November 7, 2023 • 22 mins
Al Carraway is a bestselling and award-winning author and speaker. But more than that, she's a teacher of things that matter most. Jason is honored to have her stop by The Book Drop Mic to discuss her groundbreaking release, Finding Yourself in the New Testament.
Buy Al's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Yourself-New-Testament-Carraway/dp/146214361X
Learn more about Al:
https://www.alcarraway.com/
Follow Al on FB:
https://www.facebook.com/AlFoxCarraway
Follow Al on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/alcarraway/
Learn more about Jason:
http://www.jasonfwright.com
About the book:
Award-winning speaker and best-selling author Al Carraway presents an in-depth study of the life of Jesus Christ and how it relates to our own in an intimate and personal way. Written by someone who truly knows God, Finding Yourself in the New Testament skillfully and sincerely introduces its readers to the Savior and shows them who and what He really is. Not only does it illustrate how deeply involved God is in the lives of His children, but it also provides an excellent guide to the history, culture, and context of ancient Israel and the Jewish religion.
Drawing directly from the four Gospels of the New Testament, this book will lead you to the Being who can give you the power to change; the God “who goes to the hated, the forgotten, the different, the outcast, the sinner, and the excommunicated and befriends them; the God who calls them to great things and blesses and loves them; the God who forgives in the act, reaches for those sinking, and stops for those buried in the crowd or alone in the heat of the day.” See yourself in every aspect of the Savior’s ministry and in the lives of the people He blessed.
Understand that Jesus Christ truly did come that we might have life—and all else—more
abundantly.
This podcast is brought to you by InkVeins, your source for book publicity, promo, press releases and more. Text 540-212-4095 for more information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello friends, welcome to the Book Drop Mike,
brought to you by Ink Veins,your source for publicity, promo
and press releases.
This is, of course, your host,jason Wright.
Hello, so glad you are here forthis episode.
You're going to love thisepisode.
Reminder tickets for theChristmas show are on sale.
The show is heading to 20cities between Black Friday and
(00:25):
December 23rd.
I saw the travel schedule acouple of days ago and my back
hurt.
Just looking at the travelschedule of 30 days of travel
across the country is wearing meout.
But I'm excited.
I'm excited, jenny, and I areexcited to see you on the road.
That's Jenny Oaks Baker.
Of course, you can find ticketinformation at JennyOaksBakercom
or on my website or socialmedia, or we will send a flair
(00:48):
to you with ticket information.
But, jenny and I do hope to seeyou on the road.
We hope that one of our 20cities is near you or city.
All right, I am excited abouttoday's guest, so excited.
She is a busy, busy, busyperson and we have snuck under
her schedule, sneaked, snuck,weaseled our way under her
(01:09):
schedule.
She is a speaker, an author, aworld traveler.
She is, I think, kind of asuper mom.
Actually, she might not admitthat, but I think she's kind of
a super mom.
But I think most importantlyand this will come through in
our discussion today she is awoman of deep faith.
Her name is Al Caraway and I'mso honored to have her here at
(01:31):
the Book Drop Mike.
Hello, al, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Hey Jason, I'm elated to be here.
I am doing awesome, Doing great.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
You look elated to be here and you know my regular
listeners to this show and to mylast show, right where you are.
Know that I often use Zoom tocapture these interviews and
that allows us to kind of lookat each other and have a little
bit of a connection, eventhrough technology, and I wish
the world could see you smilingand beaming and you are such a
(02:01):
joyful human being.
Anyone ever told you that?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yes, all the time.
But you know what?
Yes, because I love myself toomuch to have like a lousy life.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I refuse to let it happen.
So I'm going to work reallyhard to figure things out and
just, yeah, why not?
Why wouldn't we?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, let's be joyful .
Well, our listeners know thatthis show focuses mostly on new
books, but when we launch theshow, I had you on my wish list
because I have loved everythingyou've written.
But this title that we're goingto talk about today, this book,
it is extraordinary.
(02:41):
It's called Finding Yourself inthe New Testament, and we are
going to let you walk us throughthat journey a little bit in a
minute, but first, maybe some ofmy listeners don't know who you
are Shocking.
I know they should know who youare.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But if they don't Al.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
What do we need to know about you to understand
your journey in this book?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I am a New Yorker through and through.
Although now I'm living in thishouse, I still claim the title,
proudly, of a New Yorker.
That comes through pretty quick, with how loud and how quickly
that I speak.
As soon as I turned 21, thoughI had my life unintentionally I
mean, I didn't seek it out LikeI just God he stepped in on his
(03:24):
own, without me seeking, and hebecame very real to me.
And it wasn't until he becamereal to me that my life seemed
to fall apart.
