom him.
He would rather me have thatconversation with him, that what
the heck is going on?
What are you doing?
I don't understand you.
I will never understand this.
(11:03):
And even that realization oflike, you know what, Lord,
actually, I don't want to knowwhy.
I don't need to know why.
I probably wouldn't be able tohandle the why, if I'm honest.
Why you do the things you do.
I'm very happy that I'm notGod.
I don't want to play God.
I don't want to have to makethose decisions or disappointed
by people.
Because I mean, we all aredisappointed by people.
We know how that feels, butcould you imagine on like a God
(11:25):
level of like these are yourkids?
Yeah, how disappointed weactually are.
Yeah.
I don't I don't want to havethat pressure and that knowing.
So yeah, I would I would fightto say that God wants us to have
those conversations.
He would rather have usgrumbling and angry and being
(11:46):
honest with him than keeping itinside and avoiding him, I would
say.
Speaker 03 (11:51):
Yeah, for sure.
I think like when I walkedthrough, you know, my own season
of grief with Kingston and allof that that we went through, I
I really sat down with God onthe floor and was like, you're
gonna have to reteach me who youare, like your genuine
character, because I thoughtyour goodness looked a certain
way, and that's not thereanymore.
(12:14):
And not that he's not good, butthe image that I had of what a
good God meant was no longerthis perfect picture.
And so I was like, man, you'regonna have to show me, you're
gonna have to teach me because Iwant to believe these things.
And so, you know, not in like aquestioning God way, but in a
genuine, I want to know you andI want to know your heart.
(12:34):
And I like what you said aboutmaybe I don't want to know
everything, and sometimes I haveto remember that because I like
to put puzzle pieces together,but most of the time I'm wrong,
you know, when I try to putthese puzzle pieces together.
But just that's really good tojust realize, like, okay, maybe
I don't want to know this, butthe things that I do want to
know or that God wants us toknow, we want to know those
(12:56):
things.
So that's really good for sure.
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (13:00):
I so I I had a very short conversation with Reese
before we hopped on for this.
And it came up where she waslike, I can't believe that there
are people that don't believein God or that don't believe in
Jesus.
And I said, you know, there'sthere's more than you think.
There are some people that justlook at science not realizing
that there is a creator behindthat science.
(13:22):
And what I, you know, she says,but I, you know, why do bad
things happen?
And I said, we live in a fallenworld.
And I don't think that God, andwe've talked about this before
on the podcast, I don't thinkthat God is sitting there
saying, like, okay, we're gonnado that to you and that to you.
But his heart truly breaks forus when we do go through those
things.
And like you said, like hewould rather us come to him with
(13:46):
that brokenheartedness so thathe can comfort us and show us
that there is a bigger piece toit versus us just completely
shunning him and saying, Allright, I'm done with you.
I can't, I can't handle thisanymore.
So his his heart breaks withours for sure.
Absolutely.
I just he is our father and hewants us, he wants us to come to
him like a child would come totheir dad.
(14:08):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (14:09):
What do you think are some of those things like in
the early days when you werestuck in bed and could just like
study your Bible and that's allyou could do?
What were some of the biggestthings that God did reveal about
himself or about you duringthat time?
Speaker 01 (14:22):
I think for me personally, I think being an
athlete, it's all aboutperformance.
And especially in the track andfield world, partially why I
picked track, I actually wasvery blessed with options for
college.
I know not everybody has thatstory.
I actually got to pick of mythree sports, which one I wanted
to play, and on top of that,what school I wanted to go to.
(14:45):
So I know that I was veryprivileged and blessed with that
decision.
But the reason that I chosetrack was because you do have a
team, however, um, but you arein charge of how you perform in
a sense.
Um I think genetics has somethings to do with that.
But at the end of the day, theharder you work, the better
you're gonna get.
Whereas, like in basketball,you could have the best game in
(15:08):
the history of the basketball,and your team could still lose.
That doesn't apply with me.
I was like, absolutely not,never again.
And if I'm gonna have the bestgame ever, it's the best game
ever.
So in track, you really docompete against yourself.
But again, it's all about whatyou do, what you put into it.
How hard are you gonna work forit?
And being the athlete that Iwas, you get a lot of praise
(15:30):
when you do good.
And you don't get a lot ofattention when you're not doing
good.
Um, and so I think one of thefirst things that he revealed to
me was Um, as much as you thinkit's about you, it's not.
You are not the main characterof this story.
The best role you or the bestaward you're gonna get is maybe
(15:51):
supporting actor, maybe.
You're not, you're not getting,you're not the main character
here.
It is about me, it is about myson.
And you can either get on thattrain or this is gonna be an
even harder journey for you.
So the quicker you canunderstand that.
And two, it's not aboutperformance here.
So it was a lot of unlearningwhat I believed about myself,
(16:16):
what my worth was.
I thought that if I wasn't, andI still deal with this even
today, if I'm not performingwell, whether that be my job, my
duties as a wife, as a sister,as a friend, if I'm not doing,
then I'm not good.
But that's not true in in thekingdom.
(16:36):
It's uh it's a lot more aboutbeing, being in his presence, as
long as you are being in hispresence and doing, doing what
God is asking you to do, notnecessarily what you think you
need to do.
Was a big one.
And then I think too, just Ithink if you would have asked me
who I was back then, it wouldhave been I'm an athlete.
(16:57):
That would have been my firstanswer, my only answer.
Who's Kaylee?
I she's an athlete.
And I had to unlearn that.
I had to, um, I sometimes I saythis when I'm teaching,
sometimes I'm very purposeful inhow um I introduce myself where
I am a Christian first.
I'm always going to be aChristian first.
(17:19):
If I were to do a teaching onracial reconciliation, I would
say that I am a Christian womanwho happens to be black.
That would be my descriptionbecause I'm going to filter
everything through the Christianlens first.
Not what not my female lens,and and not necessarily the
cultural lens of being blackeither.
(17:41):
Like I am a Christian first.
And so that was the biggestthing was my identity in Christ,
really nailing that down,landing that, and that was
game-changing.
Things that used to superbother me, like a bad report out
and like, I don't know, a badgrade did not pay me as much.
Grades are important.
(18:03):
We need to have good grades,those in school.
But my value was not whether ornot I had straight A's.
My value came some fromsomewhere else.
And when I realized that, Iwalked into rooms differently.
I I think it's safe to say Iprobably was cocky when I was an
athlete.
I I was good.
(18:24):
I'm a four-time all-Americanathlete.
I'm in um the Missouri Hall ofFame with a few of my trapped
athlete friends that were on theteam as well.
I have the I have the receiptsto say that I was a good
athlete.
But I don't think I had theright posture prior to Jesus.
I was pretty cocky.
(18:44):
I when I walked into a room, itwasn't that, oh, that girl's a
different.
It's like, oh, that girl thinksthat she's the best.
And I that had to shift.
I had to humble myself, and Iwas humbled.
I feel like the Lord genuinelyhumbled me by setting me down
and putting me on bed rest andsaying, like, hey, this isn't
how I need you to be.
(19:05):
So I think those were thebiggest lessons.
I was humbled.
I learned who I was in Christand found out real quick that I
was not the main character ofthe story.
Uh, that it was very muchJesus.
Speaker 03 (19:18):
I had to laugh a little bit when you said that
because when you were talkingabout, you know, you've had to
really like nail down who youare in Christ.
I'm like, man, most peopledon't learn that until at least
10 years in.
God really hung that in on youat the beginning because most of
the time it's like, okay, we'rea Christian, we're gonna do
this thing, and we get so caughtup in what we do serving, or
(19:38):
what ministry we're in, or whatare we doing for God, and what
are we doing here, and whatsmall group are we leading, and
what are we doing on Sunday andWednesday and Thursday and every
other night?
And it's like, and then you getburnt out, and then it's like,
okay, God, who am I without thisburnout?
And so it's honestly, I justhad a giggle because I'm like,
man, that's like a really umimportant lesson to learn in
(19:59):
your first few months of being aChristian because it takes a
lot longer it took me a lotlonger than yeah.
Speaker 00 (20:06):
Well, and and I I love what you talked about.
You you are a Christian first,and I think especially in the
athletic world, at some pointfor every athlete there will be
an ending.
Yes.
And especially now with the andmaybe it's always been like
this, but I've because mydaughter plays volleyball, she's
been playing for the last fiveyears now, and our life has been
(20:28):
consumed.
And I have thoughts like, okay,what is she gonna do when she's
not playing anymore?
Because this is not it's notgonna be a career for her, I
don't think.
And I worry that she she she's15, so she's still working on
her identity.
And I it like I've wonderedwhat is she gonna feel like when
she stops playing foot or notfootball, volleyball.
(20:50):
Is she gonna wonder, like,okay, who who am I, what do I
do?
And so I'm trying hard toestablish that foundation.
Like, you have to remember whoyou are and whose you are, first
and foremost, becausevolleyball is not who you are.
Yes, you play volleyball,that's one, that's one aspect of
(21:10):
your life, but you have to havethat foundation first.
And it's it's hard becausethere's so many kids that are
just involved in sportsyear-round, multiple sports at
that.
And it's like, what are theygonna do if they can't do that
anymore?
Yeah.
And who's gonna teach themabout all of this?
Speaker 01 (21:29):
Yeah, I think we do.
I personally think we doathletes at this service.
Um, we we push and we push andwe make their whole lives about
the sport and like nail it intheir heads.
It's like, oh, you gotta go tocollege with this.
You gotta you can make it topro, like you could be pro.
(21:50):
I'm like, I think the statslike only three percent of
college athletes even becomepros.
Like the odds are very low thatanyone is gonna be a
professional athlete.
I mean, in my case, I didn't doany internships in college
because all I was doing wastrack.
And I got to the end of mycollegiate life even and
(22:14):
realized I don't even like whatI majored in.
So I'm over here like I gotlike again, I was blessed, I was
on a scholarship, and it's likeI have people are gonna hate
this.
I have three degrees incriminal justice, computer
information systems, andcomputer science.
I don't use any of them.
And I didn't plan on using anyof them at the end of my college
(22:39):
life because I thought I wasgonna be an athlete.
Speaker 00 (22:43):
So you pick you pick something that you thought
would be interesting just to getyou through.
Speaker 01 (22:47):
Yeah.
I was like, I like I like crimeshows, I like crime
documentaries.
This would be fun.
I want to hack computers, thatwould be cool.
And then it like got to the endof I was like, nobody really
sat me down and was like, heygirl, probably not gonna make
it.
Or if you do make it,especially in track, at that
point it was only cool likeevery four years for the
Olympics.
(23:08):
So I don't know what I wasthinking, but nobody was talking
about it.
And so I always, when I'mtalking to students or I'm
talking to athletes, I'm like,you gotta figure it out.
Like if you can figure it outnow who the Lord says you are,
and you can you can get thatdown, the rest of your life is
gonna be so much easier.
And there will be a day whereyou can't run as fast, you're
(23:32):
not gonna be able to jump ashigh, you're not gonna be able
to hit as hard.
