June 3, 2025 • 39 mins
This week on the podcast, we get to know another member of the E-Free Bemidji church family. It’s Testimony Tuesday again, and in this week’s episode, Pastor Eric chats with Sylvia Johannes about her faith in Christ.
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(00:18):
Hey folks, you're listening to episode 39 of the deeply devoted
podcast A Ministry of the E FreeChurch of Bemidji, MN.
My name is Eric Nygren. I'm one of the pastors on staff
here at E Free Bemidji. And today on the podcast, it's
another Testimony Tuesday episode.
My guest in the deeply devoted podcast studio is Sylvia
(00:40):
Johannes. I hope I'm saying that right.
Johannes. Johannes OK, And we're going to
chat all about all kinds of things here.
And we're going to get to know Sylvia.
We're going to hear a little bitabout our faith journey.
So we're going to get right intoit.
So, Sylvia, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, we've been kind of back and forth over e-mail trying to
(01:00):
to work this out schedule wise. And I'm we're recording on a
late Friday here, gearing into Memorial Day weekend.
So yeah, one more thing to fit into this weekend.
But so thanks for making the time to record here.
But let's let's start here and let's just get to know you a
little bit first. Would you just kind of tell us a
(01:21):
little bit about yourself and your family?
Sure. Yeah, So my name is Sylvia
Johannes. I've been married to Alex for
it'll be 9 years this summer. That time went by fast.
We have two kids, our son Anthony, who is 4, and our
daughter Lucy May, who just recently turned 2 in May.
We met our freshman year of college here at BSU and was
(01:44):
married in the summer of 2017. We both graduated here and we
just never left. So we're actually both from
central Minnesota, the DASA, Coquito, Annandale area.
We grew up only 30 minutes apart, like our schools were in
the same conference rivals. My parents grew up in the same
town Alex grew up in. So it's kind of ironic, I guess,
(02:07):
that we met up here. They had no idea who each other
were in high school, But yeah, so visiting family while we were
dating was really convenient because we were going to the
same place. Yeah.
So I teach 5th grade in LaPorte.I've done that for, well, nine
years, and Alex has been teaching 8th grade at the
(02:28):
Bemidji Middle School. OK, so, OK, so we got a couple
of teachers. We are.
We are teachers. We are.
Middle school. Teachers.
Is is you're you're excited for summer?
Break. I am so ready for summer.
Break and probably well well deserved and well earned I I
get. It.
Yeah, yeah, we work hard for nine months, Yeah.
Well, you so you, you, you told us a little bit about what
(02:49):
brought you here to the area, but what, what when did you
start coming to this church and how did you get connected to E
free Pimage? Yeah, so Alex grew up Catholic.
I grew up attending an E free church in the middle of a
cornfield. I mean little white church with
the steeple surrounded by fields.
I grew up in the little country.I can.
(03:10):
Appreciate that. That's where we started out.
Very. Much.
Yeah. So I I the church was an
extension of my home. We just, I grew up in there.
So in college I went to several different campus, like on campus
ministry groups. Alex and I started dating our
(03:31):
freshman year and we kind of were like, what are we going to
do? Because we were both really
convinced that our way was the highway.
And so it definitely took time to find like a happy medium.
And we did eventually find that at Bethel Lutheran.
So we started going to Bethel Lutheran and got really
connected to the pastor there and his family and the very
(03:56):
small group of young adults thatwere there, and we just fell in
love. So that really was our home
church in the beginning. Pastor Mark Kingdom, there he
married us, still love, we stillget together with him when we
can, we go and visit when we can.
So that's where we started. And then when we were pregnant
with Anthony's, my parents more so my dad was like, we're moving
(04:22):
to Bemidji. And that's their story to tell,
right? Maybe I'll get one of them.
Yeah. God worked in many, many great
ways in their lives, in our lives.
And definitely those paths cross.
But so they were church shopping.
They tried a few and I kind of just knew they would end up here
because they grew up in the OR they were, they were E free
(04:44):
people. So so when they started
attending here, then we kind of just followed.
There was a lot more opportunityhere to get involved, more
things for a growing family to be a part of.
So yeah, that's kind of what brought us here was family.
OK, and we're here and it's it'sfunny you say that because the
the picture I have on Sunday morning is usually you 2 coming
(05:07):
in and your kids running. Running you, yes.
And usually on the other end, it's Grandma and Grandpa.
Yes. You know, and 100%.
Swooped up into the arms and yesyeah, although not always
grandma and grandpa that you know sometimes it's other folks
from the church family that. Are pretty.
Eager. To see them adopted, Scott and
Laura as our grandparents as well.
So we, you know, Papa Scott always usually gets a, a hug to
(05:30):
one of these days. I'm afraid, though, he's going
to fall over. Anthony.
He's getting strong. Yeah.
That that run that it's going toyeah, just.
I'm so glad that I'm just. Yeah, I grew up running, running
all over a church, going places I probably shouldn't have gone,
right. So it's fun to see my kids kind
of doing the same, like just feeling comfortable, like this
is an extension of our home. And I'm glad that they kind of
(05:52):
have that same thing that I had growing up.
