February 2, 2024 • 52 mins
Have you ever felt like a 'human doing' rather than a 'human being'?
Stacey Cargnelutti's journey from the sun-soaked beaches of Los Angeles County to the depths of her own soul is a story of transformation that many may find eerily familiar. In this inspiring episode of the Feeling Faith podcast, we sit down with Stacy Carnelluti, a remarkable individual whose life story is a testament to resilience, transformation, and the power of faith. Stacy takes us on a journey through her early years in Southern California, from her struggles with surfing and finding her passion in water skiing and cheerleading, to her academic and professional achievements. However, beneath the surface of success, Stacy grapples with personal challenges and a search for deeper meaning in life.
Her story takes a pivotal turn following a life-altering incident, leading her to confront her inner turmoil and embark on a spiritual quest. Stacy candidly shares her experiences of hitting rock bottom, the wake-up call that changed her life, and how these moments paved the way to her profound spiritual awakening. She delves into the transformative power of therapy, the impact of rediscovering her faith, and how these elements reshaped her identity and purpose.
Listeners will be captivated by Stacy's journey from a life focused on external achievements to one deeply rooted in spiritual growth and helping others. Her transition from a worldly life to a godly one, her insights into marriage and relationships, and her current role as a life coach offer valuable lessons on the importance of aligning one's life with spiritual truths and the pursuit of genuine fulfillment.
Join us in this episode as Stacey Cargnelutti shares her compelling story of overcoming adversity, finding her purpose, and living a life dedicated to glorifying God and guiding others towards their true potential.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
How's it going, family and friends?
My name is Cal on stop.
I'm here today with my guest,stacy carnaludy Stacy, thank you
so much for coming in how youdoing today.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Great.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
All right, thanks for coming in.
You got some Awesome storiesthat you're gonna share today.
Yes, we're gonna save the bestfor the end, so make sure you
guys stay all the way through.
Um, but tell me a little bit.
I want to start at thebeginning of your life.
What was your upbringing like?
What was the family life like,like start with where you were
born.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right Um Los Angeles County, california.
Grew up on the beaches ofsouthern california.
Dad served brother surfprofessionally like surf beach
family.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Nice and did you?
Were you in the water too?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, for a while, but I have to say, my dad tried
so hard to teach me to surf andI Like I would just get really,
really angry and really sad andI would be bawling my eyes out
and he'd be standing on the pierlike keep going, and I just you
know, and finally he gave upand I'm a water skier.
I wasn't supposed to be asurfer, I was supposed to be a
(01:07):
water skier.
So you know.
Now I know the end of the story, but yeah he couldn't.
You know, you get to a pointwhere you just can't force your
teenage girl, of course, to doanything.
You'll, you'll.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
No, no, I get it, I got two daughters and I'm
already learning.
She's four and I'm like allright, so that's awesome.
So grew up in southerncalifornia and what was your?
What was your upbringing like?
Tell me a little bit about yourchildhood.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You had a, your sibling, one or two, yeah one
brother year and a half youngerthan me and, um, my mom and dad
sent us to a christian school.
Like I was in fifth grade, mybrother was two grades behind me
third grade so we started inpublic school.
Then, for some reason, theysent us to a christian school,
so we had teachers praying forus.
(01:54):
You know, didn't go to church.
My dad had kind of a Mormonbackground, my mom had a
catholic background and theydidn't go to church.
They just really wanted us tofind our own way, and so there
was no real spiritual likeTraining or upbringing in my
(02:14):
home.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, interesting, a lot of moral education.
Yeah, lots.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yes, lots of core values like yeah, yeah, so it's
very interesting yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And did you play any sports growing up?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
I was a swimmer, a synchronized swimmer.
I started out like speed racingand then my coach was like you
are too pretty when you swim,you need to go to the
synchronized swimming team.
And so after A year or so ofjust coming in last Over and
over, I'm like okay, so I didsynchronized swimming, which is
(02:51):
awesome, it's amazing sport,yeah, yeah.
And then cheerleading, and thenplayed the piano by ear.
Start playing piano by ear.
My parents bought me a piano,baby grand, because they were
like, oh my gosh.
So then I started taking pianolessons and then high school
Cheerleading came and and then Iquit piano and then my life was
cheer, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, so you're a cheer girl.
Yeah, all the way throughcollege.
Cal State Long.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Beach cheer.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
College cheer Yep.
So you, you took it all the wayall the way all the way, that's
awesome.
Yeah, it's a.
It's a whole nother level atthat point whole nother.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, it really is.
It becomes everything.
It's like a sport.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, so what?
What sport did you cheer for?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
basketball and football in college, just those.
Well, even in high school, yeahyeah, yeah basketball football
yeah, nice.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
All right, cheerleaders are the best.
Yeah, I was a football playerand a basketball player, so it's
always nice to cheerleaders onthe side.
Yeah, rooting you on.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour upbringing you.
So, once you got into highschool, were you still going to
a christian school, or no.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
so I went to the christian school Gosh, not that
long, because then seventh andeighth grade was back in public
again and um and high school,public high school, and so it
was just these few years it wasfour years when I was young.
We went to the christian schooland then back into the public
(04:24):
school and I'm still friendswith a lot of the people that I
went to or the public school,junior, high and high school,
but just saw him last night as amatter of fact.
So a lot of great relationships, yeah, yeah, great, great
people.
But it just wasn't a churchupbringing, it was just a lot of
good people.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, no, that's good .
The school system is a lotdifferent now than it was back
then.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh, my goodness yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I could imagine going to a christian school.
I didn't have the the pleasureof of learning that my parents
that teach me a lot of reallygood morals and values.
But to have that at an earlyage Is that there's a lot of
value there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, I think that's how I came to the lord later is
because people were praying forme and there there was something
laid down at a young age thatjust got as faithful you know,
and there was a lot of seedssown, even though we weren't
going to church as a family,even though all that seed was
never watered.
I'd look back and I'm like wow.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
It really, is it really?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
is.
I love that yeah.
And so you went to college, andthen after college, where'd you
end up?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's when things got crazy.
So, um, I married the highschool sweetheart.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh, love those stories yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, this wasn't the person I was supposed to marry,
but I didn't know god and so Idid the best I could.
So you end up marrying theperson that kind of feels like
Love.
You don't know love until youknow.
Until I encounter him, I didn'treally know, but, um, he's a
great guy and my dad loved him,my mom loved you know, and so I
got the job.
I was teacher, got my teachingcredential.
(06:00):
Um, bada condo Got the job.
Bada condo dog got married,like the whole thing when I
graduated from college.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Check off the list.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
It's just boom, boom, boom boom.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, like I had, I had a list.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Like you got it.
You got a graduate, you got toget the teaching credential, got
to get the job, the dog, thecar, the house.
I mean check, check, check,check, check.
And then all the sudden Thingsgot crazy because I didn't have
a vision.
And you know how the Bible sayswithout a vision, we perish.
That word perish is like youcast off all restraint, like
without a goal or a vision, likeyou're just like, well, there's
(06:35):
no reason to really Live acertain way or discipline my
life or whatever, because I'malready, I've arrived, just
wondering.
I kind of thought I was.
I kind of thought like I I'mhere now and I had money and I
had time and my husband workedat nights and I worked in the
day.
So, uh, you can imagine it justwas a setup, for I won teacher
(06:57):
of the year.
I was very successful.
I was doing exercise videos forJane Fonda.
I went to Europe to travel andpromote video.
So I was very like Succeedingin the fitness industry and then
doing great in educationteaching the kids.
I was training teachers.
So I had a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I was successful in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yes, I appeared to be very successful and I I knew
how to get successprofessionally, and that's part
of my work.
Today is like Working withpeople that have that same story
, like on the outside everythinglooks great, but on the inside,
like Health and relationships.
That's where that's what wasreally lacking, even though I'm
(07:38):
in the fitness industry, lookslike I'm healthy, but all kinds
of crazy stuff was going oninside.
So a lot of drinking, a lot ofoverworking, a lot of
overthinking, a lot of achievingright, like anything, to avoid
feeling the reality that I wascreating, you know.
(07:58):
So I didn't feel anything.
I just disconnect from my bodyand I lived a happy life, you
know, I mean, I thought so butthe average American dream, as
they call it.
Yeah, yeah but the reason I knewsomething was off is like my
husband kept saying, do you wantto have kids, are we gonna have
kids?
And like I was like no, and Iknew that was weird.
(08:20):
I'm like wait a minute, I'mmarried, I have a job.
I have like, why, what is this?
And then the next year like no,and then the next year was like
no, like it kept getting moreintense, no and um, and by year
five I knew like yeah,something's going on here, bad
yeah so.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I'm too caught up in the world.
Yeah, okay, so tell me a littlebit about that time, like at
year five what happened?
What happened during that time?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Good question, so up to up to there.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You didn't have really the Lord, you weren't no,
oh, no I didn't have any typeof relationship with Jesus none,
zero, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So I.
So I, I Was working with aproducer, we had done an
exercise video and he said we'regonna Launch the video.
Do you want to come out and seethe first?
What's it called the premiere?
And so it was on a Friday nightand I'm like, yeah, he's like,
bring a date, bring a friend.
(09:25):
Well, my husband's working, so Iinvited a friend and this was a
problem of mine is that I hadother people that would fill in
the gap, you know, and I startedlike seeing other people, kind
of Platonically, but not like Ijust was deceived, and so a
friend of mine, we drove up topast LA and we watched the
premiere and on the way home,got in a car accident.
(09:47):
And I mean, we spun on the fouror five south across four lanes
, slid off the side of thefreeway and hit a tree.
We didn't touch another car.
It was so miraculous when Ithink about it.
And Hit the tree, my car wasjust, it was a little Honda,
(10:07):
brand new Honda, and and thefirst thing I said was like, run
.
I told him to run because Iknew I wasn't supposed to be
with this person, and so he ran,jump the fence and then pretty
soon the cops came becausepeople were calling the cops
because it looked prettyhorrific and and then they came
and gave me the test and I waswearing my high heels and like,
(10:30):
and I Failed and it was drunkdriving arrest and so I got
taken to jail that night.
Yeah, yeah, I'm got arrested,taking a jail for dy 27 or 8
somewhere around there, and andand.
(10:51):
So, as I'm sobering up in a jailcell At about like three, two,
three o'clock in the morning, Ijust remember sitting there and
looking around and there waslike all of these beautiful
women Around me and I noticedlike eight, ten, and I'm like
why?
Like where?
(11:12):
I'm just thinking I'm in like aholding cell or whatever.
And I didn't know why, but itwasn't, I wasn't alone, and All
these women are beautiful.
And all of a sudden I was like,oh my gosh, like they're all
just empty inside, like we'reall in the same boat, like here
I am in a jail cell with all ofthese women and we all kind of
look the same and what's thedeal?
(11:33):
Like that's when I realized myown decisions had landed me
there and this was not who I waslike nothing about this was
resonating, I'm like no, no,this is not my.
The end of the story.
I didn't identify who I am yes,yes and Um, it was like boom,
that was my moment.
It really was and it wasn't.