And unfortunately, you're notgonna be able to keep up with
the younger athletes anymore.
I mean, whether that is incollege or whether that is
professionally, evenprofessional athletes have to
retire as well.
So if they can figure out whothey are before their athletic
(23:52):
career is done, they're gonna belight years ahead of of other
athletes because that is a abrutal awakening.
And I mean, I did competitive Istarted competitive sports when
I was four years old.
I did gymnastics and was on athe competitive team.
And I spent 18 years incompetitive sports, if you count
(24:15):
all the way up to um the day Iwas done um at my last track
meeting.
Um eighteen years.
Wow I was 22.
I didn't know anything butathletics.
Um even now, sometimes thereare there are thoughts in my
head where I'm like, maybe Ishould do something in
(24:36):
athletics.
And I'm like, I don't do thisanymore.
Like I can't even, I can barelyrun a mile at this point, guys.
I'm very out of shape.
It's neither can I, so you'refine.
It's a struggle, though.
I'm just saying that's gonnaend.
And so my encouragement tostudents, my encouragement to
parents is like, make sure theyknow who they are outside of
this.
If I were to ever havechildren, my husband and I talk
(24:58):
about that as well.
They will know who they are inChrist first before before
anything, whether that is theirathletics, whether that is
theater, whether that's showchoir, whether that's any of the
extracurricular activities thatthey do, they are not what they
do.
They're worth so much more thanwhat they do because that those
(25:20):
things are fleeting.
Those things are gonna end, butGod's love for them is never
gonna end.
And that's what I needstudents, athletes, theater
kids, all of these young peopleto know is that whatever it is
that you're loving right now,that will go away.
But the one thing that's gonnabe stable in your life forever
is the word of God and GodHimself.
Speaker 03 (25:42):
And I think even as adults, thinking about even a
ministry, it's something thatyou're doing for God that you
love and you've poured yourselfinto.
And for whatever reason, it canbe taken away, or I mean, it it
belongs to the Lord anyways,you know, but it can be you
could be an amazing worshipleader and you have a vocal
(26:04):
injury and can't sing anymore.
Or, you know, you can be aspeaker and you can't speak for
whatever reason.
And so it's just whateveryou're doing, even if it's for
the Lord, knowing, okay, well,who am I without this?
What am I, what am I called todo without this thing that I'm
doing right now?
And ultimately it's just lovingGod and making disciples at the
(26:26):
end of the day.
And so that that can look somany different ways.
And I love the story about theguy that you said was the random
guy that would like feed youguys because how cool.
There's just no telling howmany people that trickle down to
that now are saved and aredoing God knows what for the
church or even having kids thatare the raising in the kingdom
(26:48):
of God.
And so it's just really cool tothink about like just those
little things that everyone'sdoing, the little puzzle pieces
and how we all fit together.
That's really cool.
Speaker 01 (26:57):
Yeah, it's it's we're the body, right?
We all have different,different roles, whether, like
you said, in the ministry world,like there's the fivefold
ministry for a reason.
We're not all supposed toteach.
But I think that in in thecapacity of like, I think you
can still teach about Jesus.
I think that, you know, noteveryone can sing, but you can
(27:18):
still show someone how toworship God.
Yeah.
I think that we are all called,um, I think that's a beautiful
thing is that we're all calledto ministry.
It's just an it just looks verydifferent.
And I think that's the thebeauty of our God, right?
And that his creation is sodiverse.
And even how we represent himand how we show people him is
(27:40):
also very diverse.
Um we're we're really bad atplaying the comparison game and
and being like there's one way.
And if you're not, if you'renot preaching on a pulpit on a
Sunday, then you're not makingit.
It's not you.
You're not a pastor.
But it's like, no, I think thatelementary school teachers are
pastoring their students.
And just because you don't havethe title pastor does not mean
(28:03):
that you can't shepherd andbring people to the Lord and
take care of people.
Um I think we do such a sillyjob of pinning it all on pastors
that are vocational pastors anduh realizing that we have a
responsibility in ourneighborhoods in our houses.
Your home may be the onlychurch somebody walks into, kind
(28:24):
of thing.
Like the kids that come over toyour house to play with your
kids, that might be the onlychurch that they ever go into.
So what are we doing to showpeople the love of Jesus outside
of the four walls of thechurch?
You know, I think that's reallyimportant.
Speaker 00 (28:40):
Yeah, that's really I think that God has has given
each of us a very unique anddistinct talent to bring glory
to his kingdom that nobody elsehas.
And so we've talked about thisbefore too, where you know, you
compare like, oh, I wish I wasas good of a singer, or I wish I
was this, I wish, but there'ssomething that you have that
(29:01):
nobody else has.
Yeah.
And you just have to unlock it.
And I remember my dad, I had aconversation with my dad years
ago, and one thing that likeI've always remembered is that
he said, It doesn't matter whatyou do as long as you take him
with you.
You could you could be outwashing cars and still being a
disciple.
So, like what you said, youdon't have to be a a pastor by
(29:24):
profession.
You're still leading people inthe everyday stuff that you're
doing as long as he's with you.
Speaker 01 (29:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
My husband is a police officer,and that is his ministry.
Okay, he will tell you thatthat he gets to be in people's
darkest moments and gets to bethe light.
He gets to represent Jesus inpeople's darkest times.
This man will text me and belike, Yeah, I uh unfortunately I
(29:50):
had to had to take this man tojail, but we started talking and
he gave his gave his life toJesus in the back of my cop
cart.
And I'm just like, Who are you?
I love that.
Who are you?
And I'm the one that's invocational ministry.
And he's the one that prays forpeople at publics.
And I'm like, can you hurry upat self-checkout?
I'm trying to go.
Like, and he's up, I'm like,where is he?
(30:12):
And he's praying for people.
Right.
So it's like, just because youdon't do it vocationally doesn't
mean that you're not making adifference.
Um and he's like the perfectexample of that.
Because you would never think,like, I don't know, you would
you when you think policeofficers, you just think they're
taking people to jail, andthat's that.
But those are people.
unknown (30:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (30:31):
Those are people that are driving the police
cars, and those are real peoplein the back of them as well.
And and he very much sees thatand he very much takes advantage
of those opportunities.
So yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 00 (30:44):
We had a a guest speaker at our church this last
weekend, and he was talkingabout how his wife was shopping
one day and she overheard thisother woman saying, Yeah, I
guess we're gonna need to haveto, you know, find a new home
church.
And she just scoots a littlebit closer, and she's like, Did
I hear that you said you werelooking for and she like she got
this woman to come to churchand he says, So now her her
(31:06):
evangelism, her evangelism isthrough the gift of shopping.
And so she'll come home withall these bags, and he's like,
Where were you?
She says, Well, I was justspreading the word of the Lord
today.
Speaker 01 (31:17):
I'm gonna have to use that one.
Speaker 00 (31:18):
I was gonna say, I'm gonna have to try that out.
But shopping is her gift, andhe says, and and she's she's
made her way into the you knowthe Amazon ministry, and it was
really funny.
I was um, I was thinking howwhen you were talking earlier
about how you you came to churchand the day that you gave your
(31:41):
life to Christ.
I I love stories like that whenwhen people come in later in
life, not when they're they'vejust grown up in it, because it
really shows the ripple of whatwill be in the future.
My dad was the same story.
He was invited to church by oneof his friends that he played
(32:02):
Little League with, and hebecame a Christian, and as a
result of that, my grandparentsbecame Christian, we were raised
Christian.
Now my husband's like it's justuh continuing, and it's so cool
to see that because of thedecision that you made later on
in life.
unknown (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (32:20):
I love my my journey with the Lord.
Um, I do feel as if it was abit um like on the expedited
track if I'm not I'm like, I'mnot gonna lie there.
It did feel like once I was in,I was in.
Um and the Lord made it.
Um yeah, I felt like heexpedited my faith journey
(32:43):
because I ended up in ministryvery, very quickly, which was
never, never my my plan.
I could not have written this.
I would have it would have beena totally different story if I
was in charge of things.
Yeah, I love it because it itdoes, especially like at 22.
(33:04):
I mean, yes, that's now thatI'm 31, I'm like 22 is a baby.
I I would say that I I feellike I can still relate to those
who are just like on the cuspof getting there.
Um, because I can remember.
I can remember my life prior tothe Lord, and I know my life
(33:31):
now.
Um and I know how depressed andsad and anxious that I was
before I met the Lord.
And those things exist on theother side of my yes, but
they're not nearly as dauntingas they were prior.
And being able to have thoseconversations with people, being
(33:52):
able to go into, I also wasblessed to be a college age
pastor at one point in my life.
And actually at the collegethat I went to, and it was right
across the street from thechurch that I was serving at.
And being able to go to theathletes and and talk to them
and and feed them like that manhad fed me, and being able to
talk to them just about like,look, I know what campus life is
(34:16):
like here.
I know the parties you'regrowing to.
I was there.
I was doing the same things youwere doing, but I'm on the
other side to tell you thatthere's something bigger than
this.
And there's nothing morehumbling than pastoring people
who you used to party with.
That's insane.
They've seen me at my worst,and then being up there trying
(34:38):
to preach the word and knowingthat like the whole front row
has seen me at my absolute worstis a crazy journey.
But there's such a testimony toit too, where they can't deny
the transformation that's infront of them because I'm a
completely different person.
(34:58):
We we're not gonna bringeverybody to the Lord.
I think there are some peoplethat they just need to hear it
from other people.
Just like I have been in thatdiscipleship group with that
pastor, and it wasn't until ateammate invited me to church
and some other random persongave the word that I gave my
life to Jesus.
I think that that's encouraginghis obedience to still making
(35:22):
sure I had a solid enoughfoundation for when that moment
clicked for me, and that he wasstill, like I said, obedient in
that.
He he dealt with me for a wholeyear where I questioned
everything.
And I was like, this is no.
I don't believe you.
How can that be true?
He had to deal with a lot of myhard, hard-headedness.
But I'm grateful for that.
(35:44):
I'm grateful that he didn'tgive up on me, that he didn't
ask me to stop coming justbecause I didn't say yes to
Jesus um and continue to feed memeals.
Literally all just all he didwas feed us food.
If you want to get to a collegestudent's heart, you just feed
them.
Just give them food.
You'll eventually get there.
Yeah, it's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 03 (36:07):
People only share the highlights, like unless
you're deep in connection withthem.
Because I think now, andhonestly, a lot of my circle,
especially on social media, arepeople who aren't believers.
And that's just maybe because Idid party for a while and I did
the music scene thing and stufflike that.
But I think also because I justlove all types of people.
(36:31):
And so I don't just connectwith people who are in the
church.
And so many times I'm like,well, they seem happy.
I don't know why I have it inmy head of I only need to invite
people to church if like theyneed they have a need, like
they're down and they're they'rehaving a hard time.
Oh, let me invite you to churchbecause I know what can fix
(36:52):
that, you know.
And so you even saying that,you know, the depression and the
anxiety and the confusion.
And it's so important toremember that because every time
I've talked to somebody thatdoes have a story where they
connected and got saved later onin life, it's like they remind
me that there isn't true joy andhope and peace on the other
(37:13):
side of that.