Yeah. You're right.
I mean, it can be a little chaotic, maybe a little.
Yeah, like, oh, let's not run inthe sanctuary.
But I would love, I would much rather have kids and students
say not only is this a safe place, but this is a place I
wanna be. I'm comfortable, you know, I can
run around with out shoes on and.
Yes, that comfortableness. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
(06:14):
That's great. Well, so I don't know if you're
a regular listener to this this podcast.
I do know that a while ago you you sent in some questions to
our Ask the Pastor episode. Those were fantastic.
I think we incorporated some of those into the episode.
But but just I'm just kind of curious from your perspective,
what's your thoughts on on having a church podcast anyway?
(06:38):
I mean, do you think this is working as far as you know, and
how do you think it would be? What what would be the best way
for us to use this kind of medium for our church family?
I enjoy it. I'm not a podcast person.
I really am not, but I think this one is different in the
fact that I got, I started listening to the very first one
and I've kept up with it and it's the only I think I like it
(07:00):
because I I know the people likeI understand it and I was there
from the beginning. Like there are podcasts that
I've tried to join in just like randomly I'm like, I don't know
who these people are that are talking.
I don't really understanding like the inside jokes or the
like demeanor of these peoples. But this one it's it's easier to
follow. I don't, I don't know, but I
(07:22):
just, yeah, I think it's going really good.
I like the Testimony Tuesdays. I've enjoyed listening to the
book club and just everything, the global partners.
I've really enjoyed the professors that you've brought
in and just like getting that like more educational side of
things. But yeah, like I said, I'm just
not a podcast person, but I've really enjoyed following along
(07:42):
with this one. Yeah, Every guest just brings
their own uniqueness to it. It's it's also just not
predictable. Like it's predictable but not
right. Right.
So you really get to know not just you as a pastor, but other
people joining too. I'm like throwing the microphone
around now. Yeah.
(08:04):
I think it's working really well.
And I think hearing some of yourideas of what to do in the
future, I'm like excited for those like, Oh yeah, let's do
that again. I would say I think one of my
favorites was when you and Pastor Jerry did ask the pastor
questions. Not just because I submitted
questions, but it was fun to just have two pastors that we
see on Sunday mornings just sit and have a conversation like
(08:25):
just like normal life. Let's talk about movies.
Also Planet of the Apes. Really, it's, it's a classic.
It's not OK. Alright, you've tried.
It I'll agree with the Star Wars, however I could not get on
board with Planet of the Apes. It's not for everybody.
Not for everybody, but yeah, yeah.
And just getting on a personal level, I think it's really fun.
It, it has been fun and you know, I think back to when, when
(08:46):
we started, it actually started it kind of the end of last
summer and I didn't know if thisthing was going to go 5 episodes
or 500I. I don't have any, you know, big
dreams about it. You'll, you'll notice if you go
back and look, probably that conversation with Pastor Jerry
might have been the longest one we've had just because we just
enjoy talking. With each other.
And it's fun to just, like, eavesdrop in on that
(09:07):
conversation. Exactly what it is.
Yep. Yeah.
Well, is it good? I'm glad somebody's listening to
it. Thanks for giving it a shot.
Who knows where it's going to turn out here.
But I agree. I mean, I think just even what
we're doing right now. Yeah, I'm, I'm hoping that other
people in our church will say, OK, Sylvia is not somebody I
know or I've seen her on the other side of the church.
(09:29):
Yeah. And now I have at least a
starting. Point.
Yep. Yeah, you know.
In that conversation. And that's when me too, I've
like gone to the church director.
I'm like trying to find a picture of these people.
So I like the ones I don't know.I'm like, OK, face to a name.
I understand now and like just finding like similarities with
each other too. Yeah, so.
Well, good. Well, good.
Yeah. And hopefully this will be a
(09:49):
good one for for discipleship inour church.
I don't know. And I really do am open to other
areas of or ideas for for this podcast.
I know when we did they ask the pastor, it made Pastor Jerry
sweat a little bit. So it's probably good.
It might be hard to to get him back on if and when we we get
our youth and young adults pastor I'll I'll make him do it.
There you go. We'll grill him.
(10:10):
So well, so this episode here it's it's actually not going to
post till the 1st week of June. Hopefully by then it it we're
going to be back to summer weather.
Does your family have any big plans for the summer We.
Just enjoy summer for all thingssummer.
We just love to be outside, biking, swimming, fishing all
the summer. The Minnesota summer things to
(10:33):
do, we'll go to the libraries. Alex wants to is part of the
church softball team now so we can go into a lot of softball
games. He also runs run for fun.
So it's like summer kids track. So we're at the track every
week. We're getting a dog this
weekend, so we're going to be training a dog to be part of our
(10:53):
family like a one year old puppy.
So we're just really excited. Anthony's learning to ride his
bike, hopefully without trainingwheels.
Lucy May just runs. I you can't turn around for two
seconds, she'll be down the road.
So yeah, we're not huge travelers.
We'll travel throughout the state just visiting family.
(11:15):
But yeah, yeah. And just life just like slow
down. It's just a a good time to just
slow down and just take it as itcomes.