(11:55):
I still hadn't come to the Lord, but he was drawing me in, like
it was radical, working on yourheart.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, it's amazing, because sometimes the Lord has
to allow us to get to those wesome call it rock bottom.
Yeah, some people have deeperrock bottoms, yeah, others yeah.
But yeah, for us to wake up,yeah, to life, yeah, and to our
spiritual life, yeah.
So you're in that, you're inthat cell, you're there, you
(12:22):
realize that.
And then what happens once youget out?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
and then my husband gets off Work in his deputy
sheriff uniform and picks me upfrom jail.
So he has to go pick up hiswife from Orange County jail.
He works in LA County GangEnforcement Team and he picks up
his wife from Orange Countyjail and he literally saw me.
Yeah, I mean it, it really is.
(12:46):
Like the whole thing is just,it's just crazy.
And he looked at me with like asmirk like oh my gosh, you know
, we both had this like very, wewere very much alike, kind of a
mutual respect, but very, wewere both Doing the same thing.
Like it's crazy, it's, it'shorrible, and yet he's like my
little brother kind of guy, youknow.
Like I can't, I don't know.
(13:08):
Yeah, we grew up together anddid the best we could, anyways.
So he picks me up and then thenext morning I wake up to
reality that my cars totaled.
They had taken it to thejunkyard or whatever.
I had no car I.
It was just this surreal kindof Moment.
(13:31):
And so I got information fromthe court saying that I needed
to show up in court at a certaindate Because of the arrest, and
so that's when I got a courtorder to sobriety.
They said you can't drink forsix months and you need to go to
this school it's called school10 and it's where you learn, you
kind of explore yourrelationship with alcohol and
you learn all kinds of goodthings, right?
(13:53):
Well, I was two weeks intosobriety and I couldn't handle
myself.
This is when I realized I wasreally using alcohol to just
avoid Myself, right?
I think that's what we do.
We just don't want to feelanything, and that's what this
human experience is about ishaving some feelings, not be
governed by them, but havingthem.
And I refuse to feel anything.
(14:14):
And so you just know, yeah, soI was really good at numbing,
and after about two weeks of notbeing able to numb, I was like,
oh my gosh, and my neighborcame across to she goes, you
need to call this person.
And it was a therapist.
And I'm like, okay, like I knewat that point, like, yes,
that's exactly what I need to do.
And so I got myself intotherapy.
(14:36):
And and then, do you want tohear what happened next?
So I'm sitting in this chairand this therapist looks at me
and she's like so tell me whoStacy Carnaludia is?
Say no, my name was notcarnaludia at that point.
Tell me who Stacy Benson is.
And I was like that was myother name, the married name,
(15:01):
not my maiden name, but that wasmy first marriage.
I was divorced one time, sotell me who Stacy Benson is.
But she didn't say Benson, shesaid Stacy.
Sorry, I'm not even like sheeven used last Name.
Tell me who Stacy is.
And so I sat there and I waslike I was totally stumped and
(15:24):
All the sudden, I mean I wasliterally like no words.
I'm like this is so sad that Ican't even answer this.
Seem like a basic question,yeah, and so I started like
giving her my resume.
I'm like, well, I'm a teacherand I'm an aerobic instructor
and I'm an accomplished fitnesstrainer and I.
(15:49):
Yes, teacher of the year, andlike, yeah, and so, after my
long list of all these things,she looks at me, she goes oh, so
it sounds like Stacy is a humandoing instead of a human being.
This is what the pain is.
(16:13):
And then tears, just, she gotto me.
She finally made me feelsomething and I cried because I
knew like well, that's prettyserious stuff right there, yeah,
and so that's when I stayed intherapy and she started giving
me books to read and 12-stepprograms to go to.
(16:35):
And so my journey started in byacknowledging my feelings of
powerlessness, we used to say,acknowledging that I'm powerless
over this thing.
Well, now I know we feelpowerless, were not?
God has given us great power,but at the moment I had to admit
like I'm powerless right here.
I need help with alcohol, Ineed help with relationships, I
(16:56):
need help with food, I need helpwith you know.
So I'm going to like adifferent 12-step meeting every
night.
I was so tenacious I'm likeI've got to get answers.
So I was on a quest for truth.
Really is what happened.
And I would read and go tomeetings and do my Thib, do my
work at the beach.
I would bring books and, youknow a journal like I was always
writing and I just took itreally seriously.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, so during that time of your life, because
there's there's a few differentareas that we have to focus on
spiritual, mental, physical,financial, emotional and
relational.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
You have the physical , you have the financial.
You didn't have the others,right, right spiritually or
Bankrupt.
Yeah, yeah, you're actuallybank, yep, emotionally Empty
yeah.
So, mentally whacked how didhow did this lead you?
How did this lead you to God?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It.
That's, this is the great part.
God is so good to meet us wherewe're at.
He met me right where I was atand he was leading me all the
way.
He was protecting me, becausethat's what he does.
And then he was leading me.
Yes, I should have died.
How many times right have you?
Like most of us, we can lookback and go.
I should have died there, Ishould have died there, and he
(18:10):
had.
He has his hand on us.
But see, I was so sincere in myquest, like I wanted answers, I
wanted the truth deep down.
I knew that truth would set mefree.
So I was on a quest for truth,and I think it comes back to the
elementary school, like the MrsDiffenworth was praying for me
and she gave me a little thingthat said Jesus loves you.
(18:30):
And I didn't understand.
Jesus Love me.
I'm like I didn't ask him tolove me, I didn't ask him to
dine across.
I don't understand.
I didn't understand any of that.
But see, the seeds were planted, so now it was time for this
harvest to come, and so I, I'mjust like pursuing quit, you
know, mike.
And then, all of a sudden, mymom sees an old friend from high
(18:50):
school at a wedding and Sayshow is Stacy?
My mom tells her she's goingthrough divorce right now.
Jacqueline's like, give me hernumber.
She calls me.
She's like I thought you wereChristian.
I'm like, well, yeah, like Ilive in America, I went to
Christian school kind of thoughtI was.
But she's like, okay, well, ifyou're Christian, then why are
you doing that?
She started hammering me.
(19:11):
Well, she was full on saved andborn again and in the ministry
and I didn't know it.
She started calling me, givingme scripture and praying for me,
and then I opened up the Biblethat had sat on my dresser for
my whole life and dusty.
Like I would open the Bible, Icouldn't read it like it didn't
understand it, because you needto be alive spiritually to
understand.
It's not written to the naturalmind.
(19:32):
Well, the sudden she's prayingfor me and I I kind of awakened
and so now I'm reading the Bibleand I understand it and I went
straight to Proverbs, like Ineeded Proverbs give me wisdom,
Lord yeah yeah.
And then I saw Ephesians likewait a minute, if I ask him for
a spirit of wisdom andrevelation in the knowledge of
him, he will give it to me.
(19:52):
I don't have to like grow it,he will give me that spirit.
And I literally found thatpassage asked for a spirit of
wisdom and revelation, theknowledge of him.
And Read Proverbs and like boom, boom, boom, boom.
I mean I just start applyingscripture and Everything changed
Like that, like no drinking, no, my language changed, no more
(20:16):
physical anything with.
Well, we'll got there, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
So your friends front shoes?
A friend from school highschool.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Wow freshman, like early on.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
She had pops into your life, not out of nowhere,
for divine purpose.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yes, my mom sees her at a wedding, like I didn't see
her by my Crazy that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
That's how the Lord works.
Yeah it is a small world.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That's amazing.
So are you guys still talktoday?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yes, she has a church .
She started a church out here.
Yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So after that experience and you started
making these changes andtransitions, tell me a little
bit about kind of the Going froma worldly life to a godly life.
What was that transition likefor you?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It felt like God literally picked me up out of
all these people and then put meover here into like a group of
whole new group of people, and Istill was like I loved all
those old people, but not allpeople but the the older friends
.
But he was like putting me in adifferent world and We've all
(21:32):
seen toy story.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yes, you know how, when Woody and Buzz get stuck in
the claw machine, exactlylittle aliens and they're like
trying to pull on.
Yeah, right, that's like theenemy trying to like pull on yes
, or as God's just picking us upand drop.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
That's exactly yeah that's exactly what that image
is for me.
It was like a claw and he justwent like this and he just put
me over here with the peoplethat I needed to be with, and
these were all people inministry.
They weren't just lukewarmChristians, they were like fire
from the loins up and the loinsand we were together every
single weekend and Friday night,bible study, worshiping God,
(22:08):
and all of a sudden, my lifejust I did the divorce I ain't
divorced that guy and then Justbegan a brand new life.
I mean, everything just changed.
It was, it was miraculous.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, he'll do amazing things and bless us with
awesome communities to Surroundus and support us, especially
in those times of needs if weseek him right, that's it.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Like I was seeking truth and I ran into him.
Like that's the thing is.
Like, sometimes you're notSeeking God.
It says no one seeks after me,right?
Nobody like chases after God wedon't.
I just wanted answers and thenhe was.
He's the one that's inrelentless pursuit of our hearts
.
And I had an encounter Iremember one night.
(22:55):
My friend said you want to goout?
And I was like I'm gonna stayhome and have a date with Jesus.
She must have thought it's socrazy.
You know, I'm like.
I made a fire.
I lived by myself at this time.
Kick the husband out.
I bought the house, had myfriend live with me, who also is
now saved.
It's just so cool.
But anyways, I was home alonethat night, made a fire and
(23:15):
opened up my Bible and sat infront of fire and it was me and
Jesus.
And he began to show me myselfin the pages of scripture, mary
and Martha.
I was Mary sitting at his feet,david and Bathsheba I was like
the one cheating on my husband.
And then the adultless womanwho Jesus said like you, who has
(23:40):
no sin, cast the yeah.
And then he said to her like goand sin no more.
And like those three storiesjust were so personal for me.
I was balling.
It was like he.
He met me that Friday night andjust told me like love never
fails, if your marriage failed,it wasn't love.
(24:01):
If the thing fails, god's notin it.
You're trying to do it withouthim, you know.
So let's start over and invitelove you know to the table.
And and he just opened up thescriptures to me.
And then that became my newroadmap.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
I love it.
That's amazing.
Yeah, and it's true, becauseGod will speak to us through his
word, like if you want.
If you're seeking God, open theBible open ask.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Ask him to give you understanding and he will.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, like he for sure will, yeah, and he'll give
you Story after story story yeahand it's amazing because it
truly is the living word.
Yes because, like you couldread one passage, I could read
the same exact passage.
It's gonna apply to your lifeway differently than it's gonna
apply to mine, but God can speakto both of us through the same
(24:54):
message, right, and so that'swhat I find amazing is how God
will truly meet us where we'reat.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, and the same scripture will change over the
years.
You're just like wait a minute.
I've never seen that before inthat verse, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, Amazing through the seasons.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
But at the end of the day, that's what life is really
all about.
Of course, you know.
Loving and serving God,spreading the good news right,
sharing our testimony.
Yeah, we have been calledtotally being fruitful and
multiplying, yeah, but alsocharacter growth, like I truly
believe that we're here tocontinue to be refined and so
that our character can grow, andI love that, like your, your
(25:36):
gift will bring you before thegreat people or the king, but
your character will keep youthere.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Like, without the character development, we won't
be able to like take hold of thegood thing.