And so I have made it mylifelong quest to find him in
new ways.
And we have this limitless God,and my life quest is to not
(03:48):
limit him of where we can seehim, how we can feel him, where
we can find him, and to sharethat in the dark times and in
the unwanted and uncharted.
And so everything I do in everyaspect of my life, I hope, is a
reflection and a response to,like you know, palm Sunday, when
Jesus is riding in on a donkeyand everyone's yelling Hosanna,
(04:09):
but then someone in thescriptures like who's this?
And the response is this isJesus.
And so, yeah, ever since my 20s, I want everything I do and
learn and say to be in responseof who is this Jesus that is
ours and who is this God thatdisrupts and interrupts and
magnifies.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Well, I think that's it.
That kind of sums you up,doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So I started yeah, about 14 years ago I've been
public speaking.
I started with a blog backbefore blogs were even a thing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
What's a blog?
Yeah, yeah, another, not athing anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But I started with a blog and I just started to
respond to my hard times andfinding him in new ways in my
hard times.
So the blog got bigger than Iever thought it would, which
turned very quickly into publicspeaking.
This goes back, yeah, 14 yearsago I've been public speaking
and then that turned into almost10 years ago was my first book
(05:08):
and I have been writing andpublishing and speaking still
ever since.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, it's been fun to follow that journey.
I have been familiar with youand your work longer than we've
known each other and it's it hasbeen an interesting journey,
watching you sort of take whathas been a deeply personal
(05:32):
journey and say I'm going toshare what for many people might
be very personal with the world, Because I think what I'm
experiencing might actually bewhat you're also going through.
Like I'm going through thesehard things but why keep them to
myself?
Why not open up and and anyonethat follows you on social media
?
And of course we'll have linksto all the good things you're
(05:53):
doing in your social media andthe show notes.
But if you follow Al, you'regoing to see a pretty
transparent view into her worldthe good days and the hard days
and the tears and the laughterand the parenting and the wife
thing and all the things thatyou do in a way that I think
sort of draws people in and says, yeah, that's kind of my life
as well, that's my journey toJesus as well.
(06:14):
What?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
do you think it's the New York way, jason?
I don't know anyway, buttransparency and blood, to be
honest.
And it wasn't until I moved tothe West Coast, shortly after I
got baptized, you know, when I,right before I turned 21, I
moved to the West Coast and Irealized, oh, you know what, no
one is talking about the thingsthat they need to be.
(06:35):
No one's.
I mean, I feel like we're doinga better job.
Over the years, we've seen,I've seen, you know, a shift in
that people are being a littlebit more willing, but they
weren't.
And I realized that to bringpeople in, people saw themselves
in my writing very quickly, andit's not because they were
experiencing the same things asme, but it's because we all feel
(06:57):
the same and so we can bringpeople in and they see
themselves in you and you canhelp them and build community by
touching, based on thesefeelings that we all feel.
We've all felt mad at God,we've all felt like we weren't
deserving and we all felt likewe weren't getting what we were
asking for.
So what does that mean with mywalk with God and how can I keep
(07:17):
showing up?
And do I even want to Like,yeah, I'm going to write about
those things because, well, noone else was.
But like why wouldn't?
Why wouldn't we help each otherout and build community, if we
all feel those things?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Absolutely.
And if we, if we feel thosethings and, in your case, if, if
we're willing, if you'rewilling to share those things,
to say things that other peopleare feeling and thinking but
maybe aren't as confident orcomfortable yet to say, the idea
is, I would think that well, ifI can say it and share it and
engage with people, particularlyonline, through social media,
(07:51):
maybe that gives you couragenext time to to be the owl, to
start sharing your experiencesmore openly and to find the
confidence to say the thingsthat you're thinking and feeling
.
All right, I love this book.
I told you that.
I told you when we were textinglast night how much I love this
book.
I want, first of all, for youto set up a little of the origin
(08:11):
story for finding yourself inthe New Testament, and I know
that, of everything you'vewritten, this has the most of
you poured into it.
I would assume you spent moretime on this than anything else
you've written, because it is soheavily sourced and anchored to
the scriptures.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, and then I'm going to
(08:31):
share my favorite little nuggetfrom the book.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
OK, people are like you can't pick your favorite
child, so you can't possiblypick your favorite book you've
written.
I'm like, no, I can't pick myfavorite book, it is this one.
Now, I've always lovedeverything I've written, or else
why would you write it?
But I really truly feel, amongall of the good I've done, I
feel like I was born just towrite this book.
(08:58):
That is how much I love it.
So a lot of my other booksbefore this one I you know it
was a lot, but I could write itthree weeks or less.
That was a full-time, sun-up,sundown I'm not leaving the
house kind of three weeks, butthis one was a nine-month
full-time labor of love.