It is a good, it is a good time to just take that break.
And yeah, you know, even people that don't have three months off
in the summer kind of revolve or, or if you have kids that
revolve around that summer, you know, school year calendar.
(11:36):
There's just something about summer where it's, it's just a
change of season. Yeah, yes, you get to go outside
a lot more, do some of those outdoor things, so.
Yeah, it's, it's just as busy asthe school year, a different
kind of right. It's busy by choice, Yes, I
think would be a good way to say.
It That's because up here we're trying to cram up as much as we
can between Memorial Day and. Exactly.
(11:57):
That's that's the the sweet spotfor weather here.
So all right, this may be an oddquestion, but I was trying to
think of a unique way to say it.So.
So if you were to write a book about your faith journey, what
would you title it? So when you sent me these
questions, I was working on thisduring my prep at school all
(12:18):
week, partially because I was done with report cards.
My room was packed. I'm like, we'll just focus on
these. I did not.
I just I would read the first question, write my answers and
kept going. So I didn't like preview any of
these questions. So when I got to this one, I
laughed out loud to myself in myclassroom.
I laughed out loud and I said nothing special.
That would be that would be the title.
(12:39):
That would be the title nothing special.
And then I laughed like, but is that really what you would title
it? So I that's the first thing that
came to my head, which seems kind of rude because God is
special and he works in special ways in everybody's life,
whether we feel special. And I think where my brain went
(13:01):
is that I grew up in the church.I don't know what life is like
without God or without a huge family that believes in God.
I mean, so I talk about the little country church where
generations of my family have gone to.
I mean, we picked up great grandma every Sunday and brought
her with and great grandpa and my grandparents were there.
(13:23):
My second, my cousins, my great aunt and uncles.
I mean, it was like the family church going down a rabbit hole.
At one point, my cousin had married a Russian.
She was a missionary in Russia, and he came and visited in one
of the first times he looked at us and he said, well, you're
just like the modern day von Trapp family.
(13:44):
The Wilson von Trapp family is what we ended up being called by
him. That's just funny.
But so I yeah, when when the title in my head of nothing
special came, it really was justlike I didn't have one of those
big moments. I didn't come from a traumatic
background where all of a suddenGod pulled me from these great
(14:06):
depths and I'm saved. But I also don't want to
belittle those who have those experiences.
And I don't want to belittle anybody who hasn't either.
Like our stories are our storiesand God works in all of our
lives, whether no matter what background we come from.
So then I kind of was, I, I talked to Alex about it.
I'm like, I need a better title.He's like, I thought you would
(14:28):
have done something about like the eye of the Sparrow because
you always love the Sparrow Bible verses.
I'm like, OK, well, that's, that's something.
But I kind of just settled on like simplicity, just trying to
live a simple faith. And just right now in my life,
I'm just really trying to figureout what God's got planned.
Where am I going to go from here?
(14:49):
What are we doing? Whether that's work related,
home related, what do I want to get involved in?
How many yeses should I say? How many noes should I say?
So just simple faith is kind of what I've settled on.
And yeah, I mean, because I, I don't, I don't, I don't know
(15:09):
what life is like without God init.
There's been times where I've tried to have full control and
said, OK, you just sit over there, God, I'm going to do this
by myself and totally failed at anything I've tried to do by
myself. But just like all of us, we have
those valleys and then we have those mountain tops and just
(15:33):
trying to balance it all is really where I'm at.
So, yeah, So just living that simple faith and just trying to
respect everybody's story. I don't want to try and like one
up somebody or mine's better than yours or yours is lesser
than mine. Like that's not the point of
discipleship, I guess, in my opinion.
(15:53):
Or even just sharing testimonies, but just sharing
stories because we all have similarities and differences and
respecting that and praising Godfor that.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I really appreciate that
because I think there's a lot ofpeople that will resonate with
that kind of a story of just. And I've heard that many times.
I can't remember a time where God wasn't a part of at least
(16:18):
our household, right? You know, whether that person
can really mark a particular daywhere they came to faith or
something like that. And you know, that's by God's
grace and and we should. Celebrate that, right?
We should praise that like I am.I feel very blessed to say that
I've never known life without Christ, right?
Whether it was like really, truly personal, like there was
(16:38):
always Christ there. You had the opportunity.
Like I said, that little white steeple church on the top of the
hill in the middle of nowhere was just an extension of our
living room, essentially. OK.
OK, Well, yeah, I mean, part of I, I've probably shared some of
my own story, but our first church that we served in in
Iowa, I'll never forget that because it was a small town, the
church and we lived in the Parsonage across the.
(17:00):
Yes, yeah, we had that too. And.
Corn all the way around. Corn or soybeans?
Yeah. Always rotated.
Where am I living? Because we moved from the
suburbs of Chicago. That's.
What was a giraffe? Oh my gosh, that is a huge
change. But, you know, but I wouldn't
change it for the world. And, and yes, I was just back
that way a couple of weekends ago for a funeral.
(17:22):
And it it almost brought tears to my eyes because that is where
my kids grew up. And my kids were the ones
running around the church in bare feet and, you know, living.
Did they? Did you have the old wooden pews
too? We had the old wooden pews.