They may have it momentarily orcircumstantially, but they're
not there that that doesn'texist outside of Jesus.
And so it's so good toremember, like I need to be
inviting people to church andtelling people about Jesus
because they may seem happy,they may seem all right, but I
mean ultimately, even if theyare happy and they are all
right, like at the end of theday, that's not what is the most
(37:35):
important thing.
Speaker 00 (37:36):
And I I think it's important for us to remember,
like you said, it's not our,it's it's not our job to convert
people, it's our job to plantthose seeds, just like you said.
Like, so if he was not sowingthat seed, if he did ask you to
stop coming, but at least youhad that knowledge and that
faith base to bring you just alittle bit closer.
(37:58):
And I had I had overheardsomething else recently.
Somebody said, We are the mostequipped to disciple people who
we used to be.
So, like the fact that you arepreaching to those college-age
kids where they know that thisis where you used to be, this is
what you do, you'veexperienced, you are the most
equipped for that because you'vebeen through it.
Speaker 01 (38:20):
Yeah, we're the only ones that disqualify ourselves.
God doesn't take your story anddisqualify you.
It's like if anything, it itall like qualifies you like like
you were saying.
Speaker 00 (38:31):
Yeah.
It brings that connection topeople too.
Speaker 01 (38:35):
Yeah, and and I also believe something that that man
did really well and that I'vekind of taken and is like kind
of like a life lesson or a lifemotto for me is it's it's not my
job to change people, it's myjob to leave them without an
excuse.
When they leave me, are theyleft without an excuse of seeing
(38:59):
who Jesus is?
Yes or no.
And if I can say yes, then thenI've done what I believe the
Lord has asked me to do.
That man left me without many,many of excuses.
I couldn't say that I didn'tknow who Jesus was after going
to his group.
I just wasn't choosing him.
But that doesn't mean that hewas a failure.
(39:19):
Didn't it fail?
He every meeting, every week, Iwas at his house every week for
dinner and left without anexcuse of giving my life to
Jesus.
It was I chose not to, right?
But the biggest thing, lookingback at it, is like he was very
successful in his discipleshipof me.
It was me who didn't take himup on his offers every week.
(39:43):
That had nothing to do with himand everything to do with me.
And so when we are out tryingto, I don't know, convert family
members or save family membersor try to get them to come to
church and they're just notcoming, your job is to leave
them without an excuse.
Invite them, don't say no forthem, let them say no.
And because you never know whenthat one time you ask, they
(40:07):
finally say yes.
Yeah.
Um, or it may be somebody elsethat asks and they go with them.
unknown (40:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (40:15):
But you're still successful in staying obedient
to leaving them without anexcuse.
And I think that that's one ofthe biggest lessons when I look
back at that moment that I getover that whole entire story is
that this man was adamant, and Ichose not to say yes, but that
doesn't make him a failure.
unknown (40:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (40:35):
Well, he saw the value and the worth of not
giving up on you, which I thinkis really neat too.
unknown (40:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (40:41):
I just think about that the other day, you know how
we say sometimes when it's afamily member or somebody that
we may not be able to speak intotheir life, and sometimes I
just pray and I'm like, Lord,send them somebody that will be
able to speak into their life.
And and I was praying this andI just felt the Lord say, Who
are you being that person to?
You know, we're praying to forthis person to exist for the
people you love, but are youbeing that person to someone
(41:05):
that someone else loves?
You know, because we may be wemay be able to speak into
somebody's life that theirmother, brother, sister, best
friend can't in the way that wecan.
And so it's good, you know, wejust because we can't reach
certain people doesn't mean weshould stop trying to reach
other people.
Speaker 01 (41:24):
Right.
Absolutely.
I I agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 03 (41:28):
Yeah.
I would love to know if thereare any scriptures or moments or
people that like really justhave stuck out to you, like
things that have really beentransformative in your walk with
God or even in like let's saythe last couple years.
Speaker 01 (41:44):
Um I love the creation story.
It is like my I absolutelypositively love it, I think,
because um I am such a a justiceperson.
I guess I do use my criminaljustice degree to kind of like
(42:06):
one, understand my husband, andto um I come to do my biblical
justice work, I compare it a lotto to criminal justice.
And what I really where we wentwrong is is that man wanted to
define good and evil forthemselves rather than letting
(42:28):
God do it.
We we see countless times inthe creation story where he he
creates and he calls it good.
He gives us the definition ofgood, and he even calls us very
good.
At the end of it all, wedecided to take that and we
wanted to define what is what isgood, and that is the ultimate
(42:49):
division of people you see thatin.
I mean, the easiest example ispolitics, right?
Wherever you stand on theboard, you believe you're right.
Um, and there's that is why,like biblical justice, you have
to allow God to define what isgood.
And when you look at it throughthe lens of creation and
(43:11):
people, we are very good,therefore everyone is good.
Everyone is right in the senseof how we treat them, right?
There's that is why I say, youknow, we're not we're not in
charge of changing people.
Only only God can changepeople.
But that's like the ultimatething I find in the creation
(43:32):
story is just like we're made inhis image, our image.
The Trinity itself is diverse.
So why wouldn't God's creation,why wouldn't we as humanity be
diverse if we're made in theirimage?
Diversity is there from thejump.
And for us to truly, I believe,to truly grasp the Imago Dei,
(43:54):
which is the image of God, therehas to be diversity.
Speaker 02 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (43:58):
Our churches are cannot grasp that unless our
churches are diverse.
And I'm not even talking justracially, I'm talking economic,
I'm talking age.
We get so caught up ondiversity and and diversity
being race, right?
It's a black and white issue,but it's so much bigger than
(44:20):
that when I'm consultingchurches and they're talking
about diversity.
I always tell them that theyneed to accurately represent the
community they're sitting in.
And that looks like how manysingle moms are in your
neighborhood?
And how many single moms are atyour church?
How many addicts are in yourneighborhood?
And how many of those peopleattend your church?
What is the age demographic?
(44:42):
There's a lot of churches thathave racial goals that would
literally require every personof color in that entire town to
attend their churchspecifically.
It's like that's just likenever gonna happen realistically
in any in any way.
But it's how are werepresenting our community and
how are we looking at them likeJesus would look at them?
(45:02):
And we cannot forget that we'reall created in the image of
God.
And if there's not diversity,is our are our communities
really bearing the image of God?
If there's diversity in theImago Day.
And so that's why I love thecreation story, because it all
the Bible's one big storyline,right?
It's us in relationship withGod.
(45:22):
It's it's us in the garden, andthen we end in the ultimate
garden, like the New Jerusalem.
And um, I have a friend, hisname is Shane Wood, and he has a
book called Between Two Trees.
That's how he labels it, right?
And it's all about the wholeentire Bible is getting back to
(45:44):
the creation story.
Creation is separate from thefall.
That's a completely differentthing.
But I love the creation storybecause that's ultimately what
the entire Bible is leading usback to.
And if you can grasp thatconcept that we're just going
back to that, then the entireBible will make sense.
(46:07):
So I think that's why I love itbecause I feel like it's the
key to unlocking everything elsein the Bible.
Speaker 03 (46:14):
When you look at it through the lens of the goal of
going back to that, it makessense.
So when you first startedreading the Bible, did you start
there?
I'm curious.
Like, because it's how it's afair time.
Okay.
Speaker 01 (46:26):
No, no, I didn't start it at the No.
I think the very first book ofthe Bible I read was Luke.
I think, uh yeah, I think Iread Luke and then went right
into Acts and was like, I don'tknow.
I personally love John.
John is my favorite one becausehe names names, and I love that
about him.
He's he's he's here for thedrama.
(46:47):
He's not gonna be like, adisciple did it.
He's like, it was Peter.
I love that because I'm aweirdo and I like the real
housewives and John's accountsof stories of Philbert, in my
opinion.
But no, I also love I loveJohn's account too, because John
also was very influenced by thebeginning of the Bible based on
(47:09):
how he begins his.
And ultimately, John is writinghis gospel and leaving us
without an excuse to know whoJesus was.
A lot of the the the gospelaccounts of are about what Jesus
did.
But John is very, very adamanton you who Jesus was.
(47:30):
And that's why I like John somuch.
Because if you really, becauseagain, if you can understand
that we're just trying to getback to the beginning, and you
understand who Jesus is, you dorealize that he is the key to
getting back.
Um so I think that that wouldbe my absolute favorite gospel,
(47:54):
is John.
My favorite story is Genesis,because I think it just unlocks
this whole theologicalplayground that is the Bible.
And then don't even get mestarted on Revelation, because I
actually do very, very muchenjoy Revelation.
But that is, I do, I do, butthat is because of my friend
Shane Wood.
Um he's a biblical professor atOzark Christian College, and he
(48:18):
uh wrote his dissertation onthe book of Revelation.
He's a very, very smart man,and I was blessed enough to meet
him as a college student.
He taught it at the Biblecollege in our town, and um, but
I didn't know him as like Shadethe theologian.
Um, like I knew him as this guywho was super funny, and when I
(48:39):
was on crutches, I would takeone of my crutches and put it on
the other side of the room, butthen bring it back.
I just thought it was that's mysense of humor.
Very funny.
And so we just bonded likethat, and he would answer all my
questions, and he very much isexcited about revelation.
So if you're ever curious aboutit, Shane would.
I'll have to let people take itdown for you.
(49:00):
Yeah, he makes it very um, verytangible.
He takes the scary out of it.
He very much takes the scaryout of it, and it's like, let's
look at it for what it is.
And this may be what you'veheard about it, but this is what
it's actually, what's actuallygoing on.
He's very good about that.
So I'm very much a beginningand an end of the Bible kind of
(49:23):
girl.
Um, I mean, I love the word ofGod in general.
Speaker 03 (49:27):
Which is like really eminent, and that's super cool.
I would I would love to knowtoo, like one thing that you
said, and we only have a couplemore questions because I know
time is like yeah precious, butum We can talk forever.
I know.
But when you said um leavingpeople with no excuse, what is
give me two practical things ofwhat that could look like.
Speaker 01 (49:49):
Yeah.
I think that I think that couldlook because if you're not
careful, that can look very likeaggressive, leaving people
without an excuse.
I think that it it's about Ithink it could be something as
simple as your character.
At your at your workplace,wherever that is, or your school
(50:10):
if you're a student, if theyknow you're a Christian, don't
be acting a fool.
Um don't you're ruining it forthe rest of us.
We already have a roughreputation.
I don't need you helping.
But yeah, I think part of likeleaving people without an excuse
is like having, I mean, I thinkhaving boundaries could be part
(50:30):
of that.
It could be when you are outwith your friends and they're
indulging in whatever it is thatthey're choosing to indulge in.
Um you have a limit.
Whether that's like I only haveone drink or I don't drink in
public.
I think it's just like whateverit is for you, I I can't I
(50:51):
can't tell you what's right orwrong because I'm not in your
context or culture or areas.
I know that I have friends whodon't drink at all, and I have
friends who that's not an issuefor.