We'll lose it.
It's like winning the lotteryand losing all the money, kind
of thing you know.
It's like you can't hold on tothe blessing of God and till you
learn how to steward all thathe has for you.
And that's just huge yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I tell people all the time too.
I'm like, look, if life waseasy and everything was perfect
Number one, it would be boring,and number two, like you would
never grow.
Yeah, and we all love growth.
Everybody just naturally lovesgrowth.
And when you do self reflection, you can look back into your
life and see like wow look howfar I've come and you especially
(26:25):
.
Through those years and throughthose transitions and through
the trials and tribulations thatyou've faced, you've been able
to grow exponentially, which isjust absolutely amazing to see
that feeling of like youexperience it once and you're
like, okay, wait a minute, he'sgot me and there's a purpose in
all of this.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
So now, no matter what we go through, we can rest
in, like God's here, like aslong as God's with me, it's
gonna be okay and I'm gonna comeout of this fire with gold,
Like everything is just purposedand so it's.
I heard a story of it was aresearch study done with rats,
(27:04):
of course, and they put rats inwater and the rats started to
like gasp after 15 minutes andthen they pulled them out of the
water and then they waited for48 hours or whatever, a couple
of days, put them back in thewater and they kept going and
going and going.
They were waiting to see howlong the rats would go before
they were almost drowning and 60hours later they started to
(27:31):
kind of get weary and then theytook them out.
And this is what they said.
They said it was because therats knew that they were gonna
be saved, that they hadendurance.
They were able to go 60 hoursbecause in their mind or
whatever, they were thinkinglike somebody will save us.
So let's just conserve ourenergy and keep paddling,
(27:52):
whatever until somebody picks usup and I just think, like he
said, you have need of endurance.
Like just chill, it's not asprint.
Know that I'm here, I'm gonnapick you up, like you're gonna
be okay, and that knowing justgives us the ability to go
through whatever we gotta gothrough to get to where we're
going.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
You know 100%.
Yeah, I just thought that wasso wild.
That is, that's so cool and itreally applies to faith
exponentially because, at theend of the day, like our faith,
is that God's word is true?
We know that it is.
If you've read the word, you'relike okay, it's true.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, nobody could tell us otherwise.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, but it is written, it is finished, as it
says right.
And so knowing that gives usthe faith and the continued hope
to keep striving through thiscrazy world that we're living,
in through a place that we don'tcall home.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But you know the world calls it home and that
it's not our home.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I don't know, we're just passing through this.
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, just as Jesus was passing through the desert
for 40 days, we're just passingthrough the earth for however
many years we get.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
So tell me cause you brought a purpose.
Now tell me, what do you feelyour purpose is?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Oh, wow, you know, just to bring glory to the earth
, like glorify God with my life,with my gifts, with my
everything in me, right that mybreath would be praising God.
It's funny, because I don'twant anything else, Like
everything else seems someaningless to me now, like a
(29:32):
chasing after the wind orwhatever I, unless it feels
fruitful, like unless itproduces something of eternal
value, I don't, I'm notinterested anymore.
And that's what changed for me,Whereas in the olden days I
would just do things for I don'tknow you just stay busy and
have fun or whatever.
But now it's like well, is thatgonna produce anything
(29:55):
worthwhile in my life?
And if not, then I just say no.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But I do.
It's gonna come from this.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, exactly, and the fruit is love, of course,
and that's defined by joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness,self-control.
So that's the character piece.
There's gonna be fruit in myown life, but also, what can I
pass on to other people?
So I did start a coachingbusiness 10 years ago.
I realized that I was likedoing that anyways, I have
(30:24):
spiritual gift of counseling andteaching and people would come
to me asking questions all thetime.
And then all of a sudden, godwas like this is what I want you
to do.
I want you to help people liveout the truth of who they are,
to start asking questions thatreally provoke people to thought
and confront them at a reallydeep level.
That stirs them up.
(30:45):
And so I noticed when peoplewould talk to me like they'd
just be quiet and two weekslater they'd be like I remember
when you said that thing.
And then all of a sudden, theselight bulbs came on and I
started paying attention to myinfluence on other people or my
impact.
And again God showed me likethis is what you do you provoke
people to thought, you confrontcomplacency and you really do
support them and guide them inliving out the truth of who they
(31:06):
are, so they could be free andfulfilled and effective, and
fruit producers as well.
Right yeah, and that's the onlything that really settles our
heart.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
That's so cool, right ?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, so you're coaching now, yeah, and you've
been doing it for 10 years.
Yeah, love.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
What's the biggest value that you feel you provide
to your clientele?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I mean I could say freedom for sure, power.
I mean it's like after thefirst or second session with
people, their minds are justblown.
They don't realize what theyhave because nobody's really
opened up the truth to them.
And when I just helped to shifttheir perspective a little bit,
they're like you mean what?
Like what you know?
(31:50):
So it's just continual likeperspective shifts to bring the
truth and bring the light ofGod's word into a situation.
It's so life changing.
So I give them peace.
I just have finished workingwith a married couple.
I didn't finish, they signed upfor another three months, but
after three months I'm like well, what would you say?
(32:10):
You know before and after?
And she's like gosh, just, shestopped smoking, stopped
drinking, stopped fighting withher husband, stopped hating
herself, started eating again.
You know like there's so manychanges, you know.
But if I were to boil it down, Iwould say health, like to get
all the anxiety and all the fearout of the body.
(32:30):
People are so scared and theydon't recognize the nuances of
fear, like you can't discern itbecause it's so deceptive.
So when I'm able to say youknow, help people see where the
fear-based decision making is intheir life, that is just so
freeing, and so it's amazing.
So we use faith and we use loveto govern our lives, and truth
(32:53):
instead of fear.
So once you can recognize thefear, then you can deal with it
and move right into it, becauseit's just a stupid illusion,
right, anyway.
So she's so powerful, but shegoes.
I just have peace.
I can't explain the peace.
The peace is just amazing.
She's sleeping through thenight.
No more nightmares, you know,anyway.
So now they want to do anotherthree months to really like
learn how to just cultivate moreintimacy in their marriage.
(33:16):
It's just amazing.
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
I'm a huge fan of coaching.
I think everybody should have acoach.
I've done a lot of coachingover my years.
I'm actually about to get myteam coaching through a guy,
randall Smalls which is yeah,which is really, really awesome.
So I'm a huge fan.
Big Tony Robbins, jim Rohn andlike all those guys.
(33:41):
Zig Ziglar.
So personal development's hugeand most people really
underestimate the value that youcan get.
Yeah, but when you haveindividuals and coaches like
yourself that have years ofexperience and development that
they've gone through to be ableto have something at that
(34:03):
magnitude, somebody that couldcompile all those years into
months, or days, sometimes right, depending on the we full time
for people.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
That's what we do.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So that's absolutely amazing to be able to have that
value and for you to providethat value to your clients.
Yeah, it's cool, so I love it,I love it, I love what you're
doing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Thank you, it's such a blessing oh.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Yeah, so as we kind of start wrapping things up, I
have a few more questions foryou.
So how can other peopleexperience God?
Maybe somebody who's goingthrough the same situation as
you, maybe a different situation?
You have a lot of goodexperience and multiple stories.
(34:53):
I'm sure we probably onlycovered small small pieces.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Yes, we got lots of stories to say.
You know what I would say?
Number one get honest.
Get honest, like talk to meabout the pain in your life,
because we don't want to admitthat we're in pain, that we need
help.
Or just get honest with God,pour out your heart before Him.
Or even if you can't imaginethat, you know, using your
(35:18):
imagination.
He gave us our imagination toimagine the spiritual realm,
because we can't see it right.
So all the invisible things,the spiritual realm, we have to
use our imagination to be ableto just envision this.
But there is somebody that'shere, like there is a God that
is present.
And when you just acknowledgethe pain in your life or the
(35:39):
struggle or the frustration, itopens you up to the willingness
to receive some kind of answeror some kind of comfort or some
kind of help.
And then you open up your Bibleand you find Ephesians one and
you look at the verses like 16through 19.
This is where it says that Paulwas praying that these people
(35:59):
would, that God would give thesepeople a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge ofHim.
That's all we need.
So once you get that spirit inyou, then you can understand the
Bible.
So then you could open up theBible and it will come alive to
you and it will minister to yourheart and you will feel like he
is so real that nobody will beable to take that away from you
(36:21):
ever.
Like you will know God, youwill just have an experience.
That word, no is ganosco meanslike an experience with God and
experiential knowledge, andthat's what we all need were
spiritual beings.
Amen, we were having this humanexperience.
But we're spirit.
And you know what else?
I think of God, who'somniscient.
(36:41):
That means he knows everything.
Like what, if we kneweverything, would life be boring
, kind of right.
So I kind of feel like Jesuswas, like I mean, he came to
earth to like die for our sinsso we would have some way to
reconcile you know ourselves toGod, or God could reconcile us
to himself.
But I think of Jesus coming toearth, he came here for a human
(37:01):
experience.
Amen, to be human, like to notknow everything.
It said he had to come inlowliness of mind, like he had
to put all of that knowing asidefor a minute and just live as a
human and feel and not begoverned by his feelings, but
like feel.
He cried, he got angry, he got.
All of it is good.
It's all good, that's whatwe're here to do, but we're not
(37:23):
governed by that.
When we're in the spirit, wecan make our decisions from the
spirit, but we could still havea human experience and connect
on an emotional level withpeople, and that's so beautiful
and I think that's missedsometimes 100%, and that's so
cool that you bring that up,because I think about that all
the time.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Right, it's like I use the analogy if you built a
car, you'd want to test drivethe car.
Right, yeah.
And just like God built theworld.
Oh, I love that Like he wantsto test drive the world.
He built humans like.
He wants to live in the human.
He wants to experiencesomething that he hadn't
experienced before yes.
So how would he show or tell orlead us in the way of life if
(38:03):
he had never experienced it in afirst person?
Speaker 2 (38:06):
perspective.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
right, that's it, so that's why I think the Bible is
so amazing and God and his lovefor his children and what he has
done for us is he was willingto give up the God.
Hey, I'm big almighty, comedown to a human form and live a
life so that he can say, hey, Iknow what it's like, I get it, I
(38:30):
understand Totally.
Just do this, do that, do this,do that.
You don't have to do thosethings, but if you do these
things, your life will be easier.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
I promise, I promise it will be so good.
Like it breaks our kids, youknow, making the wrong decision,
how it just like, ah, youdisobeyed again.
Like I was talking with a momthis morning about that, just,
she has a little two year old,you know, and who's just testing
, testing, testing, and I'm likethere's a, there's a pun, sin
has a weight and if you don'tget punished for your sin,
(39:04):
you're carrying the weight ofthat sin around.
And so as adults we canunderstand oh, jesus carried the
weight of my sin, thepunishment, and so we receive
what he did for us.
