April 24, 2025 • 36 mins
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When your story doesn’t look like everyone else’s, it can be hard to trust that God is still leading. Today's episode is a gentle reminder that God’s plan for your life is beautifully unique.
Key verse: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord… (Jeremiah 29:11, NASV
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:00):
Hello friend, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are doing well.
This is our spring break week.
My boys are off from school, myhusband is also off from work
and we did not plan anything bigthis year because my husband
had to have an operation.
He had some surgery that he'sbeen putting off and so finally,
(00:23):
since he had this week off, hedecided to do it this week and
it's going to be a two-weekrecovery.
So I am trying to be a goodnurse and take care of him.
But my boys are, they're good,they actually have jobs.
They're helping people dothings, making a little bit of
money, and hopefully by the endof the week I can take them and
(00:45):
we can do some things like go tothe pool, go to the beach,
those kinds of things, becauseyou don't want to spend your
whole spring break working.
But they're not complainingbecause they got a little bit of
cash.
But this week we are and it'skind of low key.
I took off of work and I'm justhanging out here at the house
getting some things done hereand, of course, taking care of
(01:07):
Michael.
I'm thankful that I was able todo that, but I wanted to share
with you some today, some thingsthat have been on my heart, on
my mind.
As you know, if you listen tothe podcast we're going through
a season of transition, as myhusband has stepped down as
pastor of our church and it wasjust too much.
He was lead pastor of ourchurch Also.
(01:29):
He was a high school principaland working on his PhD and he
just had to have something togive.
It was more than he felt likehe could do.
Well, I know that feeling.
It's like you're doing twothings halfway, but you wish you
could just concentrate on onething and do it well.
And after much prayer he feltlike that.
(01:51):
The direction the Lord hadgiven him was that his work at
the church was done and it wastime for him to move on.
So we're in a place oftransition and trying to find
our place, and it's just.
It stirred up some things in meand it's good.
A lot of times the Lord will getus in uncomfortable places and
(02:14):
ask us important questions,because when everything's
comfortable, we don't reallythink about the hard questions.
We kind of get in a mode whereyou know we're good, I'm fine,
I'm good, but when things arenot as clear.
Then we get to ask the hardquestions and really care about
(02:36):
the answers, and that's when welearn.
You know you can't really learnif you're not curious.
You can't really learn if youdon't want to know the truth.
You know, there's an oldproverb that says the teacher
will appear when the student isready.
And I understand that, you know.
I understand that because youknow you can have the best
(02:58):
teachers right at yourfingertips.
But if you don't care, if youdon't want to learn, then that's
not going to do you any good.
In order to really learn andgrow, you have to have a desire
to know and to grow and tochange, and so the Lord uses
uncomfortable places to make usquestion what we really know.
(03:21):
Is this true or is it not?
And so today I just want toshare with you some things that
are on my heart.
It helps me when I'm goingthrough transition to remember
you know how hard this is tohave grace with other people.
Guys, we're going to have gracewith each other.
We really do.
You know, especially in thebody of Christ, we're supposed
(03:44):
to love each other, and we can'tlove each other without showing
compassion and without showingunderstanding and without
humbling ourselves, because alot of times we can get to that
place where we just think youknow, we know it all and that's
a that's a that's a bad place tobe.
You know, when we get to thatplace where we know everything,
we have stopped learning, wehave stopped growing, because we
(04:06):
don't have any desire to learn,we don't have any capacity to
learn, because when we're allfull of ourself, we don't have
any space left for Jesus.
And I want to share with you alittle bit about my journey.
I think that it will be helpfulwith what I want to share with
you today.
You know, for you who listen tothe podcast and know anything
(04:27):
about me, you probably knoweverything I'm going to share
right now.
But I did not grow up in aChristian home.
I grew up in a home that was analcoholic home.
My mom and dad did not go tochurch, but I had two
grandmothers who did, and theone who lived beside me who
helped raise me.
She made sure that every SundayI was with her at church and
(04:50):
I'm very grateful for that.
I'm very grateful becausewithout that I would not have
known anything, but she madesure that I was there, but there
was.
I knew from an early age thatyou know there's you act certain
ways at certain places, and atchurch you act this way, but at
home we didn't act that way.
You know it was.
It was a stark contrast betweenwhat the things I heard at
(05:14):
church and the way we lived athome, and I learned quickly.
These people have no idea whatI live in or how we live at home
, have no idea what I live in orhow we live at home, and so I
often felt like I didn't reallyfit in in the church.
Now, I was a child, you have tounderstand.
I was looking at this through achild's eyes and maybe they did
(05:35):
know, maybe they would haveunderstood, but that was very
far removed.
The things they talked aboutwere very far removed from where
I actually lived.
And so you know I'm thankfulfor that education, and at a
young age I gave my heart to theLord.
I was very sincere in doingthat.
But as I grew and went tocollege and no one was knocking
(06:00):
on my door telling me I had togo to church, I stopped and I
started to really question whatI believed, what I believed
about God, what I believed aboutyou know, is there a God?
Is it the God that I know?
Is it the God that I wasbrought up learning?
And I really wasn't sure and Ihad a lot of doubts.
Well, by the grace of the Lord,my senior year at college, I
(06:23):
became a Christian.
And it wasn't just a confessionof faith, it was a
life-changing experience.
I was born again and I knew Iwas born again.
And you might say, well, how doyou know?
You were born again Because Iwas there, because I knew I will
never be the same.
And there was also a part of methat was afraid.
(06:43):
Well, you know, I've tried thisbefore.
What if it doesn't work?
But there was an assurance thatI'm not doing this alone, that
the God, who, who saved me, theGod who rescued me, is going to
help me.
And so, as a senior in college,my life turned upside down and
everything I thought I was goingto do with my life it changed.
(07:04):
Well, during that time I had, Ilost a lot of friends, you know
, just because I couldn't do thethings that we were doing
before.
And I didn't have a lot offriends, because by the time you
become a senior in college, youknow, everybody has their own
friend group and I wasn't in oneof those, so not in any
Christian friend groups.
(07:24):
So I started going to, you know, campus Crusade for Christ.
I started going to there was aPresbyterian organization.
They had a I think it was aTuesday night Bible study and I
remember going there and it washuge.
It was so many people and Iwould kind of sneak in the back
because I didn't know anybody.
And then you know, I wouldlisten to the message and I
would kind of sneak in the backbecause I didn't know anybody.
(07:45):
And then you know, I wouldlisten to the message and I
still remember I wish I couldremember the guy's name.
It was at Clemson University, itwas the Reformed Fellowship, it
was a Presbyterian group andthis pastor, he taught my first
couple months there.
He taught on the armor of Godand it was so what I needed.
(08:05):
It was foundational in mysalvation because he taught the
word of God so clear and Iremember just drinking in
everything that he taught and Ijust appreciate that he will
never know this until we meet inheaven, but the messages that
he shared were so, so good forme.