It is what it is.
But I think things like that,very simple, like just you.
I wish people would reallytruly understand that it's not
just cliche, but actions dospeak louder than words.
(51:12):
How you act when people aregossiping matters.
My dream would be to have thethe reputation that we don't
gossip when Kaylee's aroundbecause she doesn't do it.
So don't even share it with herbecause she's not gonna, she's
not gonna be a part of it.
She'll shut it down.
It's little things like thatthat I think leave people
without an excuse of knowing whoJesus is.
(51:33):
I think that's a good thing.
I think that his character.
Yeah.
I think reflecting hischaracter is the ultimate, the
ultimate way, whether that isyeah, I think, yeah, whether
that is inviting people intoyour home, whether that is
having the boundaries.
I mean, Jesus was hanging outwith sinners all the time, but
he wasn't sinning with them.
(51:54):
I think that that's leavingpeople without an excuse.
He was different.
People should look at you as afollower of Jesus and and see
something different about you.
You shouldn't be like the restof the world, whether that's
with your voice or whetherthat's with your posture or take
on things.
And then also I think leavingpeople without an excuse is for
(52:17):
your family, it's reading yourBible out in the open.
unknown (52:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (52:22):
I mean, yes, there's times where we need to step
away and we need to do itprivately, but nothing leaves
people without an excuse to pickup their Bible than seeing
their mom in the living roomreading their Bible.
I know.
Speaker 03 (52:33):
And it's so easy to be like doing it on my phone and
like I'll do my littledevotional on my phone.
And then I think for me, onething I know Kingston sees me do
a lot is pray.
That's like the one thing.
Maybe not read my Bible all thetime, but he always sees me
pray through over everything.
And it's interesting now ashe's getting older, he's almost
(52:54):
12.
That's like the one thing he'sknown for in youth is like
Kingston's gonna be the one topray.
Like he will pray forsomething.
Like last night my husband wentto pick him up at youth, and um
he I was like, Hey, did you getKingston?
And he's like, he's prayingwith somebody, like he'll be
done in a minute, you know?
And it's just it's just one ofthose things where like they
truly do like watch what you do.
(53:15):
And that's that's such a coolthing to think about, even not
just as a parent, but myfriends.
Like my friends are gonna watchwhat I do.
And if they see me, like prayover something instead of
gossip, like you said, or getmad at a situation, like they're
watching how we handle grief,how we handle losing our job,
(53:37):
how we handle losingfriendships.
So yeah.
Speaker 01 (53:40):
Yeah, everyone has influence.
I know that influencer is likea crazy term in 2025 and it
means a totally different thing,but we all have an influence,
whether you realize it or not.
And I think that's part of theleaving people without an
excuse.
It's a lot less about tellingpeople what to do, and it's more
about like showing people whatto do.
Speaker 00 (54:00):
I I've told Reese on a couple of occasions when I
drop her off for school, I'mlike, okay, remember, smell like
Jesus.
She's like, no.
Speaker 01 (54:09):
Yeah, my friend Shane will tell his kids, hey,
remember who you are.
Remember who you are.
Um, because they've done areally good job of reminding
their kids of who they arethrough Christ.
And as as a the wood family,this is who we are.
So when you go to places, youremember who you are kind of
thing.
It's one thing that I'vedefinitely picked up from him.
(54:29):
Yeah, that's so neat.
Speaker 03 (54:31):
I hate that we have to end, but I would love to
sound good.
I know.
I would love it just as we end,if you wouldn't mind praying
for our listeners.
And I think just specifically,if you could pray for people who
are either on the cusp of fullysurrendering to God, or like
they just gave their life overto Jesus, or maybe they gave
(54:52):
their life over to him a longtime ago and now they're having
those doubts and questions andyou know, not sure what they
believe.
Speaker 01 (54:58):
So yeah, absolutely.
Well, wherever you are, unlessyou're driving, go ahead and bow
your head.
Heavenly Father, goodnessgracious, you are just such a
good God, and we are just sograteful to have a God of your
your character and your yourstature.
(55:19):
Lord, I just pray specificallyfor those who are questioning
whether or not this is thelifestyle that they want to
live.
God, I just pray that thiswould be their moment, this
would be their time to take thatstep to move forward in this
journey that is following you.
God, I pray that you wouldsurround them with people to
(55:41):
help support them in thisdecision.
God, and I just pray that evenjust they would take it one step
at a time, one day at a time,God, that it would just be a it
wouldn't be that they need to beperfect.
God, I would just I break thatthought off of anyone who's who
believes that this walk meansbeing perfect.
We don't have to be perfectbecause you are.
(56:03):
It's it's about being committedto you.
It's not about knowing themost, it's about knowing the one
who knows the most, God, andthat is you.
So I pray for for those peoplewho who want to take that step,
God, but just don't know how todo it.
I pray that you would just givethem the wisdom, that your Holy
Spirit would meet them wherethey are, that you would give
(56:25):
them the courage to moveforward, to ask the questions,
to show up at church and andraise their hand to to go to
somebody at church and say, Hey,I don't really know what this
is about, but I want to know.
God, give them the courage,surround them with the people.
And I pray for those who whoalso just did give their life to
Jesus, who have given theirlife to Jesus, God, and maybe
(56:46):
those of us who have beenfollowing for a while, but we
just feel like something's alittle off.
God, I just pray that you wouldjust realign us.
There's nothing wrong with witha realignment, a recommitment,
God.
Um when we drive our car, Lord,that we have to eventually take
them in because they start toveer to the left or to the
right, God, and we have to takethem in to get them realigned to
(57:08):
get back on track, God.
So I just right now I we bringour spiritual lives to you.
Realign us, keep us back on thestraight path and the narrow
path, God.
And help us to just continue towalk out this life with hand in
hand with you.
Bring us back to the garden,God.
Bring us back in relationshipwith you.
And Heavenly Father, justanyone who's listening, God, you
(57:29):
know who's going to belistening to this.
Any unspoken prayer requestthat isn't said in this in this
moment, God, I just pray thatyou would meet them.
Anyone who is feeling lonely,forgotten, God, is anyone who's
feeling small, God, I wish thatyou would just meet them right
where they're at, God.
Give them a holy hug rightwhere they're at.
And we ask all these things inyour son's name.
(57:51):
Amen.
Speaker 03 (57:54):
Thank you so much for joining us for this episode
of the Walk Through Podcast.
We love getting to sit downwith Kaylee and hear how God has
been faithful to her in everyseason.
Her reminder that true peaceonly comes from Him, and that
our feelings don't have todefine us is something we all
can carry into our walks.
If this episode encouraged you,share it with a friend and
(58:16):
don't forget to subscribe so younever miss a conversation.
We'll see you next time on theWalkthrough podcast with Janina
and Kylie.
Welcome back to the Walkthrough Podcast with your
hosts, Gianina and Kiley.
This is the place where we getreal about life, faith, and the
lessons God teaches us along theway.
Today we're so excited towelcome Kaylee Harvey to the
conversation.
Kaylee shares her powerfulstory of walking through an
identity crisis after herathletic career of 18 years
(00:22):
suddenly ended just two weeksafter giving her life to Jesus.
She opens up about how Godredefined her identity, taught
her the importance ofboundaries, and brought her out
of the desert season into aplace of renewed joy and
confidence in him.
You're gonna love this one.
This is so much fun and soexciting for me.
(00:51):
I was actually telling Kylie alittle bit about you before you
hopped on and like how we gotconnected and things like that.
And I know we've had thisconversation too, where I just
said everything that you saidwhen we did um the Krigma
retreat was like pointing backto Jesus.
And that was just, I mean, likeyou would imagine that that
would always be the case inchurch, but especially when
(01:14):
people share in a panel or in ateaching way, I think it's easy
to put your opinion andinterject your opinion in that,
which is totally fine.
But I just loved that.
I was like, man, literallyeverything is well, this is what
I think Jesus would do, or thisis what I think Jesus would
like say in this situation, orwhat what he did do in this
situation.
So I'm just excited to have youon and thank you so much for
(01:36):
just sharing your gifts and yourtalents with us too.
So thank you.
unknown (01:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (01:42):
Well, I would love it if you wouldn't mind just
sharing a little bit aboutyourself and your story and how
you came to know the Lord.
Speaker 01 (01:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
My name is Kayleigh Harvey, andI live in the wonderful state
of Florida with my wonderfulhusband.
But I did not always live inFlorida.
I actually grew up in uhsouthwest Missouri.
And that is actually where Imet the Lord.
Um, I was a senior in collegewhenever I met Jesus.
(02:11):
And growing up in like theBible belt in small town USA,
you know, you know about Jesus,like whether you like it or not.
You're gonna find out about himeventually.
And I grew up in one of thosetowns that, you know, you were
real, real smart about who youstayed the night with on
Saturday night because you weregoing to church with them,
(02:34):
whether you liked it or not.
So you were real smart aboutwho had the cool youth group and
then who didn't.
So always growing up, I knew ofJesus.
Um, but it wasn't until mysenior year of college that I
actually met him.
Funnily enough, was there wasthis man, I say this man like he
was random.
He was the college age pastor,but in my mind, he was just like
(02:56):
this man who kept popping upeverywhere that I was.
And they would feed our trackteam.
I ran track in college, and sothey would feed our track team
all the time.
He was always around and wewould chit-chat.
And eventually he asked me tojoin a discipleship group with a
bunch of Bible collegestudents.
(03:17):
So it's like me, this randomathlete who is not a believer,
and all these Bible collegestudents who, in their own
right, thought they were thesmartest theologian in the
entire planet.
Which more power to him, theyknew more than I did.
But um with that, actually, Iwas in this discipleship group
(03:37):
for probably about a year, andthen I finally won church
service, um, gave my life toJesus.
And really, I ended up at thechurch service because I I had a
track teammate who invited me.
Um we were not, we were notfriends.
I would probably say at thetime we were we were enemies,
(03:59):
didn't like her, didn't like me,but we shared a death in our
family at the same time.
Funerals were on the same day,came back at the same time, and
God has jokes, and our lockerswere right next to each other.
So we came back and they werejust full of notes from our
teammates, which was so sweet.
And we found ourselves in thelocker room at the same time,
(04:20):
and she was crying, and um I'mjust like sitting there because
I'm like a little uncomfortablebecause I'm like, I don't know
what to do.
This girl's like crying next tome, and she I remember she
looked up at me and was like,Will you go to church with me on
Sunday?
And I was like, Yeah.
Um uh because I'm not hard todo.
How can you say that?
(04:40):
Yeah, I mean, I'm not fullyknown Jesus, but I wasn't like a
heartless human being.
So I was just like, Yeah, sure,I'll go with you.
And um, it was that servicethat I actually um could not
tell you what the message wasabout, have no idea.
Um but I just remember at theend of it them just being like,
(05:02):
hey, like if you want to giveyour life to Jesus, if you
really wanna want to change,raise your hand.
And I I did, I raised my hand.
And two weeks later, I ended upinjuring myself.
I hurt my hip.
I thought that was what I wasgonna do the rest of my life,
and all of a sudden it was takenaway.