We did under the Pew Army crawl races just.
Yes, our kids did that. Yep, Yep.
(17:44):
Yeah. So I mean, it's, and again,
that's just having that comfortableness.
Yeah. In church.
I mean, I even remember, like, we were always the first ones
there, last ones to leave. Yep, 'cause my parents were
involved in all of the ways and even going into like pastor's
office, like we knew right wherethe cookie jar was.
We knew what we could do in there and what we couldn't, and
(18:07):
it just always felt like you were going to.
I don't like Grandpa's living room.
Like you knew a story was going to be told, you knew a cookie
was going to be had, and you just felt safe.
Like you knew this is where you need to be.
Yeah, maybe that's what I need. Maybe I need a cookie jar in my
my church office. OK, OK, I will work on that.
(18:30):
So, yeah. OK.
Well, you know, we're talking about testimonies here.
Sylvia, have you ever taken the time to actually write out your
testimony, your story, you know,the story of your spiritual
journey and, and, and what valuedo you think there would be in
taking the time to really just reflect on, on how a person came
to faith and how the Lord's beenat work?
(18:51):
So I think the last time I actually wrote it anything out
related to my faith was confirmation class, and that was
a long time ago. I don't even think I was in high
school yet, probably middle school.
I think when I grew up, I grew up in a different church
tradition and it was probably, Iwant to say like 10th grade or
(19:12):
7th grade. Yeah, that sounds like, Yeah,
like between like 7th and 10th grade and, and we took
confirmation, our pastor taught it and we actually, and for most
of it, we would go across the parking lot to the Parsonage and
we would meet in his living room.
And I, that class really I thinkwas the moment where my faith
(19:33):
became my faith. Like outside of my family and
outside of my parents. For those who maybe don't know,
my mom was the youth leader mostof my life, even when I was
really little, my dad ran the sound booth.
He was a trustee. My mom was the worship team
leader. I mean, they, when I say we were
the first ones there and the last ones to leave, that's
(19:55):
usually why. So I witnessed them being super
involved in church and we did all the camps at Camp Shamina.
We did the district blitz in Duluth and in Rochester when it
was down there. So I've done several different
missions trips growing up. I helped lead VBS as soon as I
(20:16):
aged out of VBSI was leading VBSin many different ways.
So they my test about it like writing it out really is was
kind of difficult because there like again, there wasn't just
like 1 moment where I'm like, this is it.
But there were so many puzzle pieces that have added to each
(20:37):
other to help make my faith my faith.
So yeah, the highs of camps and conferences.
And, you know, there's lows where you walk away and you try
to have your own control of everything.
But it probably was in my later teenage years.
And really going off to college is probably when it really
became real because then I wouldtruly was on my own, away from
(21:00):
my parents, away from my community that I grew up in.
And I had nothing else but to rely on my faith in God.
So yeah. So, so not only just, and I like
how you said that, you know, notonly just making your faith your
own, but was it at that point that you feel like, OK, now I'm
really starting to understand this thing called the gospel.
(21:21):
When when when did maybe that that light bulb go?
Off yeah, one of the images I, Ithink I come back to is the
image of the prodigal son returning to his father.
Because there were a lot of times in college where I get
called out, usually by my mom. Like, have you prayed about this
(21:42):
yet? Have you opened up your Bible
lately? And it was like, oh, OK, OK.
So I mean, I being that person who like, kind of like, you
know, puts your head down in shame coming back to Christ,
Like, I'm sorry, I did it again.I, I tried, I tried to do it on
my own, but I can't. And just that image of a patient
(22:02):
father standing there, not angry, not even disappointed,
but just standing there like, yeah, I know.
And here I am. I'm not going anywhere.
I'm glad you realize it again. So that's really.
Yeah. The gospel has come to life more
and more. And now being a mom, it comes to
(22:24):
life in a total new light because you're teaching your
kids who God is and the promisesof Jesus.
And just having that, trying to explain that to a four year old
who asks very literal questions.It's like, OK, how do I explain
(22:47):
this? And so it's been, it's been a
fun challenge because Anthony does love to ask a lot of
questions. That's a good, that's a good.
You want, you want that curiosity.
Yeah. Yeah.
So, So who do you think has has really had the greatest
spiritual influence in your life?
You know, there again so many people, so many.
(23:09):
I couldn't narrow it down to 1 because I've again I've had
since my great grandma. I I have very strong memories
with my great grandparents. I was blessed to know them well
into my middle school years. And that's very unique.
Yeah, it is. It's unique.
(23:29):
I still have all my grandparentswith us today and just how all
of them have poured into my lifeand the great aunts and uncles
and the cousins and and having your mom as the youth leaders,
kind of like by default, but probably the pastor I grew up
with the most, Pastor Jeff, and he's the one who taught that
(23:52):
confirmation class. He's had a huge impact, but I
couldn't narrow it down to just one person.
Yeah, well, let's say, I mean, that's great because, you know,
that's just showing that the Lord's using all kinds of people
in your life and at at differentstages.
Yeah, and lately it's probably been Co workers.
You always kind of wonder like where did my Co worker at?