I really it's all history andcontext.
(09:23):
I talked to Jewish rabbis toreally understand what the life
of the boyhood of Jesus wouldhave looked like, what it would
have been taught and workingtowards, and really it's not
just a dry, bland history andcontext of the life of Jesus.
It is finding yourself withinit all.
(09:45):
So not only am I going to giveyou all of the historical
context, what they would havedone, what this would have
looked like, what the thingsthat they would have been used
that would be relevant towhatever story I'm telling, but
what does that even mean for you?
And I think that that is howit's different From most of the
(10:08):
things Bible-related orscripture-related is like I'm
going to tell you these thingsthat they happened, but there's
no like what does that mean forme?
Which is exactly what that isand I don't know.
There's just it's, it's so.
(10:28):
I wear many hats.
I have, like this Etsy shopit's called More Jesus and all
of my stuff that I sellsweatshirts, shirts, stickers
it's all Jesus-related.
And I had this one shirt itsaid ask me about my Jesus, and
it had really cute likecharacter, character, whatever
graphics on it.
And no one bought that shirt.
(10:51):
They saw the graphic before Iprinted it and everyone, like I
had thousands and thousands ofpeople on Instagram say we need
that graphic, we love that shirtyou designed, but they didn't
see what the type, like thewords that were going to go with
it, and so I printed it.
I added asked me about my Jesus, to go with the graphic that
(11:11):
they overwhelmingly wanted towear on a shirt.
And then and then no one boughtit and I was wondering like,
hey, what happened?
You guys left me out there.
I bought all these shirts youasked for, and then I realized
through all of their responsesis that they were afraid for
people to actually ask themabout Jesus.
(11:35):
They felt comfortable with theirfaith.
They felt comfortable in theirrelationship with God.
They knew who he was, what hedoes, how you talk directly to
Him.
They knew of and feltcomfortable with the
relationship with the Spirit.
They have felt it before theyhave learned how to be able to
(11:55):
hear it.
You know what I mean, butpeople didn't know what to do
with Jesus in personal ways.
I know of Jesus, but what doesthat mean in a personal
relationship?
What do I do with any of that?
And that was when I realizedlike there is a big gap of how
(12:17):
we can make Jesus personal to us.
And so that's really theconcept behind this book is, yes
, everything you need to know,history, context, all of that
it's in there, but it's alsolike, because of those things,
that means what for you?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, therefore what?
Yeah, I love that question.
It is interesting.
As I've read through the book,it feels like it almost feels a
little bit like this discussion.
It is deeply doctrinal, butit's certainly not a textbook.
That's not your intention.
It feels like you're in Al'sliving room and you're having a
(13:00):
discussion about the NewTestament and you're back and
forth, finding one another inthe stories of Jesus and
learning from his life and hisministry and those that he
served with and ministered with.
It feels, though it isobviously books are I mean by
their very creation and mentionof one way conversation.
(13:22):
Right, here's my book, Read itof thousands of people around
the world taking this thing thatyou've created and consuming it
on their own.
But this feels very much like atwo way conversation where
you're kind of interacting alittle bit with you, which is
not easy to do.
And I tell you why I say that Iread.
So I love Christmas stories.
I love Christmas.
Half of my books, almost halfmy books, are Christmas related.
(13:46):
I particularly love theChristmas story, obviously.
But there's an anecdote in thebook where you're talking about
the Christmas story and the starand the savior and you tell the
story about teaching a Sundayschool class and putting a star
(14:09):
on the wall.
I would love for you to tellour audience that story.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, I've done this a few times actually to
different people.
I were teaching and it happenedthe same way each time.
And before my lesson wouldstart I would hide a star no, it
was pretty big size star, aboutthe size of my hand, and it
wasn't hidden that well, I justwould pop it on the ceiling.
If you looked up you would seeit and I would give my lesson
(14:36):
and it was fine.
And at the end of the lesson Iwould ask how many of you
noticed the star?
And they'd be looking around,they were like what star?
And I'd point up and they'relike oh my gosh, no one had
noticed the star.
But it also didn't change thefact that the star was there and
it had always been there.
And so we kind of I talk aboutthat in a few different ways
(15:01):
that just because we may not seethings doesn't change the fact
that he is there.
I don't know what did you loveabout it?
That was the story.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I love it.
Well, it feels like so,something I would want to do in
a class.
I'm going to do that at somepoint when I teach a lesson even
remotely related to this.
I'm going to do it.
Maybe, if Jenny will let me doit, in our Christmas show, I'll
just take a star to every cityand hang it up in the theater
somewhere.