But luckily, happily, I hadgiven my life over to Jesus and
(05:27):
was like super about it.
And that's what I did with theLord.
And so my first month offollowing Jesus after that, I um
was injured and didn't haveanything to do.
And I thought I was gonna bethis athlete.
And then all of a sudden Iwasn't an athlete anymore.
I literally had hip surgery andwas on bed rest.
(05:49):
Really felt like the Lord satme down and was like, look, I
need you focused here.
I need you to understand whatis happening and what my word is
and what I say and who I sayyou are, not who you think you
are.
Um, and he made sure that I sawit.
He made sure that I read it,and he made sure that I knew it.
(06:09):
Um, and the only way, knowingme, the only way that was gonna
happen genuinely is if I was onbedrisk, because I'm always
moving and grooving and doingsomething.
So the Lord sat me down realquick and was like, You think
this is what you're doing withyour life, but you will be
mistaken.
So, yeah, that is like thereally quick roundabout way of
(06:30):
how I I came to the Lord.
I was a teammate.
Um, we're really good friendsnow.
My way ended up in her wedding.
And her being obedient to theHoly Spirit prompting her.
It's a lesson that I I havetaken with me in in ministry and
very much am an advocate of notsaying no for people.
(06:53):
Because I think that in hermind I was gonna say no.
But because she was obedient tothe Lord and the Holy Spirit
prompting her to ask me, itchanged the entire trajectory of
my life.
So definitely don't say no forpeople because you do not know
what a simple invitation tochurch is is gonna do to
somebody.
Speaker 03 (07:12):
For sure.
Absolutely.
Do you feel like during thattime there was ever a moment
where like you just met theLord, you know, like you just
really gave your life to him.
And then this big life-alteringmoment happens.
Was there ever a point whereyou were like, I don't want to
say blaming him, but kind oflike, really, God, like I just
surrendered my life to you, andnow my entire world is upside
(07:36):
down.
Speaker 01 (07:38):
Funnily enough, no.
There, there, and I mean, therewere times where I was like
angry and like, what the heck?
Like, what is going on?
Um, but it was never like a Inever have viewed it as a blame
game on him.
I've always viewed it as a likesaving point.
I don't know what I would havedone if I did.
(08:00):
And again, I know it's like twoweeks, but again, you I knew of
him.
So it wasn't like I went fromnever knowing a lick about Jesus
or or the Bible to giving mylife to him.
I knew of him.
And I had been in this likegroup and heard about him for a
while, but I never reallybelieved truly until that day at
(08:24):
church.
And I think it's in true Godfashion too to use somebody that
you don't like.
Um kind of like he he will doanything and everything to get
your attention.
I think he knew that again, Iwasn't heartless.
I was gonna say yes if she wastrying.
Yeah, I I never I never saw iteven today.
I don't, I never was like, God,how could you?
(08:48):
I think there were other timesin my life where I I thought
that.
I think that those questionsactually came in in my more
seasoned years as a believer.
Um I I lost my mom a few yearsago.
Um that was a moment where Iwould say that I was like, God,
(09:13):
what is going on?
Why would you do this to me?
My life was so like I was on myway to doing great things.
Like my mom never got to seethe other side.
She saw the struggle, but shenever got to see the other side
of things.
So there were so many thingsthat I was just like, God, why
wouldn't you let her see it?
Why, why would she go in thisin-between season in the not yet
(09:38):
season of my life?
I think that's funny enough,when I was more angry.
Never angry enough to walkaway, but we had a lot of
heart-to-heart conversations, alot of um colorful
conversations, me and the Lord.
During that season.
But I think in that earlyseason of following Jesus and
(10:00):
hurting my hip and my world kindof shifting, I saw him as a as
a saving point.
Not not a like, why did youtake this from me?
That, like I said, that didn'tcome until later in my life.
Yeah.
But definitely I've had that.
Yes.
Speaker 03 (10:19):
And I kind of love that you said that.
Obviously, I hate that you wentthrough that, but I love that
you shared that it's not a signof not being a strong Christian
or lacking faith because youhave that colorful conversation
with God when disappointmentcomes.
He created you to be colorful,so you have those colorful
(10:40):
conversations.
Speaker 02 (10:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (10:43):
Yeah, of course.
I I definitely don't think Godis so much bigger than our
questions.
And I I would fight the hill Iwould die on is that he would
rather me ask them than run awayfrom him.
He would rather me have thatconversation with him, that what
the heck is going on?
What are you doing?
I don't understand you.
I will never understand this.
(11:03):
And even that realization oflike, you know what, Lord,
actually, I don't want to knowwhy.
I don't need to know why.
I probably wouldn't be able tohandle the why, if I'm honest.
Why you do the things you do.
I'm very happy that I'm notGod.
I don't want to play God.
I don't want to have to makethose decisions or disappointed
by people.
Because I mean, we all aredisappointed by people.
We know how that feels, butcould you imagine on like a God
(11:25):
level of like these are yourkids?
Yeah, how disappointed weactually are.
Yeah.
I don't I don't want to havethat pressure and that knowing.
So yeah, I would I would fightto say that God wants us to have
those conversations.
He would rather have usgrumbling and angry and being
(11:46):
honest with him than keeping itinside and avoiding him, I would
say.
Speaker 03 (11:51):
Yeah, for sure.
I think like when I walkedthrough, you know, my own season
of grief with Kingston and allof that that we went through, I
I really sat down with God onthe floor and was like, you're
gonna have to reteach me who youare, like your genuine
character, because I thoughtyour goodness looked a certain
way, and that's not thereanymore.
(12:14):
And not that he's not good, butthe image that I had of what a
good God meant was no longerthis perfect picture.
And so I was like, man, you'regonna have to show me, you're
gonna have to teach me because Iwant to believe these things.
And so, you know, not in like aquestioning God way, but in a
genuine, I want to know you andI want to know your heart.
(12:34):
And I like what you said aboutmaybe I don't want to know
everything, and sometimes I haveto remember that because I like
to put puzzle pieces together,but most of the time I'm wrong,
you know, when I try to putthese puzzle pieces together.
But just that's really good tojust realize, like, okay, maybe
I don't want to know this, butthe things that I do want to
know or that God wants us toknow, we want to know those
(12:56):
things.
So that's really good for sure.
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (13:00):
I so I I had a very short conversation with Reese
before we hopped on for this.
And it came up where she waslike, I can't believe that there
are people that don't believein God or that don't believe in
Jesus.
And I said, you know, there'sthere's more than you think.
There are some people that justlook at science not realizing
that there is a creator behindthat science.
(13:22):
And what I, you know, she says,but I, you know, why do bad
things happen?
And I said, we live in a fallenworld.
And I don't think that God, andwe've talked about this before
on the podcast, I don't thinkthat God is sitting there
saying, like, okay, we're gonnado that to you and that to you.
But his heart truly breaks forus when we do go through those
things.
And like you said, like hewould rather us come to him with
(13:46):
that brokenheartedness so thathe can comfort us and show us
that there is a bigger piece toit versus us just completely
shunning him and saying, Allright, I'm done with you.
I can't, I can't handle thisanymore.
So his his heart breaks withours for sure.
Absolutely.
I just he is our father and hewants us, he wants us to come to
him like a child would come totheir dad.
(14:08):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (14:09):
What do you think are some of those things like in
the early days when you werestuck in bed and could just like
study your Bible and that's allyou could do?
What were some of the biggestthings that God did reveal about
himself or about you duringthat time?
Speaker 01 (14:22):
I think for me personally, I think being an
athlete, it's all aboutperformance.
And especially in the track andfield world, partially why I
picked track, I actually wasvery blessed with options for
college.
I know not everybody has thatstory.
I actually got to pick of mythree sports, which one I wanted
to play, and on top of that,what school I wanted to go to.
(14:45):
So I know that I was veryprivileged and blessed with that
decision.
But the reason that I chosetrack was because you do have a
team, however, um, but you arein charge of how you perform in
a sense.
Um I think genetics has somethings to do with that.
But at the end of the day, theharder you work, the better
you're gonna get.
Whereas, like in basketball,you could have the best game in
(15:08):
the history of the basketball,and your team could still lose.
That doesn't apply with me.
I was like, absolutely not,never again.
And if I'm gonna have the bestgame ever, it's the best game
ever.
So in track, you really docompete against yourself.
But again, it's all about whatyou do, what you put into it.
How hard are you gonna work forit?
And being the athlete that Iwas, you get a lot of praise
(15:30):
when you do good.
And you don't get a lot ofattention when you're not doing
good.
Um, and so I think one of thefirst things that he revealed to
me was Um, as much as you thinkit's about you, it's not.
You are not the main characterof this story.
The best role you or the bestaward you're gonna get is maybe
(15:51):
supporting actor, maybe.
You're not, you're not getting,you're not the main character
here.
It is about me, it is about myson.
And you can either get on thattrain or this is gonna be an
even harder journey for you.
So the quicker you canunderstand that.
And two, it's not aboutperformance here.
So it was a lot of unlearningwhat I believed about myself,
(16:16):
what my worth was.
I thought that if I wasn't, andI still deal with this even
today, if I'm not performingwell, whether that be my job, my
duties as a wife, as a sister,as a friend, if I'm not doing,
then I'm not good.
But that's not true in in thekingdom.
(16:36):
It's uh it's a lot more aboutbeing, being in his presence, as
long as you are being in hispresence and doing, doing what
God is asking you to do, notnecessarily what you think you
need to do.
Was a big one.
And then I think too, just Ithink if you would have asked me
who I was back then, it wouldhave been I'm an athlete.
(16:57):
That would have been my firstanswer, my only answer.
Who's Kaylee?
I she's an athlete.
And I had to unlearn that.
I had to, um, I sometimes I saythis when I'm teaching,
sometimes I'm very purposeful inhow um I introduce myself where
I am a Christian first.
I'm always going to be aChristian first.
(17:19):
If I were to do a teaching onracial reconciliation, I would
say that I am a Christian womanwho happens to be black.
That would be my descriptionbecause I'm going to filter
everything through the Christianlens first.
Not what not my female lens,and and not necessarily the
cultural lens of being blackeither.
(17:41):
Like I am a Christian first.
And so that was the biggestthing was my identity in Christ,
really nailing that down,landing that, and that was
game-changing.
Things that used to superbother me, like a bad report out
and like, I don't know, a badgrade did not pay me as much.
Grades are important.
(18:03):
We need to have good grades,those in school.
But my value was not whether ornot I had straight A's.
My value came some fromsomewhere else.
And when I realized that, Iwalked into rooms differently.
I I think it's safe to say Iprobably was cocky when I was an
athlete.
I I was good.
(18:24):
I'm a four-time all-Americanathlete.
I'm in um the Missouri Hall ofFame with a few of my trapped
athlete friends that were on theteam as well.
I have the I have the receiptsto say that I was a good
athlete.
But I don't think I had theright posture prior to Jesus.
I was pretty cocky.
(18:44):
I when I walked into a room, itwasn't that, oh, that girl's a
different.