(08:28):
It was like it was likedrinking from a fountain and I
remember one night, as I wasthere by myself because I kind
of snuck in and snuck out theywere passing on a flyer of like
activities or whatever, and atthe top of the flyer there was
the scripture.
And guys, I was fresh, I mean,I knew nothing about the Bible
or anything, but there was ascripture and it was Jeremiah 29
(08:49):
, 11.
And I know a lot of times nowwe throw that scripture around,
see it everywhere.
You know Christian bookstoresand you know Facebook and
Instagram.
But I remember reading thatscripture at the top of that
page and it was like the Lordhad shown a light on it.
It was like he was speaking tome personally and he said for I
(09:10):
know the plans I have for you,that they are plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, to giveyou hope and a future.
And I so needed to hear that atthat moment because I had no
hope for my future.
I felt like I had just given upeverything for Jesus and now I
had nothing.
I had no friends, I had nodirection, I wasn't sure what to
(09:33):
do with my life.
And it was like the Lord givingme hope.
I've got you, I've got a planfor you.
And that hope was enough tohelp me to hold on to my new
faith and to trust that the pathwould unfold before me as I
kept taking the next step andthe next step.
(09:54):
And it did.
You know God was faithful.
He's still faithful, but thatscripture gave me hope.
And you know we serve a God wholoves to redeem.
That's what he does.
You know Jesus came, he lived,he died to set us free, to set
us free from sin and to set usfree from ourselves.
(10:15):
He loves us more than we loveourselves and he has a plan for
us.
But we have to choose that plan.
We have to decide to trust him,to stay on the path until his
plan unfolds for our lives.
He is a savior, he will saveyou, but his plan for us is not
(10:37):
cookie cutter.
His plans are customized, theyare not cookie cutter.
He will not do the same thingin your life that he did in my
life.
Number one, because you'redifferent than me.
Your past is different from me,your needs, your gifts are
different than mine.
But also, he is a God ofwondrous variety.
(10:59):
He is creative, was creative,and I believe he delights in
making a special plan, a speciallife, just for you, just for me
.
And you know, none of us havethe exact same, none of us have
the same fingerprints, none ofus have the same voice.
(11:19):
We're all unique and so is theplan that our father, that our
creator, that our Creator hasmade for us, and he's not
predictable.
He's the God of the entireuniverse and we can't simplify
Him into a list of things to doand not to do.
(11:47):
He can do whatever he wants todo and he can do something
completely unique in your lifethat doesn't look like anything
you've seen in anybody else'spath or life or plan, and I
believe he delights in doingthat.
So we're not going to figure itout.
You know we're not.
You know we can learn from eachother.
We can see what he's done.
Often I'll see what he's donein other people's life and I'll
remember he's no respecter ofperson.
(12:07):
So instead of being jealous forwhat he has done in that
person's life, I can say Lord, Iwant you to do something like
that in my life.
Now, he won't copy it, but Iopened myself up to being
willing for him to do somethingdifferent in my life.
And I want to be clear.
I believe in absolute truth.
(12:28):
I believe in right and wrong.
I believe that there are hardlines between right and wrong,
but within the parameters ofscripture, I believe that there
are endless possibilities andinfinite opportunities for us.
(12:48):
And to say that the Lord alwaysdoes things this way, or that
this is how he's going to do itin your life, or this is how it
would look if you were obeyingGod, I think that is to limit
God and to put him in a box.
I think he likes to jump out ofany box that we try to put him
into.
And you might say, well, whyare you saying this?
(13:12):
You know, what does this haveto do with anything?
Well, we like to grasp thingswith our minds.
We like to have predictable, welike to find predictable
patterns and say, okay, this ishow this works and this is how
that works.
So we like to say, well, this ishow God works and we can learn
(13:34):
the things of God.
We can learn things about God.
He's a person.
We can learn about hispersonality and the things he
likes and things he doesn't like.
But we will never figure himout.
And as Christians, I think wetry to do that.
We try to figure him out.
It's important to get to knowGod.
It's important to learn hisways, to learn his word, to find
(13:55):
out what he thinks aboutcertain things, how he views
certain things.
But we have to be careful ofgetting to the point that,
because we know scripture andbecause we know a lot of stuff
about God, that we've got himfigured out, because that's when
he will jump out of that boxthat we just tried to put him in
.
He will not be tamed.
(14:17):
And see, we also do that withpeople.
We do that with people becausewe want to understand the things
of God, or we want to feel likewe have some kind of
understanding of things.
Often we'll put people in boxestoo and we'll say well, that's
how God does it.
You know, god does it this way.
This is how God did it for me,so this is how God will do it
(14:39):
for you.
And that may not be true.
It might be true or may not betrue.
It might be true or it may notbe true.
You know there are some thingsthat, yes, god does for all of
us.
When we come to the Lord, heteaches us, hopefully, places us
in a place where there arepeople who can teach us and look
out for us and pray for us andshow us the way you know he
(15:01):
gives us each other.
He plants us in the body, theway you know he gives us each
other.
He plants us in the body.
He plants us in the body ofChrist so that we can grow and
we can be a part of the body andlearn.
That's how we learn is we learnfrom each other.
But everybody's journey isdifferent and the plans that he
(15:21):
has for everyone is unique andwe need to recognize that and we
need to accept that and we needto honor that in other people's
lives and not try to force themin the box that we think they
belong or the box that we cameout of.
Let me give you an example ofwhat I'm talking about.
My husband and I got married andwe did not have children for
(15:44):
some time.
We were trying, it just didn'thappen.
Well, as luck would have it or,I guess, as the Lord would have
it I left my current, myposition that I had I was
working at a university and Ifound another position working
for a utility company in my town, in my area, and it was a
(16:06):
promotion for me.
It was financially.
It was a big promotion for meand it lined up more with what I
went to school for, because Iwas.
I went to school, I have anengineering degree and so I was
excited about this.
I love that school where Iworked.
I worked there for about 10years.
I grew, I learned so much, but Iwas really looking forward to
(16:26):
go into this new position, thisnew place, and I knew in my
heart that the Lord had openedup this door for me because it
was an excellent opportunity.
The second day I went to work.
I was coming home and I feltnauseous and I thought it's
probably just nerves.
You know, it's a new job, newpeople, just trying to figure
everything out, trying to findmy place.
(16:47):
But something in me said stopand get a pregnancy test.
So I stopped that on the wayhome at the CVS, got a pregnancy
test.
Come home and I'm pregnant.
Second day on the job and Ifind out I'm pregnant.
So this blows my mind.
So this blows my mind and I wasa career woman and I was
excited about this new careerand the opportunities that God
(17:10):
was opening up for me.
But something in my heart, in mylife, in my mind, completely
turned around when I found outthat I was going to be a mom,
and then, when the baby came,you know, everybody tells you
that being a mom changes yourlife, or those children change
your life, and they do.