(24:14):
Like I think they go to church, but I don't know if they go to
church. Like and just this week
actually, I had a Co worker, we were sitting together and she
was like, I don't know what I want to do.
Like do I want to stay here and work here?
Do I want to go somewhere else? I have an opportunity to go
somewhere else. And I just looked at her.
I said, where does God want you to go?
(24:35):
And she goes, I don't know. I'm like, OK, were you like, did
you know God wanted you to come to LaPorte a year ago?
And she goes, yeah, that was really clear.
You probably think I'm weird forthinking that.
I'm like, no, trust me, I don't.I said I'm waiting for God's big
shining lights to shade this way.
(24:56):
Sylvia and I haven't had that yet either.
So I mean, it's just a great wayto have that door open.
So lately I've been finding moreCo workers who are like, is it
weird that I'm just trusting God?
I'm like, no, it's really not weird.
Like it's really cool. And so now I'm finding who those
people are and I'm trying to pour into them to like, let's
(25:18):
pray together or I'm going to pray for you.
And that's been really fun. And just knowing that working in
a public school where you kind of like tiptoe around talking
about God and faith, I'm no longer afraid to tiptoe because
I'm finding that there are more out there and I'm finding that
(25:38):
this is where God wants me to beand he doesn't want me to tiptoe
around the subject anymore. So I'm not going to.
So yeah, I guess I guess as of late it'd be Co workers who just
are reaching out to saying like I'm really struggling and just
like wondering where I'm at. So we've just been having a lot
of really good conversations at work about our faith and in
(26:01):
purpose. Like, what is the purpose in all
of this? Yeah.
Well, you know, in the in the workplace can be a challenging
place to talk about your faith. I, I think just even the way you
describe it is okay. Who here would understand what
I'm talking about and who here wants to actually maybe dialogue
about spiritual things or, or even somebody that's sort of
(26:22):
early on in, in that and you know, OK, Lord, who, who might
you want me to talk to or talk with?
It's, it's not necessarily a taboo topic, but you've got to,
you've got to watch. It's there's a right place in
the right time, I suppose. Yeah, right.
So you're just trusting that those doors open, right?
Yep. Right.
Maybe thinking back over the years, what are what are maybe
(26:43):
are some of the ways that you'veseen the Lord bring about some
spiritual growth in you over theyears?
Can you maybe even think of somemilestone events or seasons in
your life that really shaped your faith?
Well, starting back with confirmation class, missions
trips, VBS, again, dating Alex was probably a big one because
(27:07):
we really had to, we had our ownfaith, but then it was how do we
create a faith together like in a marriage?
And coming from 2 very differentbackgrounds, Catholic and then
little country church, we reallystarted to process what was
important to us and, and what was important to us and how each
(27:29):
of us worship. So I really love to worship
through music. He really loves the traditional
sides of just like structured prayer and routine, and that's
how his brain like works. So finding E free and having
both of those things come together, and we found that at
Bethel too, and now we've found it here.
(27:49):
It's really helped us to come together.
So that's probably been one of the ways I've spiritually grown.
Having my parents move to Bemidji has helped as well, and
just having that family aspect to church, I just, yeah, I don't
(28:12):
know. That's about what I got for that
one. That's AI mean that really is a
blessing beyond the free babysitting but.
Yeah, that doesn't. Hurt too.
Yeah, right. Well, Speaking of which, so, you
know, you're you're a busy mom. You've got little ones at home.
How do you make time for spiritual growth in this
parenting season of life? What?
(28:32):
What really works for you to encourage your faith?
I laughed at this one too, because I wake up very early.
I wake up before anybody else. I wake up before the deer wake
up. They're usually still bedded
down when when I'm well awake, but I get up early morning and I
(28:53):
just kind of, I just walk. I walk on the treadmill.
I run sometimes and that's been my time with God.
So sometimes, you know, I'll turn on like a background show
or music and I'd like don't evenknow what's going on because God
and I have just had a whole conversation.
And so that's that's been my time.
(29:13):
So I've done a lot of praying onthe treadmill as of late and it
just has been really encouragingto just be still and patient.
Now I'm walking, so it's not really being physically still,
but it helps put my mind still so that to hear God's voice.
The podcast that has been part of my weekly routine.
(29:36):
So usually Wednesday mornings I'm listening to the podcast
while I'm walking and that gets my brain going as well.
But life is hard and it's hard to be still.
And there's a lot going on with a four year old and a 2 year old
and being a school teacher and all these things.
So. So yes, another thing I've done
(29:57):
is just kind of step away from from things.
When I first became a teacher, Iwas involved in everything,
every committee, the union, becoming union president, I was
a negotiator. I, I did it all and I wanted to
do it all. And then my kids came along and
that put a new perspective on things like, Nope, my priorities
(30:20):
need to shift. And they have.
So yeah, at the end, this today was my last day with students
and at work. So now I can just be done with a
lot of those positions and reshift my focus to being a wife
and being a mom and just being aclassroom teacher and not a
classroom teacher and XYZ. So yeah, as of late, just
(30:47):
spending time in God's Word by myself has been out true busing,
praying with my kids, teaching them how to pray.