It's like, oh, that girl thinksthat she's the best.
And I that had to shift.
I had to humble myself, and Iwas humbled.
I feel like the Lord genuinelyhumbled me by setting me down
and putting me on bed rest andsaying, like, hey, this isn't
how I need you to be.
(19:05):
So I think those were thebiggest lessons.
I was humbled.
I learned who I was in Christand found out real quick that I
was not the main character ofthe story.
Uh, that it was very muchJesus.
Speaker 03 (19:18):
I had to laugh a little bit when you said that
because when you were talkingabout, you know, you've had to
really like nail down who youare in Christ.
I'm like, man, most peopledon't learn that until at least
10 years in.
God really hung that in on youat the beginning because most of
the time it's like, okay, we'rea Christian, we're gonna do
this thing, and we get so caughtup in what we do serving, or
(19:38):
what ministry we're in, or whatare we doing for God, and what
are we doing here, and whatsmall group are we leading, and
what are we doing on Sunday andWednesday and Thursday and every
other night?
And it's like, and then you getburnt out, and then it's like,
okay, God, who am I without thisburnout?
And so it's honestly, I justhad a giggle because I'm like,
man, that's like a really umimportant lesson to learn in
(19:59):
your first few months of being aChristian because it takes a
lot longer it took me a lotlonger than yeah.
Speaker 00 (20:06):
Well, and and I I love what you talked about.
You you are a Christian first,and I think especially in the
athletic world, at some pointfor every athlete there will be
an ending.
Yes.
And especially now with the andmaybe it's always been like
this, but I've because mydaughter plays volleyball, she's
been playing for the last fiveyears now, and our life has been
(20:28):
consumed.
And I have thoughts like, okay,what is she gonna do when she's
not playing anymore?
Because this is not it's notgonna be a career for her, I
don't think.
And I worry that she she she's15, so she's still working on
her identity.
And I it like I've wonderedwhat is she gonna feel like when
she stops playing foot or notfootball, volleyball.
(20:50):
Is she gonna wonder, like,okay, who who am I, what do I
do?
And so I'm trying hard toestablish that foundation.
Like, you have to remember whoyou are and whose you are, first
and foremost, becausevolleyball is not who you are.
Yes, you play volleyball,that's one, that's one aspect of
(21:10):
your life, but you have to havethat foundation first.
And it's it's hard becausethere's so many kids that are
just involved in sportsyear-round, multiple sports at
that.
And it's like, what are theygonna do if they can't do that
anymore?
Yeah.
And who's gonna teach themabout all of this?
Speaker 01 (21:29):
Yeah, I think we do.
I personally think we doathletes at this service.
Um, we we push and we push andwe make their whole lives about
the sport and like nail it intheir heads.
It's like, oh, you gotta go tocollege with this.
You gotta you can make it topro, like you could be pro.
(21:50):
I'm like, I think the statslike only three percent of
college athletes even becomepros.
Like the odds are very low thatanyone is gonna be a
professional athlete.
I mean, in my case, I didn't doany internships in college
because all I was doing wastrack.
And I got to the end of mycollegiate life even and
(22:14):
realized I don't even like whatI majored in.
So I'm over here like I gotlike again, I was blessed, I was
on a scholarship, and it's likeI have people are gonna hate
this.
I have three degrees incriminal justice, computer
information systems, andcomputer science.
I don't use any of them.
And I didn't plan on using anyof them at the end of my college
(22:39):
life because I thought I wasgonna be an athlete.
Speaker 00 (22:43):
So you pick you pick something that you thought
would be interesting just to getyou through.
Speaker 01 (22:47):
Yeah.
I was like, I like I like crimeshows, I like crime
documentaries.
This would be fun.
I want to hack computers, thatwould be cool.
And then it like got to the endof I was like, nobody really
sat me down and was like, heygirl, probably not gonna make
it.
Or if you do make it,especially in track, at that
point it was only cool likeevery four years for the
Olympics.
(23:08):
So I don't know what I wasthinking, but nobody was talking
about it.
And so I always, when I'mtalking to students or I'm
talking to athletes, I'm like,you gotta figure it out.
Like if you can figure it outnow who the Lord says you are,
and you can you can get thatdown, the rest of your life is
gonna be so much easier.
And there will be a day whereyou can't run as fast, you're
(23:32):
not gonna be able to jump ashigh, you're not gonna be able
to hit as hard.
And unfortunately, you're notgonna be able to keep up with
the younger athletes anymore.
I mean, whether that is incollege or whether that is
professionally, evenprofessional athletes have to
retire as well.
So if they can figure out whothey are before their athletic
(23:52):
career is done, they're gonna belight years ahead of of other
athletes because that is a abrutal awakening.
And I mean, I did competitive Istarted competitive sports when
I was four years old.
I did gymnastics and was on athe competitive team.
And I spent 18 years incompetitive sports, if you count
(24:15):
all the way up to um the day Iwas done um at my last track
meeting.
Um eighteen years.
Wow I was 22.
I didn't know anything butathletics.
Um even now, sometimes thereare there are thoughts in my
head where I'm like, maybe Ishould do something in
(24:36):
athletics.
And I'm like, I don't do thisanymore.
Like I can't even, I can barelyrun a mile at this point, guys.
I'm very out of shape.
It's neither can I, so you'refine.
It's a struggle, though.
I'm just saying that's gonnaend.
And so my encouragement tostudents, my encouragement to
parents is like, make sure theyknow who they are outside of
this.
If I were to ever havechildren, my husband and I talk
(24:58):
about that as well.
They will know who they are inChrist first before before
anything, whether that is theirathletics, whether that is
theater, whether that's showchoir, whether that's any of the
extracurricular activities thatthey do, they are not what they
do.
They're worth so much more thanwhat they do because that those
(25:20):
things are fleeting.
Those things are gonna end, butGod's love for them is never
gonna end.
And that's what I needstudents, athletes, theater
kids, all of these young peopleto know is that whatever it is
that you're loving right now,that will go away.
But the one thing that's gonnabe stable in your life forever
is the word of God and GodHimself.
Speaker 03 (25:42):
And I think even as adults, thinking about even a
ministry, it's something thatyou're doing for God that you
love and you've poured yourselfinto.
And for whatever reason, it canbe taken away, or I mean, it it
belongs to the Lord anyways,you know, but it can be you
could be an amazing worshipleader and you have a vocal
(26:04):
injury and can't sing anymore.
Or, you know, you can be aspeaker and you can't speak for
whatever reason.
And so it's just whateveryou're doing, even if it's for
the Lord, knowing, okay, well,who am I without this?
What am I, what am I called todo without this thing that I'm
doing right now?
And ultimately it's just lovingGod and making disciples at the
(26:26):
end of the day.
And so that that can look somany different ways.
And I love the story about theguy that you said was the random
guy that would like feed youguys because how cool.
There's just no telling howmany people that trickle down to
that now are saved and aredoing God knows what for the
church or even having kids thatare the raising in the kingdom
(26:48):
of God.
And so it's just really cool tothink about like just those
little things that everyone'sdoing, the little puzzle pieces
and how we all fit together.
That's really cool.
Speaker 01 (26:57):
Yeah, it's it's we're the body, right?
We all have different,different roles, whether, like
you said, in the ministry world,like there's the fivefold
ministry for a reason.
We're not all supposed toteach.
But I think that in in thecapacity of like, I think you
can still teach about Jesus.
I think that, you know, noteveryone can sing, but you can
(27:18):
still show someone how toworship God.
Yeah.
I think that we are all called,um, I think that's a beautiful
thing is that we're all calledto ministry.
It's just an it just looks verydifferent.
And I think that's the thebeauty of our God, right?
And that his creation is sodiverse.
And even how we represent himand how we show people him is
(27:40):
also very diverse.
Um we're we're really bad atplaying the comparison game and
and being like there's one way.
And if you're not, if you'renot preaching on a pulpit on a
Sunday, then you're not makingit.
It's not you.
You're not a pastor.
But it's like, no, I think thatelementary school teachers are
pastoring their students.
And just because you don't havethe title pastor does not mean
(28:03):
that you can't shepherd andbring people to the Lord and
take care of people.
Um I think we do such a sillyjob of pinning it all on pastors
that are vocational pastors anduh realizing that we have a
responsibility in ourneighborhoods in our houses.
Your home may be the onlychurch somebody walks into, kind
(28:24):
of thing.
Like the kids that come over toyour house to play with your
kids, that might be the onlychurch that they ever go into.
So what are we doing to showpeople the love of Jesus outside
of the four walls of thechurch?
You know, I think that's reallyimportant.
Speaker 00 (28:40):
Yeah, that's really I think that God has has given
each of us a very unique anddistinct talent to bring glory
to his kingdom that nobody elsehas.
And so we've talked about thisbefore too, where you know, you
compare like, oh, I wish I wasas good of a singer, or I wish I
was this, I wish, but there'ssomething that you have that
(29:01):
nobody else has.
Yeah.
And you just have to unlock it.
And I remember my dad, I had aconversation with my dad years
ago, and one thing that likeI've always remembered is that
he said, It doesn't matter whatyou do as long as you take him
with you.
You could you could be outwashing cars and still being a
disciple.
So, like what you said, youdon't have to be a a pastor by
(29:24):
profession.
You're still leading people inthe everyday stuff that you're
doing as long as he's with you.
Speaker 01 (29:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
My husband is a police officer,and that is his ministry.
Okay, he will tell you thatthat he gets to be in people's
darkest moments and gets to bethe light.
He gets to represent Jesus inpeople's darkest times.
This man will text me and belike, Yeah, I uh unfortunately I
(29:50):
had to had to take this man tojail, but we started talking and
he gave his gave his life toJesus in the back of my cop
cart.
And I'm just like, Who are you?
I love that.
Who are you?
And I'm the one that's invocational ministry.
And he's the one that prays forpeople at publics.
And I'm like, can you hurry upat self-checkout?
I'm trying to go.
Like, and he's up, I'm like,where is he?
(30:12):
And he's praying for people.
Right.
So it's like, just because youdon't do it vocationally doesn't
mean that you're not making adifference.
Um and he's like the perfectexample of that.
Because you would never think,like, I don't know, you would
you when you think policeofficers, you just think they're
taking people to jail, andthat's that.
But those are people.
unknown (30:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (30:31):
Those are people that are driving the police
cars, and those are real peoplein the back of them as well.
And and he very much sees thatand he very much takes advantage
of those opportunities.
So yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 00 (30:44):
We had a a guest speaker at our church this last
weekend, and he was talkingabout how his wife was shopping
one day and she overheard thisother woman saying, Yeah, I
guess we're gonna need to haveto, you know, find a new home
church.
And she just scoots a littlebit closer, and she's like, Did
I hear that you said you werelooking for and she like she got
this woman to come to churchand he says, So now her her
(31:06):
evangelism, her evangelism isthrough the gift of shopping.
And so she'll come home withall these bags, and he's like,
Where were you?
She says, Well, I was justspreading the word of the Lord
today.
Speaker 01 (31:17):
I'm gonna have to use that one.