I love this idea that when ourfaith wanders a bit, when we
(15:36):
feel like we're being batteredaround by the storms, when it
feels like we're praying and notgetting answers, he's still
there.
He does not leave us.
The star does not diminish orhide.
Maybe we're not looking in theright place.
Maybe we just need to be alittle bit more patient.
(15:58):
Maybe we need a newprescription to see his light
and his star.
I posted yesterday, a couple ofdays ago, about just the power
of light and staying in thelight and following the light,
even when the light only givesyou a couple of feet at a time,
and that's what I thought of asI read that anecdote again last
night Just this idea that thestar is there.
(16:22):
Maybe your eyes aren't evenopen to see it.
It could be as simple as justopening your eyes, right.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I mean back then some people.
They were looking, butsometimes they were looking for
a baby, to know that Jesus wereborn and not a star.
So maybe good intentions, We'velimited him down subconsciously
and we're just looking for himin a very specific way that
we're dismissing everything elsethat he can come to us with.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah.
Why do we limit him?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Why do we put these constraints on a perfect God and
say, okay, I love you, I want arelationship with you, but I
kind of need it to look likethis yes, jason, there's so much
irony, right, because I feellike all of us can confidently
say we want God to participatein our personal lives more and
yet at any bit of disruption oruncharted anything, we're like
(17:19):
how could you, right, shake ourhands up and we don't realize we
want him to participate, butany bit of change or discomfort,
we're like how could you, whenwe don't realize that is him
participating, that is himloving you so much and caring so
much, to come to you inpersonal ways to change course,
(17:40):
course track, to disrupt, tobring you to those
magnifications?
But also in theory, yeah, jason, it should be really easy to
give it to a perfect God whomakes no mistakes.
But for me, if I'm in controlof my own life, then I feel like
I could better manage thesetbacks.
Or for me, what I've knownabout God thus far was also like
(18:03):
validating me, for him, showingme what else.
God talks to me in this way, sothat must be the only way he
talks to me.
I've felt God in this way, sothat must be the only way that I
could feel him.
So when we don't feel him inthose ways that we've put that
thought around him, we say he'snot there, he doesn't care, I'm
(18:24):
not deserving, when in fact,like that star, he never leaves.
So in the times I don't see him, feel him, hear him, I have
trained myself to not get upsetbut to be like, oh, he's showing
me what else.
What are the new ways?
And when you stop and take astep back and really see him and
allow yourself to look for himin those new ways, your
(18:46):
relationship with him and yourlife and your soul they do.
They just blossom in vibrantmagnifications.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, oh, I love this book.
I love this book.
I hope people listening willdevour not just these chapters
that are sort of related to theChristmas story and to the birth
and early years of the Savior,but the whole book.
Pick up the book for yourself.
(19:15):
Pick up 74 copies for yourfriends and family.
What a great idea.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Right now it's Christmas yes, the Christmas
gift by the palette yes, Givethem Jesus for Christmas, more
Jesus.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, it's a great way to kick off.
It's not just a great Christmasgift, but it's a good way to be
thinking about the new year,your goals for the new year, and
what better way to kick off2024 than to spend a little bit
of time, yes, in the scriptures,but also in a book like this
that will help you to connect tothe scriptures, perhaps in a
meaningful way, and to soak upsome of Al's what I think are
(19:52):
really unique and inspiredobservations about the life of
Christ.
Okay, what's next for you?
What are you working on?
What can we expect?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Oh, I'll say two things.
One I have a children's bookcalled my Dear Little, one that
has won multiple awards.
So I actually leave next weekto go to Miami and pick up a
nice plaque and metal for GoldPlug, gold medal, first place,
christian Children's Award.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
So that is super exciting.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So if you're looking for a Christian Children's book
that comes highly recommendedwith multiple awards, but also I
am taking this book FindingYourself in the New Testament,
and I am currently just startedtwo days ago converting it into
a children's book, so tellingyou about Jesus, kids formatted
(20:42):
and what that means for you.
So kind of like a water to wine,like yeah, that's a great
miracle, this is what happened.
Here's where you can find it inthe scriptures.
But because of that that meansyou know.
I mean I don't need to go onanother tangent because I can go
on forever, just to water towine and what?
that means to you.
But, for example, like kidsversion is like because of that,
(21:05):
with him, something better ispossible and is coming.
Because of that, that he will,with us, make miracles of
purification and holiness andchange.
So it's like kids version.
Here's what's happening.
That means this for you.
So I'm excited to take thisbook and turn it into a kids
version.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So that's what I'm working on right now, so maybe
is that out by next fall, bynext Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Here's to hoping.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, you've got a great publisher and a great team
, and you seem to have endlessenergy, so I would imagine that
we'll be plugging this book herefrom now.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I am, I am hopeful.