Anthony's been really into learning the Lord's Prayer.
I've been doing that with him almost every night and he can
pretty much say it all. Sometimes he likes to think it's
a race, how fast can I say it? He does it at dinner, too.
(31:12):
It's just that's been what's been working for me and it's not
something I'm willing to give upagain.
So yeah, there's probably something more I wanted to say,
but. Well, it so when I was thinking
about, you know, what I wanted to ask you and I was kind of
thinking about you and your family and your your kids, this
this first came to mind. This is a verse I really love.
(31:34):
It's in Paul's, you know, secondletter to Timothy.
And and he writes to Timothy andhe says, I'm reminded of your
sincere faith, which first livedin your grandmother Lois, and in
your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also.
Of course, we don't know anything about those two ladies,
but but to me, there's a lot that's being said in that verse.
(31:57):
And so, Sylvia, I'm kind of curious, what do you think it
looks like for moms and dads to pass along their faith to the
next generation? And, and, and what do you really
hope that your kids not just learn from you, but but see in
you and adopt for their own faith?
Yeah. So I don't remember where I
heard this, but somebody had said something along the way.
(32:20):
Maybe it was a video I watched or something but how?
A lot of us have the Bible app and we're reading the Bible on
our phone but our kids don't know it.
So something I'm trying to do more of is reading from the
Bible and not just the Bible app.
Yes, and I love reading physicalbooks way more than I do off of
(32:42):
a screen. But when I'm when I'm walking
and moving it's easier just to listen than it is to try and
read while you're walking. But so that's something I'm
trying to do more of so that my kids see that they see that I am
reading the Bible, building those routines of prayer with
them as well. And, and just coming to church
(33:02):
together and having it be OK that they're not in the nursery,
but they're with us. Which I'm sorry to all of you
who have heard the screaming andthe laughing.
Sorry rabbit hole again. There was 1 sermon Pastor Jerry
said Amen and Anthony went whoo,that's over.
(33:24):
And like was way louder than anyof us expected.
So sorry Pastor Jerry, but it, it was comical.
He, he just, he knows that when there's the Amen, there's treats
afterwards. It's kind.
Of the But he's been Yeah, but we all got a good chuckle out of
that one that's. Incredible.
(33:44):
So where was I going with this? So when you when I read this
verse, when you shared it, I actually thought of my
daughter's name. So Lucy May Marie, Lucy May
being one word, Marie being her middle name.
Each of those names comes from adifferent generation of women in
our families, so great great grandma, great grandma and
(34:05):
grandma. So each part of her name and all
of those women that she is namedafter have all played a role in
building my faith. And so I want to pass that on to
her and Anthony. I want them to see Christ within
us and hopefully someday they take it beyond the family like
(34:26):
we did. So yeah, God is good and he
shines through all generations and I just pray that my kids
will grow up to be a shining light for him in the lives of
others with no matter what life throws at them.
So yeah. That's, that's really neat and
(34:47):
it's, you know, I think there's a lot of people who can really
resonate with that. It is it is kind of neat to see
the generations of not just generations of people in the
church, but generations of faith.
You can really see that line. And not all of us can can say
that, right. You know, I I don't come from a
family that of believers. And so we were kind of
(35:10):
generation 1. Yeah, hopefully passing it on to
our kids and things like that. And, you know, different people
have different stories where maybe, you know, their kids
didn't come to faith or, or really struggling with their
faith. So again, it's, you know, it's
by God's grace. And I think we should celebrate
when we see those great things happening, right?
Yep, we all have that story to tell.
Yeah, well. This has been a lot of fun.
(35:31):
I hope we've covered it all. Maybe.
Maybe. Plenty more stories to go.
But that that's a lot of fun. It's been good to kind of get to
know you and and chat about this.
But, you know, before we wrap this up, at the end of every
episode, I like to ask this lastquestion.
You know, we talk about becomingdeeply devoted followers of
Jesus together here at our church.
(35:52):
Sylvia, what? What is one thing that you have
been blessed by lately that is deepening your devotion to
Jesus? Music.
My commute to LaPorte is 30 minutes one way, and this year
I've been doing that commute alone.
In the past I've carpooled. So this year, you know, just
like my early mornings to myself, the car ride is usually
(36:13):
to myself, although two days a week Anthony's with me going to
preschool. But I just spend those for those
30 minutes just worshipping, singing to myself and and just
praising. And as of late, there's been
like this weird theme to this music of praising God in all
things. And I think we hear this phrase
(36:35):
a lot in churches. And I think it can be easily one
of those things that we just saywithout putting a whole lot of
like, merit to just praise God even when it's rough, like good
luck. Yeah.
So, you know, like I said earlier, teaching is hard, being
a mom is hard, being a wife, being a human is just hard.
(36:56):
We have that conversation in my Class A lot like humouring is
hard. And yet God is good and there is
something to praise him for in all things.
And that has really hit home to me in the last couple of weeks.
So yeah, all these songs I've been just randomly listening to,
(37:18):
I just pick like random playlistand they all have this theme of
life is hard, but guess what? They're still good to be had.