But somehow it seems like, whenpeople say that, it always felt
(17:33):
like it was for the worst.
But when I held that littlething in my hand, my life was
forever changed for the good,because from now on, it wasn't
just about me, it was about us.
It was about me and my husbandand this baby.
And how are we going to takecare of this little thing that
God has graciously given us totake care of?
This is a huge responsibility,and so my wants and my desires
(17:57):
changed, and I found myself, forthe first time in my life,
wanting to be a stay-at-home mom.
Well, I'd never had that desire, and so I didn't really know
what to do with it and I thoughtwell, maybe this will fade,
maybe this is what every momgoes through when she's a new
mom.
(18:17):
Well, 16 months later, I hadanother one, and the desire was
multiplied by two, but we werenot at a place financially where
we could do that.
We had debt and we had, and Iwas finally making good money,
and I was making more money thanI'd ever made in my life, and
(18:37):
me and my husband were makingabout the same.
So for me to quit my job wouldcut our salary in half.
And I kept telling him this isin my heart to do this, this is
in my heart to do this, and it'snot that he was against it,
it's just we couldn't see how.
And so, you know, god starteddoing something in me because I
did not know how to be a mom, Idid not know how to be a
(19:00):
homemaker, I didn't know littlethings.
I always felt incompetent orinsufficient and I just always
felt like I was fumbling through.
And so I started reading booksand I found some excellent books
about you know how to be ahomemaker and how to be a mom
and those kind of things.
I remember coming across onebook that it was particularly
(19:24):
helpful in the beginning becauseit was talking about you know
hacks, things you can do to keepyour house in order.
Because, guys, I've always Istill think I may have some form
of ADD because I struggle withhousework, I struggle with
organization and you know, myheart is to be organized and to
be on time and to haveeverything perfect, but I
(19:44):
struggle in that area.
And so heart is to be organizedand to be on time and to have
everything perfect, but Istruggle in that area.
And so this book had some verypractical ways to keep on top of
things and I thought, oh, thisis good.
Well, as I read on through thebook and I'm not going to give
you the name of the book,because even though the first
part I really liked, the lastpart I really struggled with
because this mom came out andsaid every Christian woman
(20:07):
should be a stay-at-home mom andthis is God's will for your
life.
Well, I wanted to be astay-at-home mom, but I just
couldn't.
Right then, and my husband wasin agreement, what was I
supposed to do?
Tell him no, it's God's will,I'm quitting my job and you'll
just have to figure it out.
And you know I didn't havepeace with that.
(20:27):
And so, as I read her words, Ifelt so guilty because there was
no grace in it.
Let me just tell you, it waslike you quit today.
That was what this book wasadvocating.
You need to quit now.
You're disobeying the Lord.
And I remember the guilt that Ifelt because her words in the
beginning were so refreshinglike, oh, you can do this, god
(20:50):
will teach you, you can do this.
And then there's that hard lineof you're disobeying God by not
being a stay-at-home mom.
And my heart was to be astay-at-home mom.
It was in my heart was to be astay-at-home mom.
You know, it was in my heart.
But as a young mom I had a hardtime processing that and I felt
(21:11):
guilty.
And now, as I look back on itand I'm wiser and I'm stronger
and I've seen some stuff and Iunderstand that God does not
have one plan for every woman,even every Christian woman, and
we can't let people put theirconvictions, their beliefs,
(21:32):
their belief system, their ideason us.
You know, you have arelationship with God and a
relationship is a partnership.
You talk to him, he talks toyou.
My relationship with God isdifferent.
I have a relationship withJesus, you have a relationship
(21:54):
with Jesus.
They're not the same.
Okay, I'm different and you'redifferent.
He's the same, but we relate tohim in different ways.
Now, that doesn't mean thatwhat's sin for me isn't sin for
you.
That's not what I'm talkingabout here.
Okay, be wise, listen up whatI'm saying.
Okay, what I'm saying is, if Italk to Jesus and he puts this
(22:16):
heart, this desire in my heartto be a stay at home mom, to
quit my job and to be at homefull time.
At home mom, to quit my job andto be at home full time, that
doesn't mean that's his plan foryou and you have the right not
to want to be a stay at home momand still be a Christian and
(22:37):
not judge me and me.
Not judge you, and that's okaybecause I'm not you and you're
not me.
Not judge you, and that's okaybecause I'm not you and you're
not me.
But see, we have to give eachother grace.
See, during this same time whenI'm struggling with I want to be
home but I can't be home, I gotpregnant again and I had a
friend who we were pregnant withmy sick when I was pregnant
(22:58):
with my second child.
She was pregnant with her firstchild and we worked together
and both of us so wanted to be astay-at-home mom and we talked
about it a lot and you know, wewere at work talking about how
we want to be at home and wewere at work talking about how
we want to be at home.
Well, she was having somemarriage issues and I knew a
(23:21):
counselor.
I knew a friend who was amarriage counselor and I
connected her counselor.
I knew a friend who was amarriage counselor and I
connected her with that personand when I was out on maternity
leave I came back.
This was my third child withinfour years and when I came back
from maternity leave they haddivorced.
Her and her husband haddivorced.
She had found out that he hadbeen having an affair the entire
(23:43):
time.
They'd been working on theirmarriage even while she was
pregnant and she was devastatedand he left her to go with this
other woman.
So here she is, a single mom,christian mom, and all I could
think about was I knew her heartwas to be a stay-at-home mom,
but now there's no way she can'tdo that.
(24:04):
So would God put her in animpossible situation and then
condemn her for not being ableto do what other people say she
must do if she really loves herchildren?
So see, there's so many nuanceshere and we have to be able to
give each other grace and not beGod in their life and not be
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judgmental and critical, becauseif I had been critical of her,
it would have crushed her,because her heart was already
broken and see, we have to treateach other with kindness and
gentleness and not with ahaughty spirit of I know what's
best.
No, I'm not saying you do that,okay, I'm just giving you
(24:47):
permission that things don'thave to look the same for each
of us.
And also at that job where Iwork, where the Lord opened up
the door for me to go, one of mysupervisors she actually was
not my supervisor, she was mysupervisor's supervisor.
She was a vice president of thecompany and I was struggling
with the trying to have threechildren all under the age of
(25:10):
four, and do my job well, and Iam an excellent employee.
Let me just tell you, you know,I wanted to do everything
perfect.
I wanted to do a good job.
And so, you know, I wasstruggling with some things and
I went to her and I talked withher about some of know, I was
struggling with some things andI went to her and I talked with
her about some of the things Iwas struggling with and she
shared something with me whichwas eye opening.
(25:31):
She said, audrey, your heartisn't here because you want to
be home.
Tell me about, you know, yourchildhood.
And I told her.
You know, my mom couldn't bethere.