Speaker 00 (31:18):
I was gonna say, I'm gonna have to try that out.
But shopping is her gift, andhe says, and and she's she's
made her way into the you knowthe Amazon ministry, and it was
really funny.
I was um, I was thinking howwhen you were talking earlier
about how you you came to churchand the day that you gave your
(31:41):
life to Christ.
I I love stories like that whenwhen people come in later in
life, not when they're they'vejust grown up in it, because it
really shows the ripple of whatwill be in the future.
My dad was the same story.
He was invited to church by oneof his friends that he played
(32:02):
Little League with, and hebecame a Christian, and as a
result of that, my grandparentsbecame Christian, we were raised
Christian.
Now my husband's like it's justuh continuing, and it's so cool
to see that because of thedecision that you made later on
in life.
unknown (32:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (32:20):
I love my my journey with the Lord.
Um, I do feel as if it was abit um like on the expedited
track if I'm not I'm like, I'mnot gonna lie there.
It did feel like once I was in,I was in.
Um and the Lord made it.
Um yeah, I felt like heexpedited my faith journey
(32:43):
because I ended up in ministryvery, very quickly, which was
never, never my my plan.
I could not have written this.
I would have it would have beena totally different story if I
was in charge of things.
Yeah, I love it because it itdoes, especially like at 22.
(33:04):
I mean, yes, that's now thatI'm 31, I'm like 22 is a baby.
I I would say that I I feellike I can still relate to those
who are just like on the cuspof getting there.
Um, because I can remember.
I can remember my life prior tothe Lord, and I know my life
(33:31):
now.
Um and I know how depressed andsad and anxious that I was
before I met the Lord.
And those things exist on theother side of my yes, but
they're not nearly as dauntingas they were prior.
And being able to have thoseconversations with people, being
(33:52):
able to go into, I also wasblessed to be a college age
pastor at one point in my life.
And actually at the collegethat I went to, and it was right
across the street from thechurch that I was serving at.
And being able to go to theathletes and and talk to them
and and feed them like that manhad fed me, and being able to
talk to them just about like,look, I know what campus life is
(34:16):
like here.
I know the parties you'regrowing to.
I was there.
I was doing the same things youwere doing, but I'm on the
other side to tell you thatthere's something bigger than
this.
And there's nothing morehumbling than pastoring people
who you used to party with.
That's insane.
They've seen me at my worst,and then being up there trying
(34:38):
to preach the word and knowingthat like the whole front row
has seen me at my absolute worstis a crazy journey.
But there's such a testimony toit too, where they can't deny
the transformation that's infront of them because I'm a
completely different person.
(34:58):
We we're not gonna bringeverybody to the Lord.
I think there are some peoplethat they just need to hear it
from other people.
Just like I have been in thatdiscipleship group with that
pastor, and it wasn't until ateammate invited me to church
and some other random persongave the word that I gave my
life to Jesus.
I think that that's encouraginghis obedience to still making
(35:22):
sure I had a solid enoughfoundation for when that moment
clicked for me, and that he wasstill, like I said, obedient in
that.
He he dealt with me for a wholeyear where I questioned
everything.
And I was like, this is no.
I don't believe you.
How can that be true?
He had to deal with a lot of myhard, hard-headedness.
But I'm grateful for that.
(35:44):
I'm grateful that he didn'tgive up on me, that he didn't
ask me to stop coming justbecause I didn't say yes to
Jesus um and continue to feed memeals.
Literally all just all he didwas feed us food.
If you want to get to a collegestudent's heart, you just feed
them.
Just give them food.
You'll eventually get there.
Yeah, it's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 03 (36:07):
People only share the highlights, like unless
you're deep in connection withthem.
Because I think now, andhonestly, a lot of my circle,
especially on social media, arepeople who aren't believers.
And that's just maybe because Idid party for a while and I did
the music scene thing and stufflike that.
But I think also because I justlove all types of people.
(36:31):
And so I don't just connectwith people who are in the
church.
And so many times I'm like,well, they seem happy.
I don't know why I have it inmy head of I only need to invite
people to church if like theyneed they have a need, like
they're down and they're they'rehaving a hard time.
Oh, let me invite you to churchbecause I know what can fix
(36:52):
that, you know.
And so you even saying that,you know, the depression and the
anxiety and the confusion.
And it's so important toremember that because every time
I've talked to somebody thatdoes have a story where they
connected and got saved later onin life, it's like they remind
me that there isn't true joy andhope and peace on the other
(37:13):
side of that.
They may have it momentarily orcircumstantially, but they're
not there that that doesn'texist outside of Jesus.
And so it's so good toremember, like I need to be
inviting people to church andtelling people about Jesus
because they may seem happy,they may seem all right, but I
mean ultimately, even if theyare happy and they are all
right, like at the end of theday, that's not what is the most
(37:35):
important thing.
Speaker 00 (37:36):
And I I think it's important for us to remember,
like you said, it's not our,it's it's not our job to convert
people, it's our job to plantthose seeds, just like you said.
Like, so if he was not sowingthat seed, if he did ask you to
stop coming, but at least youhad that knowledge and that
faith base to bring you just alittle bit closer.
(37:58):
And I had I had overheardsomething else recently.
Somebody said, We are the mostequipped to disciple people who
we used to be.
So, like the fact that you arepreaching to those college-age
kids where they know that thisis where you used to be, this is
what you do, you'veexperienced, you are the most
equipped for that because you'vebeen through it.
Speaker 01 (38:20):
Yeah, we're the only ones that disqualify ourselves.
God doesn't take your story anddisqualify you.
It's like if anything, it itall like qualifies you like like
you were saying.
Speaker 00 (38:31):
Yeah.
It brings that connection topeople too.
Speaker 01 (38:35):
Yeah, and and I also believe something that that man
did really well and that I'vekind of taken and is like kind
of like a life lesson or a lifemotto for me is it's it's not my
job to change people, it's myjob to leave them without an
excuse.
When they leave me, are theyleft without an excuse of seeing
(38:59):
who Jesus is?
Yes or no.
And if I can say yes, then thenI've done what I believe the
Lord has asked me to do.
That man left me without many,many of excuses.
I couldn't say that I didn'tknow who Jesus was after going
to his group.
I just wasn't choosing him.
But that doesn't mean that hewas a failure.
(39:19):
Didn't it fail?
He every meeting, every week, Iwas at his house every week for
dinner and left without anexcuse of giving my life to
Jesus.
It was I chose not to, right?
But the biggest thing, lookingback at it, is like he was very
successful in his discipleshipof me.
It was me who didn't take himup on his offers every week.
(39:43):
That had nothing to do with himand everything to do with me.
And so when we are out tryingto, I don't know, convert family
members or save family membersor try to get them to come to
church and they're just notcoming, your job is to leave
them without an excuse.
Invite them, don't say no forthem, let them say no.
And because you never know whenthat one time you ask, they
(40:07):
finally say yes.
Yeah.
Um, or it may be somebody elsethat asks and they go with them.
unknown (40:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (40:15):
But you're still successful in staying obedient
to leaving them without anexcuse.
And I think that that's one ofthe biggest lessons when I look
back at that moment that I getover that whole entire story is
that this man was adamant, and Ichose not to say yes, but that
doesn't make him a failure.
unknown (40:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 00 (40:35):
Well, he saw the value and the worth of not
giving up on you, which I thinkis really neat too.
unknown (40:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (40:41):
I just think about that the other day, you know how
we say sometimes when it's afamily member or somebody that
we may not be able to speak intotheir life, and sometimes I
just pray and I'm like, Lord,send them somebody that will be
able to speak into their life.
And and I was praying this andI just felt the Lord say, Who
are you being that person to?
You know, we're praying to forthis person to exist for the
people you love, but are youbeing that person to someone
(41:05):
that someone else loves?
You know, because we may be wemay be able to speak into
somebody's life that theirmother, brother, sister, best
friend can't in the way that wecan.
And so it's good, you know, wejust because we can't reach
certain people doesn't mean weshould stop trying to reach
other people.
Speaker 01 (41:24):
Right.
Absolutely.
I I agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 03 (41:28):
Yeah.
I would love to know if thereare any scriptures or moments or
people that like really justhave stuck out to you, like
things that have really beentransformative in your walk with
God or even in like let's saythe last couple years.
Speaker 01 (41:44):
Um I love the creation story.
It is like my I absolutelypositively love it, I think,
because um I am such a a justiceperson.
I guess I do use my criminaljustice degree to kind of like
(42:06):
one, understand my husband, andto um I come to do my biblical
justice work, I compare it a lotto to criminal justice.
And what I really where we wentwrong is is that man wanted to
define good and evil forthemselves rather than letting
(42:28):
God do it.
We we see countless times inthe creation story where he he
creates and he calls it good.
He gives us the definition ofgood, and he even calls us very
good.
At the end of it all, wedecided to take that and we
wanted to define what is what isgood, and that is the ultimate
(42:49):
division of people you see thatin.
I mean, the easiest example ispolitics, right?
Wherever you stand on theboard, you believe you're right.
Um, and there's that is why,like biblical justice, you have
to allow God to define what isgood.
And when you look at it throughthe lens of creation and
(43:11):
people, we are very good,therefore everyone is good.
Everyone is right in the senseof how we treat them, right?
There's that is why I say, youknow, we're not we're not in
charge of changing people.
Only only God can changepeople.
But that's like the ultimatething I find in the creation
(43:32):
story is just like we're made inhis image, our image.
The Trinity itself is diverse.
So why wouldn't God's creation,why wouldn't we as humanity be
diverse if we're made in theirimage?
Diversity is there from thejump.
And for us to truly, I believe,to truly grasp the Imago Dei,
(43:54):
which is the image of God, therehas to be diversity.
Speaker 02 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (43:58):
Our churches are cannot grasp that unless our
churches are diverse.
And I'm not even talking justracially, I'm talking economic,
I'm talking age.
We get so caught up ondiversity and and diversity
being race, right?
It's a black and white issue,but it's so much bigger than
(44:20):
that when I'm consultingchurches and they're talking
about diversity.
I always tell them that theyneed to accurately represent the
community they're sitting in.
And that looks like how manysingle moms are in your
neighborhood?
And how many single moms are atyour church?
How many addicts are in yourneighborhood?
And how many of those peopleattend your church?
What is the age demographic?
(44:42):
There's a lot of churches thathave racial goals that would
literally require every personof color in that entire town to
attend their churchspecifically.
It's like that's just likenever gonna happen realistically
in any in any way.
But it's how are werepresenting our community and
how are we looking at them likeJesus would look at them?
(45:02):
And we cannot forget that we'reall created in the image of
God.
And if there's not diversity,is our are our communities
really bearing the image of God?
If there's diversity in theImago Day.
And so that's why I love thecreation story, because it all
the Bible's one big storyline,right?
It's us in relationship withGod.
(45:22):
It's it's us in the garden, andthen we end in the ultimate
garden, like the New Jerusalem.
And um, I have a friend, hisname is Shane Wood, and he has a
book called Between Two Trees.
That's how he labels it, right?