Yes, I did miss the deadlinefor a fall of next year, but it
is.
You know, it's a kids book, sothe editing process is very
different.
So I'm hoping, I'm hoping itwill be here for a fourth
quarter next year.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool.
Well, you are this kind of just, boundless, endless joy, and I
love, I love being around you, Ilove hearing you speak, I love
following you on social mediaand seeing the good things that
you're doing.
Again, folks, if you'relistening, look in the show
notes to links to all the goodstuff Alice is doing.
(22:20):
She mentioned the award for thechildren's book.
I happen to know I thinkeverything she has written has
won something and several of herbooks have won many things.
So don't just check out thechildren's book and finding
yourself in the New Testament,but all the good things she has
been producing over the lastdecade, al, you are an absolute
treasure.
Thank you so much for giving ustime on the show today.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Thank you.
Hello friends, welcome to the Book Drop Mike,
brought to you by Ink Veins,your source for publicity, promo
and press releases.
This is, of course, your host,jason Wright.
Hello, so glad you are here forthis episode.
You're going to love thisepisode.
Reminder tickets for theChristmas show are on sale.
The show is heading to 20cities between Black Friday and
(00:25):
December 23rd.
I saw the travel schedule acouple of days ago and my back
hurt.
Just looking at the travelschedule of 30 days of travel
across the country is wearing meout.
But I'm excited.
I'm excited, jenny, and I areexcited to see you on the road.
That's Jenny Oaks Baker.
Of course, you can find ticketinformation at JennyOaksBakercom
or on my website or socialmedia, or we will send a flair
(00:48):
to you with ticket information.
But, jenny and I do hope to seeyou on the road.
We hope that one of our 20cities is near you or city.
All right, I am excited abouttoday's guest, so excited.
She is a busy, busy, busyperson and we have snuck under
her schedule, sneaked, snuck,weaseled our way under her
(01:09):
schedule.
She is a speaker, an author, aworld traveler.
She is, I think, kind of asuper mom.
Actually, she might not admitthat, but I think she's kind of
a super mom.
But I think most importantlyand this will come through in
our discussion today she is awoman of deep faith.
Her name is Al Caraway and I'mso honored to have her here at
(01:31):
the Book Drop Mike.
Hello, al, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Hey Jason, I'm elated to be here.
I am doing awesome, Doing great.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
You look elated to be here and you know my regular
listeners to this show and to mylast show, right where you are.
Know that I often use Zoom tocapture these interviews and
that allows us to kind of lookat each other and have a little
bit of a connection, eventhrough technology, and I wish
the world could see you smilingand beaming and you are such a
(02:01):
joyful human being.
Anyone ever told you that?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yes, all the time.
But you know what?
Yes, because I love myself toomuch to have like a lousy life.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I refuse to let it happen.
So I'm going to work reallyhard to figure things out and
just, yeah, why not?
Why wouldn't we?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, let's be joyful .
Well, our listeners know thatthis show focuses mostly on new
books, but when we launch theshow, I had you on my wish list
because I have loved everythingyou've written.
But this title that we're goingto talk about today, this book,
it is extraordinary.
(02:41):
It's called Finding Yourself inthe New Testament, and we are
going to let you walk us throughthat journey a little bit in a
minute, but first, maybe some ofmy listeners don't know who you
are Shocking.
I know they should know who youare.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But if they don't Al.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
What do we need to know about you to understand
your journey in this book?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I am a New Yorker through and through.
Although now I'm living in thishouse, I still claim the title,
proudly, of a New Yorker.
That comes through pretty quick, with how loud and how quickly
that I speak.
As soon as I turned 21, thoughI had my life unintentionally I
mean, I didn't seek it out LikeI just God he stepped in on his
(03:24):
own, without me seeking, and hebecame very real to me.
And it wasn't until he becamereal to me that my life seemed
to fall apart.
And so I have made it mylifelong quest to find him in
new ways.
And we have this limitless God,and my life quest is to not
(03:48):
limit him of where we can seehim, how we can feel him, where
we can find him, and to sharethat in the dark times and in
the unwanted and uncharted.
And so everything I do in everyaspect of my life, I hope, is a
reflection and a response to,like you know, palm Sunday, when
Jesus is riding in on a donkeyand everyone's yelling Hosanna,
(04:09):
but then someone in thescriptures like who's this?
And the response is this isJesus.
And so, yeah, ever since my 20s, I want everything I do and
learn and say to be in responseof who is this Jesus that is
ours and who is this God thatdisrupts and interrupts and
magnifies.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Well, I think that's it.
That kind of sums you up,doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So I started yeah, about 14 years ago I've been
public speaking.
I started with a blog backbefore blogs were even a thing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
What's a blog?