But when the kids are little,like take that sin off of them
by giving them a punishmentright away and the punishment is
like you disobeyed mommy,period, just disobedience Cause,
when you disobeyed mommy, badthings happen, like you're not
(39:25):
going to be happy, you're notgoing to be healthy, it's not
going to work out good for you.
Out of love, out of love, alllove, all love.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Totally.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
You know I get it.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
It's love I recently heard somebody say the ages of
zero to five are the ages ofdiscipline.
Amen.
The ages of five to 10 are theages of training, from 10 to 15,
it's coaching, cool Right, andI'm like, wow, that is so true.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Nobody kind of broke it down like that and then
mentoring after that.
Yeah, and then mentoring, andthen they grow up and then
you're their friend.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yes, that's exactly it.
Boom yes, don't be a friend ateight.
They need a trainer.
It's crazy.
They need a floor like you'rethe authoritarian when they're
little.
They need that, like they needto know that mom and dad are
safe and that they care for themand they they're going to lead
them and guide them in the waysthat are going to bring good
things into their life.
(40:26):
You know, yeah, and then themoral reason why that training
stage like five to 10, help themto understand these things,
right?
Oh gosh, I'm that's, that'severything, and I think it's
gotten lost.
So it's a huge message.
You've got to get out there andpreach it.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yeah Amen, especially now with all the baby sitters.
Yeah, resistance parents.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
No parents.
It's so sad.
These kids are just on loveLike they they're looking.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
I'm here to change that, though.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
That's why we're doing this.
That's why we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Part of this is getting the message out of
sharing with, with familiesremoving the iPad, baby sitters.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Restoring families.
That's why you know we got theranch and what we're doing with
our family to kind of bring backthe roots of life.
Yes, we just have animals andteach our kids Life, life, life.
This is not life.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Not my life, but him life.
He said I'm the life, I'm theway to everything you want, I'm
the truth that's going to freeyou to get it, and I'm the life
that you long for.
I always come back to that Johnverse because in him is every
good thing Like it is crazy, andyou don't know that until you
(41:39):
experience that.
But go to him, man.
It's like just look up or lookin.
I think about building thetemple.
You're such a builder right now.
This, this is the temple of God.
Our bodies and when we takecare and we grow, you know the
personal development, thespiritual development, we get
(41:59):
mentorship, we get coaching.
All of that is helping us tobuild the temple Right.
We don't want the gates of hellto cause us to cave in any way,
shape or form.
If this thing isn't workingright, if our mind isn't working
right, if our emotions aren'tworking, if our physical body
isn't, if it's not working, wecan't do what we're here to do.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah, you know, and there's a Bible verse that talks
about it.
Right, it's because we arewhere the body and God is the
head.
Yeah, right, yeah.
And the hand can't work withoutthe head.
Yeah, the whole body functionas a whole.
Yeah, not independently.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
And that's the problem right.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, yeah, and that's even with, like, the
church today there's so many,there's all these different
denominations, and you know whatI?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
get it.
We need those, I know.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Yeah, I get it to an extent, but at the end of the
day, we're the body of Christ.
Yeah, the enemy wants division.
God does not want division.
Right, it's that religiousspirit.
Yeah, to where it'sunderstanding.
Hey, we're all the body ofChrist.
We need to share the love ofJesus.
Yeah, yeah, that's our purpose.
I don't care if you believe inthe pre-tribulation rapture,
(43:04):
post-tribulation we don'tbelieve in a rapture at all.
Yeah, I don't care, right.
It doesn't matter to me.
What I do care about is whetheror not you know and love and
have a relationship with JesusChrist.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, that's what matters, right yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And so that's really the purpose of our life is to
live as the body.
Yeah, and the enemy does notwant that.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Right.
Like what we're doing here rightnow, like the enemy doesn't
want, he doesn't like it, yeah,and the marriage is like such a
heart for marriages because wedon't understand how it works,
because we've gotten too faraway from the truth of the word.
Yes, but like a man and a woman, they fit together really
beautifully when you have theman in his masculine power and
the woman in her feminine.
(43:45):
But you get two men in the samehouse and it's just competition
, yeah.
And I think that's what's goingon is these women are just
fear-based thinking all the time.
They think that they have tocarry their own weight, and so
now there's two men, yeah, andthe poor man isn't like able to
do what he's called to do, whichis protect and provide and
pursue.
And I don't know, I just have apassion for that too.
(44:06):
So you're with the family thing, I'm with the marriage thing,
yeah, and honestly, I love that.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
I'm so blessed that my parents, before we got
married, they sent us to aconference by the Ingritches.
It's called Love and Respect.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Amazing, you got it down.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
It was a three day like that.
That helped really shape ourmarriage.
And then we did pre-marriagecounseling and then we read a
lot of books, we read the fivelove languages.
We really understood andlearned about each other.
And then, most importantly, wehad God at the center, we had
the Bible together and we havethose core values, or evenly
yoke, yes.
Yes, on the opposite side I sawmy parents and when I grew up
(44:49):
we had no influence of God Likewe would go to church, sometimes
once in a blue moon, maybe on aChristmas or maybe on Easter,
just randomly.
It was just like, oh, that'skind of what my dad kind of had
and my mom didn't really havemuch of that growing up either.
And then when I was in highschool they both found the Lord.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
And they started going to church.
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
So that was amazing.
So I got to see the transitionof a non-existent God in a
marriage to a core.
God is the center of thismarriage, and then they fell
away and then they ended upgetting a divorce and this was a
couple years ago, wow.
And so I got to see the stagesof not with God, with God, not
(45:36):
with God, and I saw the ending.
Then it ended good.
Right, right but when they werewalking with the Lord and they
had a relationship with God andhe was really the core.
That was the happiest that theyhave ever been, and even still
to this day.
I'll ask them and they're like,yeah, that was the best.
If I could go back to that, Iwould Right.
And so that's why in yourmarriage, you just have to have
(45:58):
God at the center of it.
You can never lose that.
If you lose that, chances areyou might lose your marriage.
So keeping God at the center ofit is just the most important
thing that you can do.
So I love that you have a heartand a passion for that.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
And I hear that story and I'm just like send them.
I want them both.
I want to restore everything,everything that the locusts have
eaten.
You know that's the heart ofGod is like let's fix this
Redeem, restore there's answers.
There's answers as long asthere's a will, like if you have
a desire for something that'sof God, right Desire.
Do you know that D-E means ofSire, means father, the deepest
(46:38):
desires of your heart, the deep,deep, not the lust of the flesh
, but like the deep desire is ofGod, it's of your father, like
it's OK to follow that becausehe'll show up and show you great
and mighty things that youdon't know, you know.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
That's incredible.
I still stand on the fact thatGod is going to restore their
marriage.
One day they will come together.
I'm leaning, I'm praying andI'm telling them Cool, they say
otherwise, but as long as, likeyou said, as long as they want,
the desire as long as they havean open heart.
(47:14):
If you have an open heart mywife just shared this with me
the other day If you have anopen heart, god can do anything,
anything, anything.
But if you have a closed heart,nothing.
He can't help you out, that'sit.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
He can't do anything.
Yeah, so have an open heart.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
He won't violate our will.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
That's right.
Guard your heart for everythingyou do.
Close from it.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
All of life flows from the heart.
Yeah, yeah, that's it, mm.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
That's amazing.
Is there any story that youwant to share before we wrap
this up, any particular Godstory that you have?
Speaker 2 (47:46):
I'm wearing this watch.
I don't know why.
This is a silly story, but wewere at church one day and the
pastor's wife came up and stoodup before the congregation and
she's like is Stacy here?
And I was.
I wasn't at church, actually,my husband was.
I was at a conference, so he'slike Stacy's not here, but I am
white Comes up and the pastor'swife goes I want her to have
this watch.
(48:06):
Well, this watch I had pickedout the week before I went to
the store and I put it on holdand I said I will be back on
Friday to pay for this, becauseI thought money was coming to me
on Friday.
Well, the money didn't come onFriday.
She didn't know anything aboutthis.
And then a week later at church, this happens it's the exact
watch that I had put on hold atthe store to purchase myself.
(48:29):
Just secret, nobody knew this.
My husband didn't know it,nobody.
I just really liked it.
Wow, and I mean that's so silly.
But it's those little thingsthat I'm like God, you are so
real.
Like what in the world?
Why would she come up and saythis belongs to Stacy?
Like only God.
(48:50):
I don't know.
It's crazy.
But we also went through houseissues, like forgot to get the
physical mail.
We were going through arefinance with our first house
in Canyon Lake, forgot to getthe mail and I guess that there
was some mail that we weresupposed to sign by a certain
date and didn't.
And these two guys come to mydoor one day, knock at the door.
(49:12):
I open the door, it's these twoagents.
They said we just purchasedyour house at an auction.
I'm like what?
Our house was not for sale.
And they're like yeah, thishappened to us before.
Can we come in?
We'll tell you?
We lost our house like rightout from under us.
It was crazy.
That was a big, huge lesson Apoor stewardship right.
We should have been getting themail.
(49:33):
It looked like everything aboutthat was like we deserve to be
punished for this, right.
It looks like that.
Well, in the end we ended uplosing that house, walked away
with a bunch of cash becausethere was still some equity
there that we got to have, butGod sent us to this other
amazing house on the lake with abeach.
So we were at this incrediblehouse for over four years, had
(49:57):
all kinds of parties andmemorable times with our three
kids and I just look at, likethat could have never happened.
That was the grace of God.
We made a mistake, but so Godwas bigger than our mistakes and
that's just what I want toencourage you guys with like, no
matter how many mistakes you'vemade, no matter how much you've
screwed up because we all havehe's bigger.
He just is a God of redemption.
(50:19):
He just wants to restoreeverything.
And whatever Satan intends forevil, god intends for good, like
intends.
That's what it says in Genesis50, verse 20,.
Whatever the devil is doing,like, god is going to use it all
for good.
If you'll just look to him andjust surrender, like give it to
him right, like, oh, I give up.
(50:41):
Like I have messed up longenough.
And you know, I look at ourpast and it's just nasty, but
God is so good and so big, andso I just encourage everybody to
keep looking to him.
Just look to him.
He's real, he's so real.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
He's so close yeah.
So true, yeah, just theuniqueness of life in and of
itself.
Our DNA, like the individualityand uniqueness that every
person has you included Behindthe screen right now.
God made you on purpose, forpurpose and with a purpose, so
knowing and understanding that.
(51:18):
So thank you so much.
We really appreciate yousharing your story and your
testimony and what God has donein your life Very encouraging.
I know our viewers and ouraudience will be extremely
encouraged and hopefully thatthis will change somebody's life
.
And I know that it will, and soI just want to encourage you to
keep sharing your story and keepsharing what God has done.
(51:40):
Where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (51:43):
stacyccom with a E-Y-S-T-A-C-E-Y-C dot com, and
then on social media.
I'm on Facebook and Instagramand I'm going to be getting a
lot more active on LinkedIn soonwith my business.
So yeah, Awesome.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
All right, and if you guys need coaching, please
reach out to Stacey.
She is phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
I won't let you down.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
She had to hear her story, her story today.
Obviously, she's been throughgood trials and tribulations.
She has a lot of experience,both in the business world and
the spiritual world and in arelationship with God.