She worked all the time just tomake sure that our bills were
paid and we had food, you know,because my dad was.
He was an alcoholic and so shehad to work extra to make up for
(25:53):
him not, and so I missed havingmy mom there.
But my grandmother, who wasbeside me, she was there for us,
she helped raise us, but Ialways wanted that to be my mom,
and so it was like I could see.
This is a desire, not just adesire the Lord has put in my
heart, but I want to be thatkind of mom.
(26:14):
I want to be there because Ididn't have that.
Well, she told me her story.
She said when I grew up, my momand dad were in huge debt.
She said when I grew up, my momand dad were in huge debt and
when the debt collectors wouldcall, they would put me on the
phone because they wanted, theyknew that they would not talk
bad to a child, or at leasthoped so, instead of answering
(26:40):
the phone themselves, they wouldput their daughter on the phone
talking to the debt collectors.
And she said they called allthe time.
And she said when I was young,I decided early that is not
going to be me.
I'm going to make, I'm going toprovide so well for my children
financially that they won'thave that stress of the debt
(27:01):
collectors calling.
And you know, I thought we allwant to do what's best for our
children, we all want to givethem what we missed and so you
know that helped me have a lot,that helped me understand her in
a deeper level.
And I think if sometimes wewill stop and we will talk to
each other and we will learneach other's hearts, then we
(27:30):
will give each other grace.
And it's not just about moms,okay, it's not just about stay
at home moms versus working moms.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
This is in many, many areas.
If we will actually take thetime to stop and to talk and to
listen and give each other graceand not put our convictions on
other people, then we can helpeach other grow, we can learn
from each other, and that's partof maturing.
(27:55):
Growing up is knowing thatthere's no one size fits all.
I'm in a relationship withJesus, which means he has a
special plan for me and I can goto him and I don't have to feel
, I don't have to accept thejudgment of other people who are
judging my decisions, but theydon't know my story and they
(28:19):
don't know my situation.
I'm not talking about walkingin sin, ok.
I'm not talking aboutjustifying sin by saying Jesus
said it was okay.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about just livingour life as best as we can in
relationship with God, trying todo what's right, trying to hear
from heaven and not just assumethat we know exactly what a
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Christian mom, a Christian woman, a Christian home is supposed
to look like.
Now, god is not judging, hewants to help us.
Now I will tell you that when hestarted showing me the
possibilities of a Christianhome, I was elated at that.
I mean like it was a vision forme.
It was like, oh, this could beso good.
(29:02):
And he gave me ways to do that.
You know, he gave me a visionto live into and he gave me a
calling you know to desire andlong for.
You know it was not a you mustdo it this way, it better look
this way.
It wasn't like that at all andI believe that some women he
(29:23):
calls to that and some hedoesn't, and that's okay.
And as part of the body ofChrist, we have to understand
that everybody's life,everybody's story, is not the
same.
Now I will throw in this caveat.
Okay, I will throw this in.
You know, I've been in ministryfor 25 plus years and I've seen
(29:45):
a lot of stuff.
I've seen a lot of stuff, crazystuff.
I've heard a man say God toldme to leave my wife and marry
this person over here.
You know he told me to do thatand you know that's his plan for
my life.
I'm not talking about thatbecause, number one, that goes
against God's word.
(30:05):
Okay, god, god didn't tell youto leave your children and your
wife.
That's the lust of the flesh.
You know that is notsurrendering your life to do
God's will.
That is not following his plan,his unique plan for your life.
That is doing what you want todo, no matter who.
It hurts, and that's adultery.
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I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about not lettingother people put their
convictions on you and drown outwhat God is saying to you
personally.
Because you feel like you haveto fit a certain mold or you
have to be part of a certainclique to be obedient to God.
Okay, let's break out of thatmess.
Let's be wise as ser certainclique to be obedient to God.
Okay, let's break out of thatmess.
Let's be wise as serpents andharmless as doves.
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Okay, and you know, when I wasa young mom and first having
those kids, I couldn'tunderstand that.
When I read that book aboutevery Christian mom should be a
stay-at-home mom though my heartwas to be a stay-at-home mom I
felt condemned because at thattime I couldn't be, because at
that time it wasn't the timingof the Lord, even though my
heart was there.
My heart was to do that.
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That condemnation, that guilttrip of you better do this.
It ruined that book for me andI didn't have the confidence to
say well, good for you, that'snot what he's saying to me.
But as I've grown and I've seensome stuff, god's given me the
confidence to be able to say, inlove, that's not what he's
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saying to me right now and tolearn to trust that God speaks
to me and he speaks to you andhe loves you and he has a good
plan for your life.
Amen, jeremiah 29, 11.
I know it becomes cliche, Iknow it does.
But when the Holy Spirit speaksit to your heart, it comes
alive again.
For I know the plans I have foryou, declares the Lord plans to
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prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future,
and he has good plans in storefor you.
No matter what is back there,no matter what's in the past, no
matter what happened yesterdayor last week or last year or 20
years ago.
Today, he has a good plan foryou and he will show you the way
(32:12):
.
He will take you by the handand he will lead you in it and
he'll give you the confidence tolet go of judgment and let go
of other people's expectationsand find what he has for you and
your family.
And you'll be so glad youlistened, you'll be so glad you
obeyed.
Amen.
Let's pray before we go today.
Father, I thank you for theseprecious women who are just
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seeking your will.
They just want to know what youhave for them, they just want
to be obedient.
And, lord, I pray that youwould give them that hope that
nothing satisfies like you, andthat they will be so glad they
obeyed in the end.
It might be hard right now, butthey'll be so glad that they
listened and obeyed when it'sall said and done.
And, god, I pray that you wouldspring up that hope in their
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heart that you have good plansfor them and that they don't
want to miss it.
They don't want to turn asideto something else.
That, lord, they're going tokeep their eyes on you and keep
coming after Jesus.
Lord, we love you.
We ask you to keep us in Jesusname, amen.
Thank you for joining me againthis week.
I hope and pray that you have awonderful week.
(33:20):
If you have enjoyed this today,I'd like to ask a favor of you
If you could please go whereveryou listen to podcasts and leave
me a five-star rating andreview.
That would be wonderful.
When you rate this podcast, itputs it in front of people like
you who may be interested inthese kind of topics and can
(33:41):
receive encouragement from thispodcast.
So if it's been a blessing toyou, maybe a blessing to someone
else, and if you have a friendthat needs some encouragement
and you think this kind of word,this kind of encouragement,
would be beneficial, pleaseshare it, and that would mean
the world to me.
Also, I do send out weeklynewsletters, words of
encouragement, at least once aweek, sometimes twice a week.
(34:04):
If you'll go to the show noteshere, you'll see that I am
working on special projects.
I know y'all must think youknow I'll keep talking about it,
but I am working behind thescenes on it.