Yeah. So that's that's where I've been
at with that. I mean, even on the days
Anthony's in the car with me, we're still worshipping together
(37:38):
and singing. It's just usually more VBS ish
music, which is great too. I love listening.
I love listening to his love of music as well.
And he just wants to sing and hewants to learn.
So we we usually jam out together and that's been a whole
lot of fun. That's great.
Yeah. Yeah.
I love how the Lord uses music in our lives and not everybody's
(38:01):
musical, but I I'm convinced that, you know, the Lord really
knew what he was doing when he made music.
And Oh yeah, just. How it resonates.
With us, yes. You know it can be used for good
and it can be used for evil, but, right?
But when it's used for His gloryand praise, really neat things
happen. Yeah, because, you know, at the
(38:23):
end of the day, he's still thereand like he's the same
yesterday, today and forever. And yeah, like I said, that that
music lately has just been so very clear to me, so.
Yeah, fantastic. But this has been a lot of fun.
I think we've covered most of it.
We maybe we'll have a future of returning guests someday.
We could do that. Keep sending in questions the
(38:46):
next time. We haven't asked the pastor
episode here, but folks, that's going to do it for this episode
of the Deeply Devoted podcast. My thanks to Sylvia for joining
me today to talk about her faithin Christ and share a little bit
of her story. Folks, once again, don't forget
that you can send in comments, questions, feedback, topic
suggestions. I do look at those and try to
(39:09):
get some ideas there. You can send an e-mail to
podcast@efcbemidji.org or just bump into me in church and let
me know what you think. But folks will be back next
Tuesday with another episode anduntil then, have a great week
and thanks for listening.
Hey folks, you're listening to episode 39 of the deeply devoted
podcast A Ministry of the E FreeChurch of Bemidji, MN.
My name is Eric Nygren. I'm one of the pastors on staff
here at E Free Bemidji. And today on the podcast, it's
another Testimony Tuesday episode.
My guest in the deeply devoted podcast studio is Sylvia
(00:40):
Johannes. I hope I'm saying that right.
Johannes. Johannes OK, And we're going to
chat all about all kinds of things here.
And we're going to get to know Sylvia.
We're going to hear a little bitabout our faith journey.
So we're going to get right intoit.
So, Sylvia, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, we've been kind of back and forth over e-mail trying to
(01:00):
to work this out schedule wise. And I'm we're recording on a
late Friday here, gearing into Memorial Day weekend.
So yeah, one more thing to fit into this weekend.
But so thanks for making the time to record here.
But let's let's start here and let's just get to know you a
little bit first. Would you just kind of tell us a
(01:21):
little bit about yourself and your family?
Sure. Yeah, So my name is Sylvia
Johannes. I've been married to Alex for
it'll be 9 years this summer. That time went by fast.
We have two kids, our son Anthony, who is 4, and our
daughter Lucy May, who just recently turned 2 in May.
We met our freshman year of college here at BSU and was
(01:44):
married in the summer of 2017. We both graduated here and we
just never left. So we're actually both from
central Minnesota, the DASA, Coquito, Annandale area.
We grew up only 30 minutes apart, like our schools were in
the same conference rivals. My parents grew up in the same
town Alex grew up in. So it's kind of ironic, I guess,
(02:07):
that we met up here. They had no idea who each other
were in high school, But yeah, so visiting family while we were
dating was really convenient because we were going to the
same place. Yeah.
So I teach 5th grade in LaPorte.I've done that for, well, nine
years, and Alex has been teaching 8th grade at the
(02:28):
Bemidji Middle School. OK, so, OK, so we got a couple
of teachers. We are.
We are teachers. We are.
Middle school. Teachers.
Is is you're you're excited for summer?
Break. I am so ready for summer.
Break and probably well well deserved and well earned I I
get. It.
Yeah, yeah, we work hard for nine months, Yeah.
Well, you so you, you, you told us a little bit about what
(02:49):
brought you here to the area, but what, what when did you
start coming to this church and how did you get connected to E
free Pimage? Yeah, so Alex grew up Catholic.
I grew up attending an E free church in the middle of a
cornfield. I mean little white church with
the steeple surrounded by fields.
I grew up in the little country.I can.
(03:10):
Appreciate that. That's where we started out.
Very. Much.
Yeah. So I I the church was an
extension of my home. We just, I grew up in there.
So in college I went to several different campus, like on campus
ministry groups. Alex and I started dating our
(03:31):
freshman year and we kind of were like, what are we going to
do? Because we were both really
convinced that our way was the highway.
And so it definitely took time to find like a happy medium.
And we did eventually find that at Bethel Lutheran.
So we started going to Bethel Lutheran and got really
connected to the pastor there and his family and the very
(03:56):
small group of young adults thatwere there, and we just fell in
love. So that really was our home
church in the beginning. Pastor Mark Kingdom, there he
married us, still love, we stillget together with him when we
can, we go and visit when we can.
So that's where we started. And then when we were pregnant
with Anthony's, my parents more so my dad was like, we're moving
(04:22):
to Bemidji. And that's their story to tell,
right? Maybe I'll get one of them.
Yeah. God worked in many, many great
ways in their lives, in our lives.