And so marriages, you likemarriage?
Yes, oh, my gosh, marriage Ifyou're struggling in your
marriage, please reach out.
I love that story about that.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
I am doing right now a program called Supernatural
Health and it's really aboutgetting your love life right.
And it's for women, becausewhen our love life isn't right,
our health is jacked up.
So there are so much stress inyour life you don't even realize
when your relationship isn'tright.
When there's a strain in yourrelationship, it's affecting
(52:46):
your health.
So, anyways, we talk about allof it.
Speaker 1 (52:48):
It's amazing.
Yeah, awesome, yeah.
All right, make sure you guysfollow her.
Thank you guys so much fortuning in to the Feeling Faith
podcast.
We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Amen.
How's it going, family and friends?
My name is Cal on stop.
I'm here today with my guest,stacy carnaludy Stacy, thank you
so much for coming in how youdoing today.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Great.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
All right, thanks for coming in.
You got some Awesome storiesthat you're gonna share today.
Yes, we're gonna save the bestfor the end, so make sure you
guys stay all the way through.
Um, but tell me a little bit.
I want to start at thebeginning of your life.
What was your upbringing like?
What was the family life like,like start with where you were
born.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right Um Los Angeles County, california.
Grew up on the beaches ofsouthern california.
Dad served brother surfprofessionally like surf beach
family.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Nice and did you?
Were you in the water too?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, for a while, but I have to say, my dad tried
so hard to teach me to surf andI Like I would just get really,
really angry and really sad andI would be bawling my eyes out
and he'd be standing on the pierlike keep going, and I just you
know, and finally he gave upand I'm a water skier.
I wasn't supposed to be asurfer, I was supposed to be a
(01:07):
water skier.
So you know.
Now I know the end of the story, but yeah he couldn't.
You know, you get to a pointwhere you just can't force your
teenage girl, of course, to doanything.
You'll, you'll.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
No, no, I get it, I got two daughters and I'm
already learning.
She's four and I'm like allright, so that's awesome.
So grew up in southerncalifornia and what was your?
What was your upbringing like?
Tell me a little bit about yourchildhood.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
You had a, your sibling, one or two, yeah one
brother year and a half youngerthan me and, um, my mom and dad
sent us to a christian school.
Like I was in fifth grade, mybrother was two grades behind me
third grade so we started inpublic school.
Then, for some reason, theysent us to a christian school,
so we had teachers praying forus.
(01:54):
You know, didn't go to church.
My dad had kind of a Mormonbackground, my mom had a
catholic background and theydidn't go to church.
They just really wanted us tofind our own way, and so there
was no real spiritual likeTraining or upbringing in my
(02:14):
home.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, interesting, a lot of moral education.
Yeah, lots.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yes, lots of core values like yeah, yeah, so it's
very interesting yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And did you play any sports growing up?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
I was a swimmer, a synchronized swimmer.
I started out like speed racingand then my coach was like you
are too pretty when you swim,you need to go to the
synchronized swimming team.
And so after A year or so ofjust coming in last Over and
over, I'm like okay, so I didsynchronized swimming, which is
(02:51):
awesome, it's amazing sport,yeah, yeah.
And then cheerleading, and thenplayed the piano by ear.
Start playing piano by ear.
My parents bought me a piano,baby grand, because they were
like, oh my gosh.
So then I started taking pianolessons and then high school
Cheerleading came and and then Iquit piano and then my life was
cheer, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, so you're a cheer girl.
Yeah, all the way throughcollege.
Cal State Long.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Beach cheer.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
College cheer Yep.
So you, you took it all the wayall the way all the way, that's
awesome.
Yeah, it's a.
It's a whole nother level atthat point whole nother.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, it really is.
It becomes everything.
It's like a sport.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, so what?
What sport did you cheer for?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
basketball and football in college, just those.
Well, even in high school, yeahyeah, yeah basketball football
yeah, nice.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
All right, cheerleaders are the best.
Yeah, I was a football playerand a basketball player, so it's
always nice to cheerleaders onthe side.
Yeah, rooting you on.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour upbringing you.
So, once you got into highschool, were you still going to
a christian school, or no.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
so I went to the christian school Gosh, not that
long, because then seventh andeighth grade was back in public
again and um and high school,public high school, and so it
was just these few years it wasfour years when I was young.
We went to the christian schooland then back into the public
(04:24):
school and I'm still friendswith a lot of the people that I
went to or the public school,junior, high and high school,
but just saw him last night as amatter of fact.
So a lot of great relationships, yeah, yeah, great, great
people.
But it just wasn't a churchupbringing, it was just a lot of
good people.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, no, that's good .
The school system is a lotdifferent now than it was back
then.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh, my goodness yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
I could imagine going to a christian school.
I didn't have the the pleasureof of learning that my parents
that teach me a lot of reallygood morals and values.
But to have that at an earlyage Is that there's a lot of
value there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, I think that's how I came to the lord later is
because people were praying forme and there there was something
laid down at a young age thatjust got as faithful you know,
and there was a lot of seedssown, even though we weren't
going to church as a family,even though all that seed was
never watered.
I'd look back and I'm like wow.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
It really, is it really?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
is.
I love that yeah.
And so you went to college, andthen after college, where'd you
end up?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
That's when things got crazy.
So, um, I married the highschool sweetheart.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh, love those stories yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, this wasn't the person I was supposed to marry,
but I didn't know god and so Idid the best I could.
So you end up marrying theperson that kind of feels like
Love.
You don't know love until youknow.
Until I encounter him, I didn'treally know, but, um, he's a
great guy and my dad loved him,my mom loved you know, and so I
got the job.
I was teacher, got my teachingcredential.
(06:00):
Um, bada condo Got the job.
Bada condo dog got married,like the whole thing when I
graduated from college.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Check off the list.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
It's just boom, boom, boom boom.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, like I had, I had a list.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Like you got it.
You got a graduate, you got toget the teaching credential, got
to get the job, the dog, thecar, the house.
I mean check, check, check,check, check.
And then all the sudden Thingsgot crazy because I didn't have
a vision.
And you know how the Bible sayswithout a vision, we perish.
That word perish is like youcast off all restraint, like
without a goal or a vision, likeyou're just like, well, there's
(06:35):
no reason to really Live acertain way or discipline my
life or whatever, because I'malready, I've arrived, just
wondering.
I kind of thought I was.
I kind of thought like I I'mhere now and I had money and I
had time and my husband workedat nights and I worked in the
day.
So, uh, you can imagine it justwas a setup, for I won teacher
(06:57):
of the year.
I was very successful.
I was doing exercise videos forJane Fonda.
I went to Europe to travel andpromote video.
So I was very like Succeedingin the fitness industry and then
doing great in educationteaching the kids.
I was training teachers.
So I had a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I was successful in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yes, I appeared to be very successful and I I knew
how to get successprofessionally, and that's part
of my work.
Today is like Working withpeople that have that same story
, like on the outside everythinglooks great, but on the inside,
like Health and relationships.
That's where that's what wasreally lacking, even though I'm
(07:38):
in the fitness industry, lookslike I'm healthy, but all kinds
of crazy stuff was going oninside.
So a lot of drinking, a lot ofoverworking, a lot of
overthinking, a lot of achievingright, like anything, to avoid
feeling the reality that I wascreating, you know.
(07:58):
So I didn't feel anything.
I just disconnect from my bodyand I lived a happy life, you
know, I mean, I thought so butthe average American dream, as
they call it.
Yeah, yeah but the reason I knewsomething was off is like my
husband kept saying, do you wantto have kids, are we gonna have
kids?
And like I was like no, and Iknew that was weird.
(08:20):
I'm like wait a minute, I'mmarried, I have a job.
I have like, why, what is this?
And then the next year like no,and then the next year was like
no, like it kept getting moreintense, no and um, and by year
five I knew like yeah,something's going on here, bad
yeah so.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I'm too caught up in the world.
Yeah, okay, so tell me a littlebit about that time, like at
year five what happened?
What happened during that time?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Good question, so up to up to there.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You didn't have really the Lord, you weren't no,
oh, no I didn't have any typeof relationship with Jesus none,
zero, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
So I.
So I, I Was working with aproducer, we had done an
exercise video and he said we'regonna Launch the video.
Do you want to come out and seethe first?
What's it called the premiere?
And so it was on a Friday nightand I'm like, yeah, he's like,
bring a date, bring a friend.
(09:25):
Well, my husband's working, so Iinvited a friend and this was a
problem of mine is that I hadother people that would fill in
the gap, you know, and I startedlike seeing other people, kind
of Platonically, but not like Ijust was deceived, and so a
friend of mine, we drove up topast LA and we watched the
premiere and on the way home,got in a car accident.
(09:47):
And I mean, we spun on the fouror five south across four lanes
, slid off the side of thefreeway and hit a tree.
We didn't touch another car.
It was so miraculous when Ithink about it.
And Hit the tree, my car wasjust, it was a little Honda,
(10:07):
brand new Honda, and and thefirst thing I said was like, run
.
I told him to run because Iknew I wasn't supposed to be
with this person, and so he ran,jump the fence and then pretty
soon the cops came becausepeople were calling the cops
because it looked prettyhorrific and and then they came
and gave me the test and I waswearing my high heels and like,
(10:30):
and I Failed and it was drunkdriving arrest and so I got
taken to jail that night.
Yeah, yeah, I'm got arrested,taking a jail for dy 27 or 8
somewhere around there, and andand.
(10:51):
So, as I'm sobering up in a jailcell At about like three, two,
three o'clock in the morning, Ijust remember sitting there and
looking around and there waslike all of these beautiful
women Around me and I noticedlike eight, ten, and I'm like
why?
Like where?
(11:12):
I'm just thinking I'm in like aholding cell or whatever.
And I didn't know why, but itwasn't, I wasn't alone, and All
these women are beautiful.
And all of a sudden I was like,oh my gosh, like they're all
just empty inside, like we'reall in the same boat, like here
I am in a jail cell with all ofthese women and we all kind of
look the same and what's thedeal?
(11:33):
Like that's when I realized myown decisions had landed me
there and this was not who I waslike nothing about this was
resonating, I'm like no, no,this is not my.
The end of the story.
I didn't identify who I am yes,yes and Um, it was like boom,
that was my moment.
It really was and it wasn't.
(11:55):
I still hadn't come to the Lord, but he was drawing me in, like
it was radical, working on yourheart.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, it's amazing, because sometimes the Lord has
to allow us to get to those wesome call it rock bottom.
Yeah, some people have deeperrock bottoms, yeah, others yeah.
But yeah, for us to wake up,yeah, to life, yeah, and to our
spiritual life, yeah.
So you're in that, you're inthat cell, you're there, you
(12:22):
realize that.
And then what happens once youget out?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
and then my husband gets off Work in his deputy
sheriff uniform and picks me upfrom jail.
So he has to go pick up hiswife from Orange County jail.
He works in LA County GangEnforcement Team and he picks up
his wife from Orange Countyjail and he literally saw me.
Yeah, I mean it, it really is.
(12:46):
Like the whole thing is just,it's just crazy.