Yeah, yeah, another, not athing anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But I started with a blog and I just started to
respond to my hard times andfinding him in new ways in my
hard times.
So the blog got bigger than Iever thought it would, which
turned very quickly into publicspeaking.
This goes back, yeah, 14 yearsago I've been public speaking
and then that turned into almost10 years ago was my first book
(05:08):
and I have been writing andpublishing and speaking still
ever since.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, it's been fun to follow that journey.
I have been familiar with youand your work longer than we've
known each other and it's it hasbeen an interesting journey,
watching you sort of take whathas been a deeply personal
(05:32):
journey and say I'm going toshare what for many people might
be very personal with the world, Because I think what I'm
experiencing might actually bewhat you're also going through.
Like I'm going through thesehard things but why keep them to
myself?
Why not open up and and anyonethat follows you on social media
?
And of course we'll have linksto all the good things you're
(05:53):
doing in your social media andthe show notes.
But if you follow Al, you'regoing to see a pretty
transparent view into her worldthe good days and the hard days
and the tears and the laughterand the parenting and the wife
thing and all the things thatyou do in a way that I think
sort of draws people in and says, yeah, that's kind of my life
as well, that's my journey toJesus as well.
(06:14):
What?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
do you think it's the New York way, jason?
I don't know anyway, buttransparency and blood, to be
honest.
And it wasn't until I moved tothe West Coast, shortly after I
got baptized, you know, when I,right before I turned 21, I
moved to the West Coast and Irealized, oh, you know what, no
one is talking about the thingsthat they need to be.
(06:35):
No one's.
I mean, I feel like we're doinga better job.
Over the years, we've seen,I've seen, you know, a shift in
that people are being a littlebit more willing, but they
weren't.
And I realized that to bringpeople in, people saw themselves
in my writing very quickly, andit's not because they were
experiencing the same things asme, but it's because we all feel
(06:57):
the same and so we can bringpeople in and they see
themselves in you and you canhelp them and build community by
touching, based on thesefeelings that we all feel.
We've all felt mad at God,we've all felt like we weren't
deserving and we all felt likewe weren't getting what we were
asking for.
So what does that mean with mywalk with God and how can I keep
(07:17):
showing up?
And do I even want to Like,yeah, I'm going to write about
those things because, well, noone else was.
But like why wouldn't?
Why wouldn't we help each otherout and build community, if we
all feel those things?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Absolutely.
And if we, if we feel thosethings and, in your case, if, if
we're willing, if you'rewilling to share those things,
to say things that other peopleare feeling and thinking but
maybe aren't as confident orcomfortable yet to say, the idea
is, I would think that well, ifI can say it and share it and
engage with people, particularlyonline, through social media,
(07:51):
maybe that gives you couragenext time to to be the owl, to
start sharing your experiencesmore openly and to find the
confidence to say the thingsthat you're thinking and feeling
.
All right, I love this book.
I told you that.
I told you when we were textinglast night how much I love this
book.
I want, first of all, for youto set up a little of the origin
(08:11):
story for finding yourself inthe New Testament, and I know
that, of everything you'vewritten, this has the most of
you poured into it.
I would assume you spent moretime on this than anything else
you've written, because it is soheavily sourced and anchored to
the scriptures.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, and then I'm going to
(08:31):
share my favorite little nuggetfrom the book.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
OK, people are like you can't pick your favorite
child, so you can't possiblypick your favorite book you've
written.
I'm like, no, I can't pick myfavorite book, it is this one.
Now, I've always lovedeverything I've written, or else
why would you write it?
But I really truly feel, amongall of the good I've done, I
feel like I was born just towrite this book.
(08:58):
That is how much I love it.
So a lot of my other booksbefore this one I you know it
was a lot, but I could write itthree weeks or less.
That was a full-time, sun-up,sundown I'm not leaving the
house kind of three weeks, butthis one was a nine-month
full-time labor of love.
I really it's all history andcontext.
(09:23):
I talked to Jewish rabbis toreally understand what the life
of the boyhood of Jesus wouldhave looked like, what it would
have been taught and workingtowards, and really it's not
just a dry, bland history andcontext of the life of Jesus.
It is finding yourself withinit all.
(09:45):
So not only am I going to giveyou all of the historical
context, what they would havedone, what this would have
looked like, what the thingsthat they would have been used
that would be relevant towhatever story I'm telling, but
what does that even mean for you?
And I think that that is howit's different From most of the
(10:08):
things Bible-related orscripture-related is like I'm
going to tell you these thingsthat they happened, but there's
no like what does that mean forme?
Which is exactly what that isand I don't know.
There's just it's, it's so.
(10:28):
I wear many hats.