I promise I'm working on someBible studies, also working on
possibly a second podcast, adaily devotion podcast, and I
love you, I appreciate you anduntil next time, keep your eyes
(34:26):
on Jesus, god bless.
Hello friend, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
I hope that you're doing well.
We are doing well.
This is our spring break week.
My boys are off from school, myhusband is also off from work
and we did not plan anything bigthis year because my husband
had to have an operation.
He had some surgery that he'sbeen putting off and so finally,
(00:23):
since he had this week off, hedecided to do it this week and
it's going to be a two-weekrecovery.
So I am trying to be a goodnurse and take care of him.
But my boys are, they're good,they actually have jobs.
They're helping people dothings, making a little bit of
money, and hopefully by the endof the week I can take them and
(00:45):
we can do some things like go tothe pool, go to the beach,
those kinds of things, becauseyou don't want to spend your
whole spring break working.
But they're not complainingbecause they got a little bit of
cash.
But this week we are and it'skind of low key.
I took off of work and I'm justhanging out here at the house
getting some things done hereand, of course, taking care of
(01:07):
Michael.
I'm thankful that I was able todo that, but I wanted to share
with you some today, some thingsthat have been on my heart, on
my mind.
As you know, if you listen tothe podcast we're going through
a season of transition, as myhusband has stepped down as
pastor of our church and it wasjust too much.
He was lead pastor of ourchurch Also.
(01:29):
He was a high school principaland working on his PhD and he
just had to have something togive.
It was more than he felt likehe could do.
Well, I know that feeling.
It's like you're doing twothings halfway, but you wish you
could just concentrate on onething and do it well.
And after much prayer he feltlike that.
(01:51):
The direction the Lord hadgiven him was that his work at
the church was done and it wastime for him to move on.
So we're in a place oftransition and trying to find
our place, and it's just.
It stirred up some things in meand it's good.
A lot of times the Lord will getus in uncomfortable places and
(02:14):
ask us important questions,because when everything's
comfortable, we don't reallythink about the hard questions.
We kind of get in a mode whereyou know we're good, I'm fine,
I'm good, but when things arenot as clear.
Then we get to ask the hardquestions and really care about
(02:36):
the answers, and that's when welearn.
You know you can't really learnif you're not curious.
You can't really learn if youdon't want to know the truth.
You know, there's an oldproverb that says the teacher
will appear when the student isready.
And I understand that, you know.
I understand that because youknow you can have the best
(02:58):
teachers right at yourfingertips.
But if you don't care, if youdon't want to learn, then that's
not going to do you any good.
In order to really learn andgrow, you have to have a desire
to know and to grow and tochange, and so the Lord uses
uncomfortable places to make usquestion what we really know.
(03:21):
Is this true or is it not?
And so today I just want toshare with you some things that
are on my heart.
It helps me when I'm goingthrough transition to remember
you know how hard this is tohave grace with other people.
Guys, we're going to have gracewith each other.
We really do.
You know, especially in thebody of Christ, we're supposed
(03:44):
to love each other, and we can'tlove each other without showing
compassion and without showingunderstanding and without
humbling ourselves, because alot of times we can get to that
place where we just think youknow, we know it all and that's
a that's a that's a bad place tobe.
You know, when we get to thatplace where we know everything,
we have stopped learning, wehave stopped growing, because we
(04:06):
don't have any desire to learn,we don't have any capacity to
learn, because when we're allfull of ourself, we don't have
any space left for Jesus.
And I want to share with you alittle bit about my journey.
I think that it will be helpfulwith what I want to share with
you today.
You know, for you who listen tothe podcast and know anything
(04:27):
about me, you probably knoweverything I'm going to share
right now.
But I did not grow up in aChristian home.
I grew up in a home that was analcoholic home.
My mom and dad did not go tochurch, but I had two
grandmothers who did, and theone who lived beside me who
helped raise me.
She made sure that every SundayI was with her at church and
(04:50):
I'm very grateful for that.
I'm very grateful becausewithout that I would not have
known anything, but she madesure that I was there, but there
was.
I knew from an early age thatyou know there's you act certain
ways at certain places, and atchurch you act this way, but at
home we didn't act that way.
You know it was.
It was a stark contrast betweenwhat the things I heard at
(05:14):
church and the way we lived athome, and I learned quickly.
These people have no idea whatI live in or how we live at home
, have no idea what I live in orhow we live at home, and so I
often felt like I didn't reallyfit in in the church.
Now, I was a child, you have tounderstand.
I was looking at this through achild's eyes and maybe they did
(05:35):
know, maybe they would haveunderstood, but that was very
far removed.
The things they talked aboutwere very far removed from where
I actually lived.
And so you know I'm thankfulfor that education, and at a
young age I gave my heart to theLord.
I was very sincere in doingthat.
But as I grew and went tocollege and no one was knocking
(06:00):
on my door telling me I had togo to church, I stopped and I
started to really question whatI believed, what I believed
about God, what I believed aboutyou know, is there a God?
Is it the God that I know?
Is it the God that I wasbrought up learning?
And I really wasn't sure and Ihad a lot of doubts.
Well, by the grace of the Lord,my senior year at college, I
(06:23):
became a Christian.
And it wasn't just a confessionof faith, it was a
life-changing experience.
I was born again and I knew Iwas born again.
And you might say, well, how doyou know?
You were born again Because Iwas there, because I knew I will
never be the same.
And there was also a part of methat was afraid.
(06:43):
Well, you know, I've tried thisbefore.
What if it doesn't work?
But there was an assurance thatI'm not doing this alone, that
the God, who, who saved me, theGod who rescued me, is going to
help me.
And so, as a senior in college,my life turned upside down and
everything I thought I was goingto do with my life it changed.
(07:04):
Well, during that time I had, Ilost a lot of friends, you know
, just because I couldn't do thethings that we were doing
before.
And I didn't have a lot offriends, because by the time you
become a senior in college, youknow, everybody has their own
friend group and I wasn't in oneof those, so not in any
Christian friend groups.
(07:24):
So I started going to, you know, campus Crusade for Christ.
I started going to there was aPresbyterian organization.
They had a I think it was aTuesday night Bible study and I
remember going there and it washuge.
It was so many people and Iwould kind of sneak in the back
because I didn't know anybody.
And then you know, I wouldlisten to the message and I
would kind of sneak in the backbecause I didn't know anybody.
(07:45):
And then you know, I wouldlisten to the message and I
still remember I wish I couldremember the guy's name.
It was at Clemson University, itwas the Reformed Fellowship, it
was a Presbyterian group andthis pastor, he taught my first
couple months there.
He taught on the armor of Godand it was so what I needed.
(08:05):
It was foundational in mysalvation because he taught the
word of God so clear and Iremember just drinking in
everything that he taught and Ijust appreciate that he will
never know this until we meet inheaven, but the messages that
he shared were so, so good forme.