And he looked at me with like asmirk like oh my gosh, you know
, we both had this like very, wewere very much alike, kind of a
mutual respect, but very, wewere both Doing the same thing.
Like it's crazy, it's, it'shorrible, and yet he's like my
little brother kind of guy, youknow.
Like I can't, I don't know.
(13:08):
Yeah, we grew up together anddid the best we could, anyways.
So he picks me up and then thenext morning I wake up to
reality that my cars totaled.
They had taken it to thejunkyard or whatever.
I had no car I.
It was just this surreal kindof Moment.
(13:31):
And so I got information fromthe court saying that I needed
to show up in court at a certaindate Because of the arrest, and
so that's when I got a courtorder to sobriety.
They said you can't drink forsix months and you need to go to
this school it's called school10 and it's where you learn, you
kind of explore yourrelationship with alcohol and
you learn all kinds of goodthings, right?
(13:53):
Well, I was two weeks intosobriety and I couldn't handle
myself.
This is when I realized I wasreally using alcohol to just
avoid Myself, right?
I think that's what we do.
We just don't want to feelanything, and that's what this
human experience is about ishaving some feelings, not be
governed by them, but havingthem.
And I refuse to feel anything.
(14:14):
And so you just know, yeah, soI was really good at numbing,
and after about two weeks of notbeing able to numb, I was like,
oh my gosh, and my neighborcame across to she goes, you
need to call this person.
And it was a therapist.
And I'm like, okay, like I knewat that point, like, yes,
that's exactly what I need to do.
And so I got myself intotherapy.
(14:36):
And and then, do you want tohear what happened next?
So I'm sitting in this chairand this therapist looks at me
and she's like so tell me whoStacy Carnaludia is?
Say no, my name was notcarnaludia at that point.
Tell me who Stacy Benson is.
And I was like that was myother name, the married name,
(15:01):
not my maiden name, but that wasmy first marriage.
I was divorced one time, sotell me who Stacy Benson is.
But she didn't say Benson, shesaid Stacy.
Sorry, I'm not even like sheeven used last Name.
Tell me who Stacy is.
And so I sat there and I waslike I was totally stumped and
(15:24):
All the sudden, I mean I wasliterally like no words.
I'm like this is so sad that Ican't even answer this.
Seem like a basic question,yeah, and so I started like
giving her my resume.
I'm like, well, I'm a teacherand I'm an aerobic instructor
and I'm an accomplished fitnesstrainer and I.
(15:49):
Yes, teacher of the year, andlike, yeah, and so, after my
long list of all these things,she looks at me, she goes oh, so
it sounds like Stacy is a humandoing instead of a human being.
This is what the pain is.
(16:13):
And then tears, just, she gotto me.
She finally made me feelsomething and I cried because I
knew like well, that's prettyserious stuff right there, yeah,
and so that's when I stayed intherapy and she started giving
me books to read and 12-stepprograms to go to.
(16:35):
And so my journey started in byacknowledging my feelings of
powerlessness, we used to say,acknowledging that I'm powerless
over this thing.
Well, now I know we feelpowerless, were not?
God has given us great power,but at the moment I had to admit
like I'm powerless right here.
I need help with alcohol, Ineed help with relationships, I
(16:56):
need help with food, I need helpwith you know.
So I'm going to like adifferent 12-step meeting every
night.
I was so tenacious I'm likeI've got to get answers.
So I was on a quest for truth.
Really is what happened.
And I would read and go tomeetings and do my Thib, do my
work at the beach.
I would bring books and, youknow a journal like I was always
writing and I just took itreally seriously.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, so during that time of your life, because
there's there's a few differentareas that we have to focus on
spiritual, mental, physical,financial, emotional and
relational.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
You have the physical , you have the financial.
You didn't have the others,right, right spiritually or
Bankrupt.
Yeah, yeah, you're actuallybank, yep, emotionally Empty
yeah.
So, mentally whacked how didhow did this lead you?
How did this lead you to God?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It.
That's, this is the great part.
God is so good to meet us wherewe're at.
He met me right where I was atand he was leading me all the
way.
He was protecting me, becausethat's what he does.
And then he was leading me.
Yes, I should have died.
How many times right have you?
Like most of us, we can lookback and go.
I should have died there, Ishould have died there, and he
(18:10):
had.
He has his hand on us.
But see, I was so sincere in myquest, like I wanted answers, I
wanted the truth deep down.
I knew that truth would set mefree.
So I was on a quest for truth,and I think it comes back to the
elementary school, like the MrsDiffenworth was praying for me
and she gave me a little thingthat said Jesus loves you.
(18:30):
And I didn't understand.
Jesus Love me.
I'm like I didn't ask him tolove me, I didn't ask him to
dine across.
I don't understand.
I didn't understand any of that.
But see, the seeds were planted, so now it was time for this
harvest to come, and so I, I'mjust like pursuing quit, you
know, mike.
And then, all of a sudden, mymom sees an old friend from high
(18:50):
school at a wedding and Sayshow is Stacy?
My mom tells her she's goingthrough divorce right now.
Jacqueline's like, give me hernumber.
She calls me.
She's like I thought you wereChristian.
I'm like, well, yeah, like Ilive in America, I went to
Christian school kind of thoughtI was.
But she's like, okay, well, ifyou're Christian, then why are
you doing that?
She started hammering me.
(19:11):
Well, she was full on saved andborn again and in the ministry
and I didn't know it.
She started calling me, givingme scripture and praying for me,
and then I opened up the Biblethat had sat on my dresser for
my whole life and dusty.
Like I would open the Bible, Icouldn't read it like it didn't
understand it, because you needto be alive spiritually to
understand.
It's not written to the naturalmind.
(19:32):
Well, the sudden she's prayingfor me and I I kind of awakened
and so now I'm reading the Bibleand I understand it and I went
straight to Proverbs, like Ineeded Proverbs give me wisdom,
Lord yeah yeah.
And then I saw Ephesians likewait a minute, if I ask him for
a spirit of wisdom andrevelation in the knowledge of
him, he will give it to me.
(19:52):
I don't have to like grow it,he will give me that spirit.
And I literally found thatpassage asked for a spirit of
wisdom and revelation, theknowledge of him.
And Read Proverbs and like boom, boom, boom, boom.
I mean I just start applyingscripture and Everything changed
Like that, like no drinking, no, my language changed, no more
(20:16):
physical anything with.
Well, we'll got there, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
So your friends front shoes?
A friend from school highschool.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Wow freshman, like early on.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
She had pops into your life, not out of nowhere,
for divine purpose.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yes, my mom sees her at a wedding, like I didn't see
her by my Crazy that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
That's how the Lord works.
Yeah it is a small world.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That's amazing.
So are you guys still talktoday?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yes, she has a church .
She started a church out here.
Yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So after that experience and you started
making these changes andtransitions, tell me a little
bit about kind of the Going froma worldly life to a godly life.
What was that transition likefor you?
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It felt like God literally picked me up out of
all these people and then put meover here into like a group of
whole new group of people, and Istill was like I loved all
those old people, but not allpeople but the the older friends
.
But he was like putting me in adifferent world and We've all
(21:32):
seen toy story.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yes, you know how, when Woody and Buzz get stuck in
the claw machine, exactlylittle aliens and they're like
trying to pull on.
Yeah, right, that's like theenemy trying to like pull on yes
, or as God's just picking us upand drop.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
That's exactly yeah that's exactly what that image
is for me.
It was like a claw and he justwent like this and he just put
me over here with the peoplethat I needed to be with, and
these were all people inministry.
They weren't just lukewarmChristians, they were like fire
from the loins up and the loinsand we were together every
single weekend and Friday night,bible study, worshiping God,
(22:08):
and all of a sudden, my lifejust I did the divorce I ain't
divorced that guy and then Justbegan a brand new life.
I mean, everything just changed.
It was, it was miraculous.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, he'll do amazing things and bless us with
awesome communities to Surroundus and support us, especially
in those times of needs if weseek him right, that's it.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Like I was seeking truth and I ran into him.
Like that's the thing is.
Like, sometimes you're notSeeking God.
It says no one seeks after me,right?
Nobody like chases after God wedon't.
I just wanted answers and thenhe was.
He's the one that's inrelentless pursuit of our hearts
.
And I had an encounter Iremember one night.
(22:55):
My friend said you want to goout?
And I was like I'm gonna stayhome and have a date with Jesus.
She must have thought it's socrazy.
You know, I'm like.
I made a fire.
I lived by myself at this time.
Kick the husband out.
I bought the house, had myfriend live with me, who also is
now saved.
It's just so cool.
But anyways, I was home alonethat night, made a fire and
(23:15):
opened up my Bible and sat infront of fire and it was me and
Jesus.
And he began to show me myselfin the pages of scripture, mary
and Martha.
I was Mary sitting at his feet,david and Bathsheba I was like
the one cheating on my husband.
And then the adultless womanwho Jesus said like you, who has
(23:40):
no sin, cast the yeah.
And then he said to her like goand sin no more.
And like those three storiesjust were so personal for me.
I was balling.
It was like he.
He met me that Friday night andjust told me like love never
fails, if your marriage failed,it wasn't love.
(24:01):
If the thing fails, god's notin it.
You're trying to do it withouthim, you know.
So let's start over and invitelove you know to the table.
And and he just opened up thescriptures to me.
And then that became my newroadmap.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
I love it.
That's amazing.
Yeah, and it's true, becauseGod will speak to us through his
word, like if you want.
If you're seeking God, open theBible open ask.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Ask him to give you understanding and he will.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, like he for sure will, yeah, and he'll give
you Story after story story yeahand it's amazing because it
truly is the living word.
Yes because, like you couldread one passage, I could read
the same exact passage.
It's gonna apply to your lifeway differently than it's gonna
apply to mine, but God can speakto both of us through the same
(24:54):
message, right, and so that'swhat I find amazing is how God
will truly meet us where we'reat.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, and the same scripture will change over the
years.
You're just like wait a minute.
I've never seen that before inthat verse, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, Amazing through the seasons.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
But at the end of the day, that's what life is really
all about.
Of course, you know.
Loving and serving God,spreading the good news right,
sharing our testimony.
Yeah, we have been calledtotally being fruitful and
multiplying, yeah, but alsocharacter growth, like I truly
believe that we're here tocontinue to be refined and so
that our character can grow, andI love that, like your, your
(25:36):
gift will bring you before thegreat people or the king, but
your character will keep youthere.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Like, without the character development, we won't
be able to like take hold of thegood thing.
We'll lose it.
It's like winning the lotteryand losing all the money, kind
of thing you know.
It's like you can't hold on tothe blessing of God and till you
learn how to steward all thathe has for you.
And that's just huge yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I tell people all the time too.
I'm like, look, if life waseasy and everything was perfect
Number one, it would be boring,and number two, like you would
never grow.
Yeah, and we all love growth.
Everybody just naturally lovesgrowth.
And when you do self reflection, you can look back into your
life and see like wow look howfar I've come and you especially
(26:25):
.