And it's all about the wholeentire Bible is getting back to
(45:44):
the creation story.
Creation is separate from thefall.
That's a completely differentthing.
But I love the creation storybecause that's ultimately what
the entire Bible is leading usback to.
And if you can grasp thatconcept that we're just going
back to that, then the entireBible will make sense.
(46:07):
So I think that's why I love itbecause I feel like it's the
key to unlocking everything elsein the Bible.
Speaker 03 (46:14):
When you look at it through the lens of the goal of
going back to that, it makessense.
So when you first startedreading the Bible, did you start
there?
I'm curious.
Like, because it's how it's afair time.
Okay.
Speaker 01 (46:26):
No, no, I didn't start it at the No.
I think the very first book ofthe Bible I read was Luke.
I think, uh yeah, I think Iread Luke and then went right
into Acts and was like, I don'tknow.
I personally love John.
John is my favorite one becausehe names names, and I love that
about him.
He's he's he's here for thedrama.
(46:47):
He's not gonna be like, adisciple did it.
He's like, it was Peter.
I love that because I'm aweirdo and I like the real
housewives and John's accountsof stories of Philbert, in my
opinion.
But no, I also love I loveJohn's account too, because John
also was very influenced by thebeginning of the Bible based on
(47:09):
how he begins his.
And ultimately, John is writinghis gospel and leaving us
without an excuse to know whoJesus was.
A lot of the the the gospelaccounts of are about what Jesus
did.
But John is very, very adamanton you who Jesus was.
(47:30):
And that's why I like John somuch.
Because if you really, becauseagain, if you can understand
that we're just trying to getback to the beginning, and you
understand who Jesus is, you dorealize that he is the key to
getting back.
Um so I think that that wouldbe my absolute favorite gospel,
(47:54):
is John.
My favorite story is Genesis,because I think it just unlocks
this whole theologicalplayground that is the Bible.
And then don't even get mestarted on Revelation, because I
actually do very, very muchenjoy Revelation.
But that is, I do, I do, butthat is because of my friend
Shane Wood.
Um he's a biblical professor atOzark Christian College, and he
(48:18):
uh wrote his dissertation onthe book of Revelation.
He's a very, very smart man,and I was blessed enough to meet
him as a college student.
He taught it at the Biblecollege in our town, and um, but
I didn't know him as like Shadethe theologian.
Um, like I knew him as this guywho was super funny, and when I
(48:39):
was on crutches, I would takeone of my crutches and put it on
the other side of the room, butthen bring it back.
I just thought it was that's mysense of humor.
Very funny.
And so we just bonded likethat, and he would answer all my
questions, and he very much isexcited about revelation.
So if you're ever curious aboutit, Shane would.
I'll have to let people take itdown for you.
(49:00):
Yeah, he makes it very um, verytangible.
He takes the scary out of it.
He very much takes the scaryout of it, and it's like, let's
look at it for what it is.
And this may be what you'veheard about it, but this is what
it's actually, what's actuallygoing on.
He's very good about that.
So I'm very much a beginningand an end of the Bible kind of
(49:23):
girl.
Um, I mean, I love the word ofGod in general.
Speaker 03 (49:27):
Which is like really eminent, and that's super cool.
I would I would love to knowtoo, like one thing that you
said, and we only have a couplemore questions because I know
time is like yeah precious, butum We can talk forever.
I know.
But when you said um leavingpeople with no excuse, what is
give me two practical things ofwhat that could look like.
Speaker 01 (49:49):
Yeah.
I think that I think that couldlook because if you're not
careful, that can look very likeaggressive, leaving people
without an excuse.
I think that it it's about Ithink it could be something as
simple as your character.
At your at your workplace,wherever that is, or your school
(50:10):
if you're a student, if theyknow you're a Christian, don't
be acting a fool.
Um don't you're ruining it forthe rest of us.
We already have a roughreputation.
I don't need you helping.
But yeah, I think part of likeleaving people without an excuse
is like having, I mean, I thinkhaving boundaries could be part
(50:30):
of that.
It could be when you are outwith your friends and they're
indulging in whatever it is thatthey're choosing to indulge in.
Um you have a limit.
Whether that's like I only haveone drink or I don't drink in
public.
I think it's just like whateverit is for you, I I can't I
(50:51):
can't tell you what's right orwrong because I'm not in your
context or culture or areas.
I know that I have friends whodon't drink at all, and I have
friends who that's not an issuefor.
It is what it is.
But I think things like that,very simple, like just you.
I wish people would reallytruly understand that it's not
just cliche, but actions dospeak louder than words.
(51:12):
How you act when people aregossiping matters.
My dream would be to have thethe reputation that we don't
gossip when Kaylee's aroundbecause she doesn't do it.
So don't even share it with herbecause she's not gonna, she's
not gonna be a part of it.
She'll shut it down.
It's little things like thatthat I think leave people
without an excuse of knowing whoJesus is.
(51:33):
I think that's a good thing.
I think that his character.
Yeah.
I think reflecting hischaracter is the ultimate, the
ultimate way, whether that isyeah, I think, yeah, whether
that is inviting people intoyour home, whether that is
having the boundaries.
I mean, Jesus was hanging outwith sinners all the time, but
he wasn't sinning with them.
(51:54):
I think that that's leavingpeople without an excuse.
He was different.
People should look at you as afollower of Jesus and and see
something different about you.
You shouldn't be like the restof the world, whether that's
with your voice or whetherthat's with your posture or take
on things.
And then also I think leavingpeople without an excuse is for
(52:17):
your family, it's reading yourBible out in the open.
unknown (52:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (52:22):
I mean, yes, there's times where we need to step
away and we need to do itprivately, but nothing leaves
people without an excuse to pickup their Bible than seeing
their mom in the living roomreading their Bible.
I know.
Speaker 03 (52:33):
And it's so easy to be like doing it on my phone and
like I'll do my littledevotional on my phone.
And then I think for me, onething I know Kingston sees me do
a lot is pray.
That's like the one thing.
Maybe not read my Bible all thetime, but he always sees me
pray through over everything.
And it's interesting now ashe's getting older, he's almost
(52:54):
12.
That's like the one thing he'sknown for in youth is like
Kingston's gonna be the one topray.
Like he will pray forsomething.
Like last night my husband wentto pick him up at youth, and um
he I was like, Hey, did you getKingston?
And he's like, he's prayingwith somebody, like he'll be
done in a minute, you know?
And it's just it's just one ofthose things where like they
truly do like watch what you do.
(53:15):
And that's that's such a coolthing to think about, even not
just as a parent, but myfriends.
Like my friends are gonna watchwhat I do.
And if they see me, like prayover something instead of
gossip, like you said, or getmad at a situation, like they're
watching how we handle grief,how we handle losing our job,
(53:37):
how we handle losingfriendships.
So yeah.
Speaker 01 (53:40):
Yeah, everyone has influence.
I know that influencer is likea crazy term in 2025 and it
means a totally different thing,but we all have an influence,
whether you realize it or not.
And I think that's part of theleaving people without an
excuse.
It's a lot less about tellingpeople what to do, and it's more
about like showing people whatto do.
Speaker 00 (54:00):
I I've told Reese on a couple of occasions when I
drop her off for school, I'mlike, okay, remember, smell like
Jesus.
She's like, no.
Speaker 01 (54:09):
Yeah, my friend Shane will tell his kids, hey,
remember who you are.
Remember who you are.
Um, because they've done areally good job of reminding
their kids of who they arethrough Christ.
And as as a the wood family,this is who we are.
So when you go to places, youremember who you are kind of
thing.
It's one thing that I'vedefinitely picked up from him.
(54:29):
Yeah, that's so neat.
Speaker 03 (54:31):
I hate that we have to end, but I would love to
sound good.
I know.
I would love it just as we end,if you wouldn't mind praying
for our listeners.
And I think just specifically,if you could pray for people who
are either on the cusp of fullysurrendering to God, or like
they just gave their life overto Jesus, or maybe they gave
(54:52):
their life over to him a longtime ago and now they're having
those doubts and questions andyou know, not sure what they
believe.
Speaker 01 (54:58):
So yeah, absolutely.
Well, wherever you are, unlessyou're driving, go ahead and bow
your head.
Heavenly Father, goodnessgracious, you are just such a
good God, and we are just sograteful to have a God of your
your character and your yourstature.
(55:19):
Lord, I just pray specificallyfor those who are questioning
whether or not this is thelifestyle that they want to
live.
God, I just pray that thiswould be their moment, this
would be their time to take thatstep to move forward in this
journey that is following you.
God, I pray that you wouldsurround them with people to
(55:41):
help support them in thisdecision.
God, and I just pray that evenjust they would take it one step
at a time, one day at a time,God, that it would just be a it
wouldn't be that they need to beperfect.
God, I would just I break thatthought off of anyone who's who
believes that this walk meansbeing perfect.
We don't have to be perfectbecause you are.
(56:03):
It's it's about being committedto you.
It's not about knowing themost, it's about knowing the one
who knows the most, God, andthat is you.
So I pray for for those peoplewho who want to take that step,
God, but just don't know how todo it.
I pray that you would just givethem the wisdom, that your Holy
Spirit would meet them wherethey are, that you would give
(56:25):
them the courage to moveforward, to ask the questions,
to show up at church and andraise their hand to to go to
somebody at church and say, Hey,I don't really know what this
is about, but I want to know.
God, give them the courage,surround them with the people.
And I pray for those who whoalso just did give their life to
Jesus, who have given theirlife to Jesus, God, and maybe
(56:46):
those of us who have beenfollowing for a while, but we
just feel like something's alittle off.
God, I just pray that you wouldjust realign us.
There's nothing wrong with witha realignment, a recommitment,
God.
Um when we drive our car, Lord,that we have to eventually take
them in because they start toveer to the left or to the
right, God, and we have to takethem in to get them realigned to
(57:08):
get back on track, God.
So I just right now I we bringour spiritual lives to you.
Realign us, keep us back on thestraight path and the narrow
path, God.
And help us to just continue towalk out this life with hand in
hand with you.
Bring us back to the garden,God.
Bring us back in relationshipwith you.
And Heavenly Father, justanyone who's listening, God, you
(57:29):
know who's going to belistening to this.
Any unspoken prayer requestthat isn't said in this in this
moment, God, I just pray thatyou would meet them.
Anyone who is feeling lonely,forgotten, God, is anyone who's
feeling small, God, I wish thatyou would just meet them right
where they're at, God.
Give them a holy hug rightwhere they're at.
And we ask all these things inyour son's name.
(57:51):
Amen.
Speaker 03 (57:54):
Thank you so much for joining us for this episode
of the Walk Through Podcast.
We love getting to sit downwith Kaylee and hear how God has
been faithful to her in everyseason.
Her reminder that true peaceonly comes from Him, and that
our feelings don't have todefine us is something we all
can carry into our walks.
If this episode encouraged you,share it with a friend and
(58:16):
don't forget to subscribe so younever miss a conversation.
We'll see you next time on theWalkthrough podcast with Janina
and Kylie.
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