(08:28):
It was like it was likedrinking from a fountain and I
remember one night, as I wasthere by myself because I kind
of snuck in and snuck out theywere passing on a flyer of like
activities or whatever, and atthe top of the flyer there was
the scripture.
And guys, I was fresh, I mean,I knew nothing about the Bible
or anything, but there was ascripture and it was Jeremiah 29
(08:49):
, 11.
And I know a lot of times nowwe throw that scripture around,
see it everywhere.
You know Christian bookstoresand you know Facebook and
Instagram.
But I remember reading thatscripture at the top of that
page and it was like the Lordhad shown a light on it.
It was like he was speaking tome personally and he said for I
(09:10):
know the plans I have for you,that they are plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, to giveyou hope and a future.
And I so needed to hear that atthat moment because I had no
hope for my future.
I felt like I had just given upeverything for Jesus and now I
had nothing.
I had no friends, I had nodirection, I wasn't sure what to
(09:33):
do with my life.
And it was like the Lord givingme hope.
I've got you, I've got a planfor you.
And that hope was enough tohelp me to hold on to my new
faith and to trust that the pathwould unfold before me as I
kept taking the next step andthe next step.
(09:54):
And it did.
You know God was faithful.
He's still faithful, but thatscripture gave me hope.
And you know we serve a God wholoves to redeem.
That's what he does.
You know Jesus came, he lived,he died to set us free, to set
us free from sin and to set usfree from ourselves.
(10:15):
He loves us more than we loveourselves and he has a plan for
us.
But we have to choose that plan.
We have to decide to trust him,to stay on the path until his
plan unfolds for our lives.
He is a savior, he will saveyou, but his plan for us is not
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cookie cutter.
His plans are customized, theyare not cookie cutter.
He will not do the same thingin your life that he did in my
life.
Number one, because you'redifferent than me.
Your past is different from me,your needs, your gifts are
different than mine.
But also, he is a God ofwondrous variety.
(10:59):
He is creative, was creative,and I believe he delights in
making a special plan, a speciallife, just for you, just for me
.
And you know, none of us havethe exact same, none of us have
the same fingerprints, none ofus have the same voice.
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We're all unique and so is theplan that our father, that our
creator, that our Creator hasmade for us, and he's not
predictable.
He's the God of the entireuniverse and we can't simplify
Him into a list of things to doand not to do.
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He can do whatever he wants todo and he can do something
completely unique in your lifethat doesn't look like anything
you've seen in anybody else'spath or life or plan, and I
believe he delights in doingthat.
So we're not going to figure itout.
You know we're not.
You know we can learn from eachother.
We can see what he's done.
Often I'll see what he's donein other people's life and I'll
remember he's no respecter ofperson.
(12:07):
So instead of being jealous forwhat he has done in that
person's life, I can say Lord, Iwant you to do something like
that in my life.
Now, he won't copy it, but Iopened myself up to being
willing for him to do somethingdifferent in my life.
And I want to be clear.
I believe in absolute truth.
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I believe in right and wrong.
I believe that there are hardlines between right and wrong,
but within the parameters ofscripture, I believe that there
are endless possibilities andinfinite opportunities for us.
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And to say that the Lord alwaysdoes things this way, or that
this is how he's going to do itin your life, or this is how it
would look if you were obeyingGod, I think that is to limit
God and to put him in a box.
I think he likes to jump out ofany box that we try to put him
into.
And you might say, well, whyare you saying this?
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You know, what does this haveto do with anything?
Well, we like to grasp thingswith our minds.
We like to have predictable, welike to find predictable
patterns and say, okay, this ishow this works and this is how
that works.
So we like to say, well, this ishow God works and we can learn
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the things of God.
We can learn things about God.
He's a person.
We can learn about hispersonality and the things he
likes and things he doesn't like.
But we will never figure himout.
And as Christians, I think wetry to do that.
We try to figure him out.
It's important to get to knowGod.
It's important to learn hisways, to learn his word, to find
(13:55):
out what he thinks aboutcertain things, how he views
certain things.
But we have to be careful ofgetting to the point that,
because we know scripture andbecause we know a lot of stuff
about God, that we've got himfigured out, because that's when
he will jump out of that boxthat we just tried to put him in
.
He will not be tamed.
(14:17):
And see, we also do that withpeople.
We do that with people becausewe want to understand the things
of God, or we want to feel likewe have some kind of
understanding of things.
Often we'll put people in boxestoo and we'll say well, that's
how God does it.
You know, god does it this way.
This is how God did it for me,so this is how God will do it
(14:39):
for you.
And that may not be true.
It might be true or may not betrue.
It might be true or it may notbe true.
You know there are some thingsthat, yes, god does for all of
us.
When we come to the Lord, heteaches us, hopefully, places us
in a place where there arepeople who can teach us and look
out for us and pray for us andshow us the way you know he
(15:01):
gives us each other.
He plants us in the body, theway you know he gives us each
other.
He plants us in the body.
He plants us in the body ofChrist so that we can grow and
we can be a part of the body andlearn.
That's how we learn is we learnfrom each other.
But everybody's journey isdifferent and the plans that he
(15:21):
has for everyone is unique andwe need to recognize that and we
need to accept that and we needto honor that in other people's
lives and not try to force themin the box that we think they
belong or the box that we cameout of.
Let me give you an example ofwhat I'm talking about.
My husband and I got married andwe did not have children for
(15:44):
some time.
We were trying, it just didn'thappen.
Well, as luck would have it or,I guess, as the Lord would have
it I left my current, myposition that I had I was
working at a university and Ifound another position working
for a utility company in my town, in my area, and it was a
(16:06):
promotion for me.
It was financially.
It was a big promotion for meand it lined up more with what I
went to school for, because Iwas.
I went to school, I have anengineering degree and so I was
excited about this.
I love that school where Iworked.
I worked there for about 10years.
I grew, I learned so much, but Iwas really looking forward to
(16:26):
go into this new position, thisnew place, and I knew in my
heart that the Lord had openedup this door for me because it
was an excellent opportunity.
The second day I went to work.
I was coming home and I feltnauseous and I thought it's
probably just nerves.
You know, it's a new job, newpeople, just trying to figure
everything out, trying to findmy place.
(16:47):
But something in me said stopand get a pregnancy test.
So I stopped that on the wayhome at the CVS, got a pregnancy
test.
Come home and I'm pregnant.
Second day on the job and Ifind out I'm pregnant.
So this blows my mind.
So this blows my mind and I wasa career woman and I was
excited about this new careerand the opportunities that God
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was opening up for me.
But something in my heart, in mylife, in my mind, completely
turned around when I found outthat I was going to be a mom,
and then, when the baby came,you know, everybody tells you
that being a mom changes yourlife, or those children change
your life, and they do.
But somehow it seems like, whenpeople say that, it always felt
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like it was for the worst.