Through those years and throughthose transitions and through
the trials and tribulations thatyou've faced, you've been able
to grow exponentially, which isjust absolutely amazing to see
that feeling of like youexperience it once and you're
like, okay, wait a minute, he'sgot me and there's a purpose in
all of this.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
So now, no matter what we go through, we can rest
in, like God's here, like aslong as God's with me, it's
gonna be okay and I'm gonna comeout of this fire with gold,
Like everything is just purposedand so it's.
I heard a story of it was aresearch study done with rats,
(27:04):
of course, and they put rats inwater and the rats started to
like gasp after 15 minutes andthen they pulled them out of the
water and then they waited for48 hours or whatever, a couple
of days, put them back in thewater and they kept going and
going and going.
They were waiting to see howlong the rats would go before
they were almost drowning and 60hours later they started to
(27:31):
kind of get weary and then theytook them out.
And this is what they said.
They said it was because therats knew that they were gonna
be saved, that they hadendurance.
They were able to go 60 hoursbecause in their mind or
whatever, they were thinkinglike somebody will save us.
So let's just conserve ourenergy and keep paddling,
(27:52):
whatever until somebody picks usup and I just think, like he
said, you have need of endurance.
Like just chill, it's not asprint.
Know that I'm here, I'm gonnapick you up, like you're gonna
be okay, and that knowing justgives us the ability to go
through whatever we gotta gothrough to get to where we're
going.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
You know 100%.
Yeah, I just thought that wasso wild.
That is, that's so cool and itreally applies to faith
exponentially because, at theend of the day, like our faith,
is that God's word is true?
We know that it is.
If you've read the word, you'relike okay, it's true.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, nobody could tell us otherwise.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah, but it is written, it is finished, as it
says right.
And so knowing that gives usthe faith and the continued hope
to keep striving through thiscrazy world that we're living,
in through a place that we don'tcall home.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
But you know the world calls it home and that
it's not our home.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I don't know, we're just passing through this.
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, just as Jesus was passing through the desert
for 40 days, we're just passingthrough the earth for however
many years we get.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
So tell me cause you brought a purpose.
Now tell me, what do you feelyour purpose is?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Oh, wow, you know, just to bring glory to the earth
, like glorify God with my life,with my gifts, with my
everything in me, right that mybreath would be praising God.
It's funny, because I don'twant anything else, Like
everything else seems someaningless to me now, like a
(29:32):
chasing after the wind orwhatever I, unless it feels
fruitful, like unless itproduces something of eternal
value, I don't, I'm notinterested anymore.
And that's what changed for me,Whereas in the olden days I
would just do things for I don'tknow you just stay busy and
have fun or whatever.
But now it's like well, is thatgonna produce anything
(29:55):
worthwhile in my life?
And if not, then I just say no.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But I do.
It's gonna come from this.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, exactly, and the fruit is love, of course,
and that's defined by joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness,self-control.
So that's the character piece.
There's gonna be fruit in myown life, but also, what can I
pass on to other people?
So I did start a coachingbusiness 10 years ago.
I realized that I was likedoing that anyways, I have
(30:24):
spiritual gift of counseling andteaching and people would come
to me asking questions all thetime.
And then all of a sudden, godwas like this is what I want you
to do.
I want you to help people liveout the truth of who they are,
to start asking questions thatreally provoke people to thought
and confront them at a reallydeep level.
That stirs them up.
(30:45):
And so I noticed when peoplewould talk to me like they'd
just be quiet and two weekslater they'd be like I remember
when you said that thing.
And then all of a sudden, theselight bulbs came on and I
started paying attention to myinfluence on other people or my
impact.
And again God showed me likethis is what you do you provoke
people to thought, you confrontcomplacency and you really do
support them and guide them inliving out the truth of who they
(31:06):
are, so they could be free andfulfilled and effective, and
fruit producers as well.
Right yeah, and that's the onlything that really settles our
heart.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
That's so cool, right ?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, so you're coaching now, yeah, and you've
been doing it for 10 years.
Yeah, love.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
What's the biggest value that you feel you provide
to your clientele?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I mean I could say freedom for sure, power.
I mean it's like after thefirst or second session with
people, their minds are justblown.
They don't realize what theyhave because nobody's really
opened up the truth to them.
And when I just helped to shifttheir perspective a little bit,
they're like you mean what?
Like what you know?
(31:50):
So it's just continual likeperspective shifts to bring the
truth and bring the light ofGod's word into a situation.
It's so life changing.
So I give them peace.
I just have finished workingwith a married couple.
I didn't finish, they signed upfor another three months, but
after three months I'm like well, what would you say?
(32:10):
You know before and after?
And she's like gosh, just, shestopped smoking, stopped
drinking, stopped fighting withher husband, stopped hating
herself, started eating again.
You know like there's so manychanges, you know.
But if I were to boil it down, Iwould say health, like to get
all the anxiety and all the fearout of the body.
(32:30):
People are so scared and theydon't recognize the nuances of
fear, like you can't discern itbecause it's so deceptive.
So when I'm able to say youknow, help people see where the
fear-based decision making is intheir life, that is just so
freeing, and so it's amazing.
So we use faith and we use loveto govern our lives, and truth
(32:53):
instead of fear.
So once you can recognize thefear, then you can deal with it
and move right into it, becauseit's just a stupid illusion,
right, anyway.
So she's so powerful, but shegoes.
I just have peace.
I can't explain the peace.
The peace is just amazing.
She's sleeping through thenight.
No more nightmares, you know,anyway.
So now they want to do anotherthree months to really like
learn how to just cultivate moreintimacy in their marriage.
(33:16):
It's just amazing.
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
I'm a huge fan of coaching.
I think everybody should have acoach.
I've done a lot of coachingover my years.
I'm actually about to get myteam coaching through a guy,
randall Smalls which is yeah,which is really, really awesome.
So I'm a huge fan.
Big Tony Robbins, jim Rohn andlike all those guys.
(33:41):
Zig Ziglar.
So personal development's hugeand most people really
underestimate the value that youcan get.
Yeah, but when you haveindividuals and coaches like
yourself that have years ofexperience and development that
they've gone through to be ableto have something at that
(34:03):
magnitude, somebody that couldcompile all those years into
months, or days, sometimes right, depending on the we full time
for people.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
That's what we do.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
So that's absolutely amazing to be able to have that
value and for you to providethat value to your clients.
Yeah, it's cool, so I love it,I love it, I love what you're
doing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Thank you, it's such a blessing oh.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Yeah, so as we kind of start wrapping things up, I
have a few more questions foryou.
So how can other peopleexperience God?
Maybe somebody who's goingthrough the same situation as
you, maybe a different situation?
You have a lot of goodexperience and multiple stories.
(34:53):
I'm sure we probably onlycovered small small pieces.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
Yes, we got lots of stories to say.
You know what I would say?
Number one get honest.
Get honest, like talk to meabout the pain in your life,
because we don't want to admitthat we're in pain, that we need
help.
Or just get honest with God,pour out your heart before Him.
Or even if you can't imaginethat, you know, using your
(35:18):
imagination.
He gave us our imagination toimagine the spiritual realm,
because we can't see it right.
So all the invisible things,the spiritual realm, we have to
use our imagination to be ableto just envision this.
But there is somebody that'shere, like there is a God that
is present.
And when you just acknowledgethe pain in your life or the
(35:39):
struggle or the frustration, itopens you up to the willingness
to receive some kind of answeror some kind of comfort or some
kind of help.
And then you open up your Bibleand you find Ephesians one and
you look at the verses like 16through 19.
This is where it says that Paulwas praying that these people
(35:59):
would, that God would give thesepeople a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge ofHim.
That's all we need.
So once you get that spirit inyou, then you can understand the
Bible.
So then you could open up theBible and it will come alive to
you and it will minister to yourheart and you will feel like he
is so real that nobody will beable to take that away from you
(36:21):
ever.
Like you will know God, youwill just have an experience.
That word, no is ganosco meanslike an experience with God and
experiential knowledge, andthat's what we all need were
spiritual beings.
Amen, we were having this humanexperience.
But we're spirit.
And you know what else?
I think of God, who'somniscient.
(36:41):
That means he knows everything.
Like what, if we kneweverything, would life be boring
, kind of right.
So I kind of feel like Jesuswas, like I mean, he came to
earth to like die for our sinsso we would have some way to
reconcile you know ourselves toGod, or God could reconcile us
to himself.
But I think of Jesus coming toearth, he came here for a human
(37:01):
experience.
Amen, to be human, like to notknow everything.
It said he had to come inlowliness of mind, like he had
to put all of that knowing asidefor a minute and just live as a
human and feel and not begoverned by his feelings, but
like feel.
He cried, he got angry, he got.
All of it is good.
It's all good, that's whatwe're here to do, but we're not
(37:23):
governed by that.
When we're in the spirit, wecan make our decisions from the
spirit, but we could still havea human experience and connect
on an emotional level withpeople, and that's so beautiful
and I think that's missedsometimes 100%, and that's so
cool that you bring that up,because I think about that all
the time.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Right, it's like I use the analogy if you built a
car, you'd want to test drivethe car.
Right, yeah.
And just like God built theworld.
Oh, I love that Like he wantsto test drive the world.
He built humans like.
He wants to live in the human.
He wants to experiencesomething that he hadn't
experienced before yes.
So how would he show or tell orlead us in the way of life if
(38:03):
he had never experienced it in afirst person?
Speaker 2 (38:06):
perspective.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
right, that's it, so that's why I think the Bible is
so amazing and God and his lovefor his children and what he has
done for us is he was willingto give up the God.
Hey, I'm big almighty, comedown to a human form and live a
life so that he can say, hey, Iknow what it's like, I get it, I
(38:30):
understand Totally.
Just do this, do that, do this,do that.
You don't have to do thosethings, but if you do these
things, your life will be easier.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
I promise, I promise it will be so good.
Like it breaks our kids, youknow, making the wrong decision,
how it just like, ah, youdisobeyed again.
Like I was talking with a momthis morning about that, just,
she has a little two year old,you know, and who's just testing
, testing, testing, and I'm likethere's a, there's a pun, sin
has a weight and if you don'tget punished for your sin,
(39:04):
you're carrying the weight ofthat sin around.
And so as adults we canunderstand oh, jesus carried the
weight of my sin, thepunishment, and so we receive
what he did for us.
But when the kids are little,like take that sin off of them
by giving them a punishmentright away and the punishment is
like you disobeyed mommy,period, just disobedience Cause,
when you disobeyed mommy, badthings happen, like you're not
(39:25):
going to be happy, you're notgoing to be healthy, it's not
going to work out good for you.
Out of love, out of love, alllove, all love.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Totally.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
You know I get it.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
It's love I recently heard somebody say the ages of
zero to five are the ages ofdiscipline.
Amen.
The ages of five to 10 are theages of training, from 10 to 15,
it's coaching, cool Right, andI'm like, wow, that is so true.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Nobody kind of broke it down like that and then
mentoring after that.
Yeah, and then mentoring, andthen they grow up and then
you're their friend.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yes, that's exactly it.
Boom yes, don't be a friend ateight.
They need a trainer.
It's crazy.
They need a floor like you'rethe authoritarian when they're
little.