I have, like this Etsy shopit's called More Jesus and all
of my stuff that I sellsweatshirts, shirts, stickers
it's all Jesus-related.
And I had this one shirt itsaid ask me about my Jesus, and
it had really cute likecharacter, character, whatever
graphics on it.
And no one bought that shirt.
(10:51):
They saw the graphic before Iprinted it and everyone, like I
had thousands and thousands ofpeople on Instagram say we need
that graphic, we love that shirtyou designed, but they didn't
see what the type, like thewords that were going to go with
it, and so I printed it.
I added asked me about my Jesus, to go with the graphic that
(11:11):
they overwhelmingly wanted towear on a shirt.
And then and then no one boughtit and I was wondering like,
hey, what happened?
You guys left me out there.
I bought all these shirts youasked for, and then I realized
through all of their responsesis that they were afraid for
people to actually ask themabout Jesus.
(11:35):
They felt comfortable with theirfaith.
They felt comfortable in theirrelationship with God.
They knew who he was, what hedoes, how you talk directly to
Him.
They knew of and feltcomfortable with the
relationship with the Spirit.
They have felt it before theyhave learned how to be able to
(11:55):
hear it.
You know what I mean, butpeople didn't know what to do
with Jesus in personal ways.
I know of Jesus, but what doesthat mean in a personal
relationship?
What do I do with any of that?
And that was when I realizedlike there is a big gap of how
(12:17):
we can make Jesus personal to us.
And so that's really theconcept behind this book is, yes
, everything you need to know,history, context, all of that
it's in there, but it's alsolike, because of those things,
that means what for you?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, therefore what?
Yeah, I love that question.
It is interesting.
As I've read through the book,it feels like it almost feels a
little bit like this discussion.
It is deeply doctrinal, butit's certainly not a textbook.
That's not your intention.
It feels like you're in Al'sliving room and you're having a
(13:00):
discussion about the NewTestament and you're back and
forth, finding one another inthe stories of Jesus and
learning from his life and hisministry and those that he
served with and ministered with.
It feels, though it isobviously books are I mean by
their very creation and mentionof one way conversation.
(13:22):
Right, here's my book, Read itof thousands of people around
the world taking this thing thatyou've created and consuming it
on their own.
But this feels very much like atwo way conversation where
you're kind of interacting alittle bit with you, which is
not easy to do.
And I tell you why I say that Iread.
So I love Christmas stories.
I love Christmas.
Half of my books, almost halfmy books, are Christmas related.
(13:46):
I particularly love theChristmas story, obviously.
But there's an anecdote in thebook where you're talking about
the Christmas story and the starand the savior and you tell the
story about teaching a Sundayschool class and putting a star
(14:09):
on the wall.
I would love for you to tellour audience that story.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, I've done this a few times actually to
different people.
I were teaching and it happenedthe same way each time.
And before my lesson wouldstart I would hide a star no, it
was pretty big size star, aboutthe size of my hand, and it
wasn't hidden that well, I justwould pop it on the ceiling.
If you looked up you would seeit and I would give my lesson
(14:36):
and it was fine.
And at the end of the lesson Iwould ask how many of you
noticed the star?
And they'd be looking around,they were like what star?
And I'd point up and they'relike oh my gosh, no one had
noticed the star.
But it also didn't change thefact that the star was there and
it had always been there.
And so we kind of I talk aboutthat in a few different ways
(15:01):
that just because we may not seethings doesn't change the fact
that he is there.
I don't know what did you loveabout it?
That was the story.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I love it.
Well, it feels like so,something I would want to do in
a class.
I'm going to do that at somepoint when I teach a lesson even
remotely related to this.
I'm going to do it.
Maybe, if Jenny will let me doit, in our Christmas show, I'll
just take a star to every cityand hang it up in the theater
somewhere.
I love this idea that when ourfaith wanders a bit, when we
(15:36):
feel like we're being batteredaround by the storms, when it
feels like we're praying and notgetting answers, he's still
there.
He does not leave us.
The star does not diminish orhide.
Maybe we're not looking in theright place.
Maybe we just need to be alittle bit more patient.
(15:58):
Maybe we need a newprescription to see his light
and his star.
I posted yesterday, a couple ofdays ago, about just the power
of light and staying in thelight and following the light,
even when the light only givesyou a couple of feet at a time,
and that's what I thought of asI read that anecdote again last
night Just this idea that thestar is there.
(16:22):
Maybe your eyes aren't evenopen to see it.
It could be as simple as justopening your eyes, right.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, I mean back then some people.
They were looking, butsometimes they were looking for
a baby, to know that Jesus wereborn and not a star.
So maybe good intentions, We'velimited him down subconsciously
and we're just looking for himin a very specific way that
we're dismissing everything elsethat he can come to us with.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah.