But when I held that littlething in my hand, my life was
forever changed for the good,because from now on, it wasn't
just about me, it was about us.
It was about me and my husbandand this baby.
And how are we going to takecare of this little thing that
God has graciously given us totake care of?
This is a huge responsibility,and so my wants and my desires
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changed, and I found myself, forthe first time in my life,
wanting to be a stay-at-home mom.
Well, I'd never had that desire, and so I didn't really know
what to do with it and I thoughtwell, maybe this will fade,
maybe this is what every momgoes through when she's a new
mom.
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Well, 16 months later, I hadanother one, and the desire was
multiplied by two, but we werenot at a place financially where
we could do that.
We had debt and we had, and Iwas finally making good money,
and I was making more money thanI'd ever made in my life, and
(18:37):
me and my husband were makingabout the same.
So for me to quit my job wouldcut our salary in half.
And I kept telling him this isin my heart to do this, this is
in my heart to do this, and it'snot that he was against it,
it's just we couldn't see how.
And so, you know, god starteddoing something in me because I
did not know how to be a mom, Idid not know how to be a
(19:00):
homemaker, I didn't know littlethings.
I always felt incompetent orinsufficient and I just always
felt like I was fumbling through.
And so I started reading booksand I found some excellent books
about you know how to be ahomemaker and how to be a mom
and those kind of things.
I remember coming across onebook that it was particularly
(19:24):
helpful in the beginning becauseit was talking about you know
hacks, things you can do to keepyour house in order.
Because, guys, I've always Istill think I may have some form
of ADD because I struggle withhousework, I struggle with
organization and you know, myheart is to be organized and to
be on time and to haveeverything perfect, but I
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struggle in that area.
And so heart is to be organizedand to be on time and to have
everything perfect, but Istruggle in that area.
And so this book had some verypractical ways to keep on top of
things and I thought, oh, thisis good.
Well, as I read on through thebook and I'm not going to give
you the name of the book,because even though the first
part I really liked, the lastpart I really struggled with
because this mom came out andsaid every Christian woman
(20:07):
should be a stay-at-home mom andthis is God's will for your
life.
Well, I wanted to be astay-at-home mom, but I just
couldn't.
Right then, and my husband wasin agreement, what was I
supposed to do?
Tell him no, it's God's will,I'm quitting my job and you'll
just have to figure it out.
And you know I didn't havepeace with that.
(20:27):
And so, as I read her words, Ifelt so guilty because there was
no grace in it.
Let me just tell you, it waslike you quit today.
That was what this book wasadvocating.
You need to quit now.
You're disobeying the Lord.
And I remember the guilt that Ifelt because her words in the
beginning were so refreshinglike, oh, you can do this, god
(20:50):
will teach you, you can do this.
And then there's that hard lineof you're disobeying God by not
being a stay-at-home mom.
And my heart was to be astay-at-home mom.
It was in my heart was to be astay-at-home mom.
You know, it was in my heart.
But as a young mom I had a hardtime processing that and I felt
(21:11):
guilty.
And now, as I look back on itand I'm wiser and I'm stronger
and I've seen some stuff and Iunderstand that God does not
have one plan for every woman,even every Christian woman, and
we can't let people put theirconvictions, their beliefs,
(21:32):
their belief system, their ideason us.
You know, you have arelationship with God and a
relationship is a partnership.
You talk to him, he talks toyou.
My relationship with God isdifferent.
I have a relationship withJesus, you have a relationship
(21:54):
with Jesus.
They're not the same.
Okay, I'm different and you'redifferent.
He's the same, but we relate tohim in different ways.
Now, that doesn't mean thatwhat's sin for me isn't sin for
you.
That's not what I'm talkingabout here.
Okay, be wise, listen up whatI'm saying.
Okay, what I'm saying is, if Italk to Jesus and he puts this
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heart, this desire in my heartto be a stay at home mom, to
quit my job and to be at homefull time.
At home mom, to quit my job andto be at home full time, that
doesn't mean that's his plan foryou and you have the right not
to want to be a stay at home momand still be a Christian and
(22:37):
not judge me and me.
Not judge you, and that's okaybecause I'm not you and you're
not me.
Not judge you, and that's okaybecause I'm not you and you're
not me.
But see, we have to give eachother grace.
See, during this same time whenI'm struggling with I want to be
home but I can't be home, I gotpregnant again and I had a
friend who we were pregnant withmy sick when I was pregnant
(22:58):
with my second child.
She was pregnant with her firstchild and we worked together
and both of us so wanted to be astay-at-home mom and we talked
about it a lot and you know, wewere at work talking about how
we want to be at home and wewere at work talking about how
we want to be at home.
Well, she was having somemarriage issues and I knew a
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counselor.
I knew a friend who was amarriage counselor and I
connected her counselor.
I knew a friend who was amarriage counselor and I
connected her with that personand when I was out on maternity
leave I came back.
This was my third child withinfour years and when I came back
from maternity leave they haddivorced.
Her and her husband haddivorced.
She had found out that he hadbeen having an affair the entire
(23:43):
time.
They'd been working on theirmarriage even while she was
pregnant and she was devastatedand he left her to go with this
other woman.
So here she is, a single mom,christian mom, and all I could
think about was I knew her heartwas to be a stay-at-home mom,
but now there's no way she can'tdo that.
(24:04):
So would God put her in animpossible situation and then
condemn her for not being ableto do what other people say she
must do if she really loves herchildren?
So see, there's so many nuanceshere and we have to be able to
give each other grace and not beGod in their life and not be
(24:26):
judgmental and critical, becauseif I had been critical of her,
it would have crushed her,because her heart was already
broken and see, we have to treateach other with kindness and
gentleness and not with ahaughty spirit of I know what's
best.
No, I'm not saying you do that,okay, I'm just giving you
(24:47):
permission that things don'thave to look the same for each
of us.
And also at that job where Iwork, where the Lord opened up
the door for me to go, one of mysupervisors she actually was
not my supervisor, she was mysupervisor's supervisor.
She was a vice president of thecompany and I was struggling
with the trying to have threechildren all under the age of
(25:10):
four, and do my job well, and Iam an excellent employee.
Let me just tell you, you know,I wanted to do everything
perfect.
I wanted to do a good job.
And so, you know, I wasstruggling with some things and
I went to her and I talked withher about some of know, I was
struggling with some things andI went to her and I talked with
her about some of the things Iwas struggling with and she
shared something with me whichwas eye opening.
(25:31):
She said, audrey, your heartisn't here because you want to
be home.
Tell me about, you know, yourchildhood.
And I told her.
You know, my mom couldn't bethere.
She worked all the time just tomake sure that our bills were
paid and we had food, you know,because my dad was.
He was an alcoholic and so shehad to work extra to make up for
(25:53):
him not, and so I missed havingmy mom there.