They need that, like they needto know that mom and dad are
safe and that they care for themand they they're going to lead
them and guide them in the waysthat are going to bring good
things into their life.
(40:26):
You know, yeah, and then themoral reason why that training
stage like five to 10, help themto understand these things,
right?
Oh gosh, I'm that's, that'severything, and I think it's
gotten lost.
So it's a huge message.
You've got to get out there andpreach it.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yeah Amen, especially now with all the baby sitters.
Yeah, resistance parents.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
No parents.
It's so sad.
These kids are just on loveLike they they're looking.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
I'm here to change that, though.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
That's why we're doing this.
That's why we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Part of this is getting the message out of
sharing with, with familiesremoving the iPad, baby sitters.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Restoring families.
That's why you know we got theranch and what we're doing with
our family to kind of bring backthe roots of life.
Yes, we just have animals andteach our kids Life, life, life.
This is not life.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Not my life, but him life.
He said I'm the life, I'm theway to everything you want, I'm
the truth that's going to freeyou to get it, and I'm the life
that you long for.
I always come back to that Johnverse because in him is every
good thing Like it is crazy, andyou don't know that until you
(41:39):
experience that.
But go to him, man.
It's like just look up or lookin.
I think about building thetemple.
You're such a builder right now.
This, this is the temple of God.
Our bodies and when we takecare and we grow, you know the
personal development, thespiritual development, we get
(41:59):
mentorship, we get coaching.
All of that is helping us tobuild the temple Right.
We don't want the gates of hellto cause us to cave in any way,
shape or form.
If this thing isn't workingright, if our mind isn't working
right, if our emotions aren'tworking, if our physical body
isn't, if it's not working, wecan't do what we're here to do.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Yeah, you know, and there's a Bible verse that talks
about it.
Right, it's because we arewhere the body and God is the
head.
Yeah, right, yeah.
And the hand can't work withoutthe head.
Yeah, the whole body functionas a whole.
Yeah, not independently.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
And that's the problem right.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, yeah, and that's even with, like, the
church today there's so many,there's all these different
denominations, and you know whatI?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
get it.
We need those, I know.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Yeah, I get it to an extent, but at the end of the
day, we're the body of Christ.
Yeah, the enemy wants division.
God does not want division.
Right, it's that religiousspirit.
Yeah, to where it'sunderstanding.
Hey, we're all the body ofChrist.
We need to share the love ofJesus.
Yeah, yeah, that's our purpose.
I don't care if you believe inthe pre-tribulation rapture,
(43:04):
post-tribulation we don'tbelieve in a rapture at all.
Yeah, I don't care, right.
It doesn't matter to me.
What I do care about is whetheror not you know and love and
have a relationship with JesusChrist.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, that's what matters, right yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And so that's really the purpose of our life is to
live as the body.
Yeah, and the enemy does notwant that.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Right.
Like what we're doing here rightnow, like the enemy doesn't
want, he doesn't like it, yeah,and the marriage is like such a
heart for marriages because wedon't understand how it works,
because we've gotten too faraway from the truth of the word.
Yes, but like a man and a woman, they fit together really
beautifully when you have theman in his masculine power and
the woman in her feminine.
(43:45):
But you get two men in the samehouse and it's just competition
, yeah.
And I think that's what's goingon is these women are just
fear-based thinking all the time.
They think that they have tocarry their own weight, and so
now there's two men, yeah, andthe poor man isn't like able to
do what he's called to do, whichis protect and provide and
pursue.
And I don't know, I just have apassion for that too.
(44:06):
So you're with the family thing, I'm with the marriage thing,
yeah, and honestly, I love that.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
I'm so blessed that my parents, before we got
married, they sent us to aconference by the Ingritches.
It's called Love and Respect.
Speaker 2 (44:23):
Amazing, you got it down.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
It was a three day like that.
That helped really shape ourmarriage.
And then we did pre-marriagecounseling and then we read a
lot of books, we read the fivelove languages.
We really understood andlearned about each other.
And then, most importantly, wehad God at the center, we had
the Bible together and we havethose core values, or evenly
yoke, yes.
Yes, on the opposite side I sawmy parents and when I grew up
(44:49):
we had no influence of God Likewe would go to church, sometimes
once in a blue moon, maybe on aChristmas or maybe on Easter,
just randomly.
It was just like, oh, that'skind of what my dad kind of had
and my mom didn't really havemuch of that growing up either.
And then when I was in highschool they both found the Lord.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
And they started going to church.
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
So that was amazing.
So I got to see the transitionof a non-existent God in a
marriage to a core.
God is the center of thismarriage, and then they fell
away and then they ended upgetting a divorce and this was a
couple years ago, wow.
And so I got to see the stagesof not with God, with God, not
(45:36):
with God, and I saw the ending.
Then it ended good.
Right, right but when they werewalking with the Lord and they
had a relationship with God andhe was really the core.
That was the happiest that theyhave ever been, and even still
to this day.
I'll ask them and they're like,yeah, that was the best.
If I could go back to that, Iwould Right.
And so that's why in yourmarriage, you just have to have
(45:58):
God at the center of it.
You can never lose that.
If you lose that, chances areyou might lose your marriage.
So keeping God at the center ofit is just the most important
thing that you can do.
So I love that you have a heartand a passion for that.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
And I hear that story and I'm just like send them.
I want them both.
I want to restore everything,everything that the locusts have
eaten.
You know that's the heart ofGod is like let's fix this
Redeem, restore there's answers.
There's answers as long asthere's a will, like if you have
a desire for something that'sof God, right Desire.
Do you know that D-E means ofSire, means father, the deepest
(46:38):
desires of your heart, the deep,deep, not the lust of the flesh
, but like the deep desire is ofGod, it's of your father, like
it's OK to follow that becausehe'll show up and show you great
and mighty things that youdon't know, you know.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
That's incredible.
I still stand on the fact thatGod is going to restore their
marriage.
One day they will come together.
I'm leaning, I'm praying andI'm telling them Cool, they say
otherwise, but as long as, likeyou said, as long as they want,
the desire as long as they havean open heart.
(47:14):
If you have an open heart mywife just shared this with me
the other day If you have anopen heart, god can do anything,
anything, anything.
But if you have a closed heart,nothing.
He can't help you out, that'sit.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
He can't do anything.
Yeah, so have an open heart.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
He won't violate our will.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
That's right.
Guard your heart for everythingyou do.
Close from it.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
All of life flows from the heart.
Yeah, yeah, that's it, mm.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
That's amazing.
Is there any story that youwant to share before we wrap
this up, any particular Godstory that you have?
Speaker 2 (47:46):
I'm wearing this watch.
I don't know why.
This is a silly story, but wewere at church one day and the
pastor's wife came up and stoodup before the congregation and
she's like is Stacy here?
And I was.
I wasn't at church, actually,my husband was.
I was at a conference, so he'slike Stacy's not here, but I am
white Comes up and the pastor'swife goes I want her to have
this watch.
(48:06):
Well, this watch I had pickedout the week before I went to
the store and I put it on holdand I said I will be back on
Friday to pay for this, becauseI thought money was coming to me
on Friday.
Well, the money didn't come onFriday.
She didn't know anything aboutthis.
And then a week later at church, this happens it's the exact
watch that I had put on hold atthe store to purchase myself.
(48:29):
Just secret, nobody knew this.
My husband didn't know it,nobody.
I just really liked it.
Wow, and I mean that's so silly.
But it's those little thingsthat I'm like God, you are so
real.
Like what in the world?
Why would she come up and saythis belongs to Stacy?
Like only God.
(48:50):
I don't know.
It's crazy.
But we also went through houseissues, like forgot to get the
physical mail.
We were going through arefinance with our first house
in Canyon Lake, forgot to getthe mail and I guess that there
was some mail that we weresupposed to sign by a certain
date and didn't.
And these two guys come to mydoor one day, knock at the door.
(49:12):
I open the door, it's these twoagents.
They said we just purchasedyour house at an auction.
I'm like what?
Our house was not for sale.
And they're like yeah, thishappened to us before.
Can we come in?
We'll tell you?
We lost our house like rightout from under us.
It was crazy.
That was a big, huge lesson Apoor stewardship right.
We should have been getting themail.
(49:33):
It looked like everything aboutthat was like we deserve to be
punished for this, right.
It looks like that.
Well, in the end we ended uplosing that house, walked away
with a bunch of cash becausethere was still some equity
there that we got to have, butGod sent us to this other
amazing house on the lake with abeach.
So we were at this incrediblehouse for over four years, had
(49:57):
all kinds of parties andmemorable times with our three
kids and I just look at, likethat could have never happened.
That was the grace of God.
We made a mistake, but so Godwas bigger than our mistakes and
that's just what I want toencourage you guys with like, no
matter how many mistakes you'vemade, no matter how much you've
screwed up because we all havehe's bigger.
He just is a God of redemption.
(50:19):
He just wants to restoreeverything.
And whatever Satan intends forevil, god intends for good, like
intends.
That's what it says in Genesis50, verse 20,.
Whatever the devil is doing,like, god is going to use it all
for good.
If you'll just look to him andjust surrender, like give it to
him right, like, oh, I give up.
(50:41):
Like I have messed up longenough.
And you know, I look at ourpast and it's just nasty, but
God is so good and so big, andso I just encourage everybody to
keep looking to him.
Just look to him.
He's real, he's so real.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
He's so close yeah.
So true, yeah, just theuniqueness of life in and of
itself.
Our DNA, like the individualityand uniqueness that every
person has you included Behindthe screen right now.
God made you on purpose, forpurpose and with a purpose, so
knowing and understanding that.
(51:18):
So thank you so much.
We really appreciate yousharing your story and your
testimony and what God has donein your life Very encouraging.
I know our viewers and ouraudience will be extremely
encouraged and hopefully thatthis will change somebody's life
.
And I know that it will, and soI just want to encourage you to
keep sharing your story and keepsharing what God has done.
(51:40):
Where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (51:43):
stacyccom with a E-Y-S-T-A-C-E-Y-C dot com, and
then on social media.
I'm on Facebook and Instagramand I'm going to be getting a
lot more active on LinkedIn soonwith my business.
So yeah, Awesome.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
All right, and if you guys need coaching, please
reach out to Stacey.
She is phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (52:02):
I won't let you down.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
She had to hear her story, her story today.
Obviously, she's been throughgood trials and tribulations.
She has a lot of experience,both in the business world and
the spiritual world and in arelationship with God.
And so marriages, you likemarriage?
Yes, oh, my gosh, marriage Ifyou're struggling in your
marriage, please reach out.
I love that story about that.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
I am doing right now a program called Supernatural
Health and it's really aboutgetting your love life right.
And it's for women, becausewhen our love life isn't right,
our health is jacked up.
So there are so much stress inyour life you don't even realize
when your relationship isn'tright.
When there's a strain in yourrelationship, it's affecting
(52:46):
your health.
So, anyways, we talk about allof it.
Speaker 1 (52:48):
It's amazing.
Yeah, awesome, yeah.
All right, make sure you guysfollow her.
Thank you guys so much fortuning in to the Feeling Faith
podcast.
We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Amen.
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