Why do we limit him?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Why do we put these constraints on a perfect God and
say, okay, I love you, I want arelationship with you, but I
kind of need it to look likethis yes, jason, there's so much
irony, right, because I feellike all of us can confidently
say we want God to participatein our personal lives more and
yet at any bit of disruption oruncharted anything, we're like
(17:19):
how could you, right, shake ourhands up and we don't realize we
want him to participate, butany bit of change or discomfort,
we're like how could you, whenwe don't realize that is him
participating, that is himloving you so much and caring so
much, to come to you inpersonal ways to change course,
(17:40):
course track, to disrupt, tobring you to those
magnifications?
But also in theory, yeah, jason, it should be really easy to
give it to a perfect God whomakes no mistakes.
But for me, if I'm in controlof my own life, then I feel like
I could better manage thesetbacks.
Or for me, what I've knownabout God thus far was also like
(18:03):
validating me, for him, showingme what else.
God talks to me in this way, sothat must be the only way he
talks to me.
I've felt God in this way, sothat must be the only way that I
could feel him.
So when we don't feel him inthose ways that we've put that
thought around him, we say he'snot there, he doesn't care, I'm
(18:24):
not deserving, when in fact,like that star, he never leaves.
So in the times I don't see him, feel him, hear him, I have
trained myself to not get upsetbut to be like, oh, he's showing
me what else.
What are the new ways?
And when you stop and take astep back and really see him and
allow yourself to look for himin those new ways, your
(18:46):
relationship with him and yourlife and your soul they do.
They just blossom in vibrantmagnifications.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, oh, I love this book.
I love this book.
I hope people listening willdevour not just these chapters
that are sort of related to theChristmas story and to the birth
and early years of the Savior,but the whole book.
Pick up the book for yourself.
(19:15):
Pick up 74 copies for yourfriends and family.
What a great idea.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Right now it's Christmas yes, the Christmas
gift by the palette yes, Givethem Jesus for Christmas, more
Jesus.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, it's a great way to kick off.
It's not just a great Christmasgift, but it's a good way to be
thinking about the new year,your goals for the new year, and
what better way to kick off2024 than to spend a little bit
of time, yes, in the scriptures,but also in a book like this
that will help you to connect tothe scriptures, perhaps in a
meaningful way, and to soak upsome of Al's what I think are
(19:52):
really unique and inspiredobservations about the life of
Christ.
Okay, what's next for you?
What are you working on?
What can we expect?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Oh, I'll say two things.
One I have a children's bookcalled my Dear Little, one that
has won multiple awards.
So I actually leave next weekto go to Miami and pick up a
nice plaque and metal for GoldPlug, gold medal, first place,
christian Children's Award.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
So that is super exciting.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So if you're looking for a Christian Children's book
that comes highly recommendedwith multiple awards, but also I
am taking this book FindingYourself in the New Testament,
and I am currently just startedtwo days ago converting it into
a children's book, so tellingyou about Jesus, kids formatted
(20:42):
and what that means for you.
So kind of like a water to wine,like yeah, that's a great
miracle, this is what happened.
Here's where you can find it inthe scriptures.
But because of that that meansyou know.
I mean I don't need to go onanother tangent because I can go
on forever, just to water towine and what?
that means to you.
But, for example, like kidsversion is like because of that,
(21:05):
with him, something better ispossible and is coming.
Because of that, that he will,with us, make miracles of
purification and holiness andchange.
So it's like kids version.
Here's what's happening.
That means this for you.
So I'm excited to take thisbook and turn it into a kids
version.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So that's what I'm working on right now, so maybe
is that out by next fall, bynext Christmas.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Here's to hoping.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, you've got a great publisher and a great team
, and you seem to have endlessenergy, so I would imagine that
we'll be plugging this book herefrom now.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I am, I am hopeful.
Yes, I did miss the deadlinefor a fall of next year, but it
is.
You know, it's a kids book, sothe editing process is very
different.
So I'm hoping, I'm hoping itwill be here for a fourth
quarter next year.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool.
Well, you are this kind of just, boundless, endless joy, and I
love, I love being around you, Ilove hearing you speak, I love
following you on social mediaand seeing the good things that
you're doing.
Again, folks, if you'relistening, look in the show
notes to links to all the goodstuff Alice is doing.
(22:20):
She mentioned the award for thechildren's book.
I happen to know I thinkeverything she has written has
won something and several of herbooks have won many things.
So don't just check out thechildren's book and finding
yourself in the New Testament,but all the good things she has
been producing over the lastdecade, al, you are an absolute
treasure.
Thank you so much for giving ustime on the show today.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Thank you.
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