But my grandmother, who wasbeside me, she was there for us,
she helped raise us, but Ialways wanted that to be my mom,
and so it was like I could see.
This is a desire, not just adesire the Lord has put in my
heart, but I want to be thatkind of mom.
(26:14):
I want to be there because Ididn't have that.
Well, she told me her story.
She said when I grew up, my momand dad were in huge debt.
She said when I grew up, my momand dad were in huge debt and
when the debt collectors wouldcall, they would put me on the
phone because they wanted, theyknew that they would not talk
bad to a child, or at leasthoped so, instead of answering
(26:40):
the phone themselves, they wouldput their daughter on the phone
talking to the debt collectors.
And she said they called allthe time.
And she said when I was young,I decided early that is not
going to be me.
I'm going to make, I'm going toprovide so well for my children
financially that they won'thave that stress of the debt
(27:01):
collectors calling.
And you know, I thought we allwant to do what's best for our
children, we all want to givethem what we missed and so you
know that helped me have a lot,that helped me understand her in
a deeper level.
And I think if sometimes wewill stop and we will talk to
each other and we will learneach other's hearts, then we
(27:30):
will give each other grace.
And it's not just about moms,okay, it's not just about stay
at home moms versus working moms.
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
This is in many, many areas.
If we will actually take thetime to stop and to talk and to
listen and give each other graceand not put our convictions on
other people, then we can helpeach other grow, we can learn
from each other, and that's partof maturing.
(27:55):
Growing up is knowing thatthere's no one size fits all.
I'm in a relationship withJesus, which means he has a
special plan for me and I can goto him and I don't have to feel
, I don't have to accept thejudgment of other people who are
judging my decisions, but theydon't know my story and they
(28:19):
don't know my situation.
I'm not talking about walkingin sin, ok.
I'm not talking aboutjustifying sin by saying Jesus
said it was okay.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about just livingour life as best as we can in
relationship with God, trying todo what's right, trying to hear
from heaven and not just assumethat we know exactly what a
(28:42):
Christian mom, a Christian woman, a Christian home is supposed
to look like.
Now, god is not judging, hewants to help us.
Now I will tell you that when hestarted showing me the
possibilities of a Christianhome, I was elated at that.
I mean like it was a vision forme.
It was like, oh, this could beso good.
(29:02):
And he gave me ways to do that.
You know, he gave me a visionto live into and he gave me a
calling you know to desire andlong for.
You know it was not a you mustdo it this way, it better look
this way.
It wasn't like that at all andI believe that some women he
(29:23):
calls to that and some hedoesn't, and that's okay.
And as part of the body ofChrist, we have to understand
that everybody's life,everybody's story, is not the
same.
Now I will throw in this caveat.
Okay, I will throw this in.
You know, I've been in ministryfor 25 plus years and I've seen
(29:45):
a lot of stuff.
I've seen a lot of stuff, crazystuff.
I've heard a man say God toldme to leave my wife and marry
this person over here.
You know he told me to do thatand you know that's his plan for
my life.
I'm not talking about thatbecause, number one, that goes
against God's word.
(30:05):
Okay, god, god didn't tell youto leave your children and your
wife.
That's the lust of the flesh.
You know that is notsurrendering your life to do
God's will.
That is not following his plan,his unique plan for your life.
That is doing what you want todo, no matter who.
It hurts, and that's adultery.
(30:28):
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about not lettingother people put their
convictions on you and drown outwhat God is saying to you
personally.
Because you feel like you haveto fit a certain mold or you
have to be part of a certainclique to be obedient to God.
Okay, let's break out of thatmess.
Let's be wise as ser certainclique to be obedient to God.
Okay, let's break out of thatmess.
Let's be wise as serpents andharmless as doves.
(30:48):
Okay, and you know, when I wasa young mom and first having
those kids, I couldn'tunderstand that.
When I read that book aboutevery Christian mom should be a
stay-at-home mom though my heartwas to be a stay-at-home mom I
felt condemned because at thattime I couldn't be, because at
that time it wasn't the timingof the Lord, even though my
heart was there.
My heart was to do that.
(31:09):
That condemnation, that guilttrip of you better do this.
It ruined that book for me andI didn't have the confidence to
say well, good for you, that'snot what he's saying to me.
But as I've grown and I've seensome stuff, god's given me the
confidence to be able to say, inlove, that's not what he's
(31:30):
saying to me right now and tolearn to trust that God speaks
to me and he speaks to you andhe loves you and he has a good
plan for your life.
Amen, jeremiah 29, 11.
I know it becomes cliche, Iknow it does.
But when the Holy Spirit speaksit to your heart, it comes
alive again.
For I know the plans I have foryou, declares the Lord plans to
(31:52):
prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future,
and he has good plans in storefor you.
No matter what is back there,no matter what's in the past, no
matter what happened yesterdayor last week or last year or 20
years ago.
Today, he has a good plan foryou and he will show you the way
(32:12):
.
He will take you by the handand he will lead you in it and
he'll give you the confidence tolet go of judgment and let go
of other people's expectationsand find what he has for you and
your family.
And you'll be so glad youlistened, you'll be so glad you
obeyed.
Amen.
Let's pray before we go today.
Father, I thank you for theseprecious women who are just
(32:34):
seeking your will.
They just want to know what youhave for them, they just want
to be obedient.
And, lord, I pray that youwould give them that hope that
nothing satisfies like you, andthat they will be so glad they
obeyed in the end.
It might be hard right now, butthey'll be so glad that they
listened and obeyed when it'sall said and done.
And, god, I pray that you wouldspring up that hope in their
(32:58):
heart that you have good plansfor them and that they don't
want to miss it.
They don't want to turn asideto something else.
That, lord, they're going tokeep their eyes on you and keep
coming after Jesus.
Lord, we love you.
We ask you to keep us in Jesusname, amen.
Thank you for joining me againthis week.
I hope and pray that you have awonderful week.
(33:20):
If you have enjoyed this today,I'd like to ask a favor of you
If you could please go whereveryou listen to podcasts and leave
me a five-star rating andreview.
That would be wonderful.
When you rate this podcast, itputs it in front of people like
you who may be interested inthese kind of topics and can
(33:41):
receive encouragement from thispodcast.
So if it's been a blessing toyou, maybe a blessing to someone
else, and if you have a friendthat needs some encouragement
and you think this kind of word,this kind of encouragement,
would be beneficial, pleaseshare it, and that would mean
the world to me.
Also, I do send out weeklynewsletters, words of
encouragement, at least once aweek, sometimes twice a week.
(34:04):
If you'll go to the show noteshere, you'll see that I am
working on special projects.
I know y'all must think youknow I'll keep talking about it,
but I am working behind thescenes on it.
I promise I'm working on someBible studies, also working on
possibly a second podcast, adaily devotion podcast, and I
love you, I appreciate you anduntil next time, keep your eyes
(34:26):
on Jesus, god bless.
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