And definitely those paths cross.
But so they were church shopping.
They tried a few and I kind of just knew they would end up here
because they grew up in the OR they were, they were E free
(04:44):
people. So so when they started
attending here, then we kind of just followed.
There was a lot more opportunityhere to get involved, more
things for a growing family to be a part of.
So yeah, that's kind of what brought us here was family.
OK, and we're here and it's it'sfunny you say that because the
the picture I have on Sunday morning is usually you 2 coming
(05:07):
in and your kids running. Running you, yes.
And usually on the other end, it's Grandma and Grandpa.
Yes. You know, and 100%.
Swooped up into the arms and yesyeah, although not always
grandma and grandpa that you know sometimes it's other folks
from the church family that. Are pretty.
Eager. To see them adopted, Scott and
Laura as our grandparents as well.
So we, you know, Papa Scott always usually gets a, a hug to
(05:30):
one of these days. I'm afraid, though, he's going
to fall over. Anthony.
He's getting strong. Yeah.
That that run that it's going toyeah, just.
I'm so glad that I'm just. Yeah, I grew up running, running
all over a church, going places I probably shouldn't have gone,
right. So it's fun to see my kids kind
of doing the same, like just feeling comfortable, like this
is an extension of our home. And I'm glad that they kind of
(05:52):
have that same thing that I had growing up.
Yeah. You're right.
I mean, it can be a little chaotic, maybe a little.
Yeah, like, oh, let's not run inthe sanctuary.
But I would love, I would much rather have kids and students
say not only is this a safe place, but this is a place I
wanna be. I'm comfortable, you know, I can
run around with out shoes on and.
Yes, that comfortableness. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
(06:14):
That's great. Well, so I don't know if you're
a regular listener to this this podcast.
I do know that a while ago you you sent in some questions to
our Ask the Pastor episode. Those were fantastic.
I think we incorporated some of those into the episode.
But but just I'm just kind of curious from your perspective,
what's your thoughts on on having a church podcast anyway?
(06:38):
I mean, do you think this is working as far as you know, and
how do you think it would be? What what would be the best way
for us to use this kind of medium for our church family?
I enjoy it. I'm not a podcast person.
I really am not, but I think this one is different in the
fact that I got, I started listening to the very first one
and I've kept up with it and it's the only I think I like it
(07:00):
because I I know the people likeI understand it and I was there
from the beginning. Like there are podcasts that
I've tried to join in just like randomly I'm like, I don't know
who these people are that are talking.
I don't really understanding like the inside jokes or the
like demeanor of these peoples. But this one it's it's easier to
follow. I don't, I don't know, but I
(07:22):
just, yeah, I think it's going really good.
I like the Testimony Tuesdays. I've enjoyed listening to the
book club and just everything, the global partners.
I've really enjoyed the professors that you've brought
in and just like getting that like more educational side of
things. But yeah, like I said, I'm just
not a podcast person, but I've really enjoyed following along
(07:42):
with this one. Yeah, Every guest just brings
their own uniqueness to it. It's it's also just not
predictable. Like it's predictable but not
right. Right.
So you really get to know not just you as a pastor, but other
people joining too. I'm like throwing the microphone
around now. Yeah.
(08:04):
I think it's working really well.
And I think hearing some of yourideas of what to do in the
future, I'm like excited for those like, Oh yeah, let's do
that again. I would say I think one of my
favorites was when you and Pastor Jerry did ask the pastor
questions. Not just because I submitted
questions, but it was fun to just have two pastors that we
see on Sunday mornings just sit and have a conversation like
(08:25):
just like normal life. Let's talk about movies.
Also Planet of the Apes. Really, it's, it's a classic.
It's not OK. Alright, you've tried.
It I'll agree with the Star Wars, however I could not get on
board with Planet of the Apes. It's not for everybody.
Not for everybody, but yeah, yeah.
And just getting on a personal level, I think it's really fun.
It, it has been fun and you know, I think back to when, when
(08:46):
we started, it actually started it kind of the end of last
summer and I didn't know if thisthing was going to go 5 episodes
or 500I. I don't have any, you know, big
dreams about it. You'll, you'll notice if you go
back and look, probably that conversation with Pastor Jerry
might have been the longest one we've had just because we just
enjoy talking. With each other.
And it's fun to just, like, eavesdrop in on that
(09:07):
conversation. Exactly what it is.
Yep. Yeah.
Well, is it good? I'm glad somebody's listening to
it. Thanks for giving it a shot.
Who knows where it's going to turn out here.
But I agree. I mean, I think just even what
we're doing right now. Yeah, I'm, I'm hoping that other
people in our church will say, OK, Sylvia is not somebody I
know or I've seen her on the other side of the church.
(09:29):
Yeah. And now I have at least a
starting. Point.
Yep. Yeah, you know.
In that conversation. And that's when me too, I've
like gone to the church director.
I'm like trying to find a picture of these people.
So I like the ones I don't know.I'm like, OK, face to a name.
I understand now and like just finding like similarities with
each other too. Yeah, so.
Well, good. Well, good.
Yeah. And hopefully this will be a
(09:49):
good one for for discipleship inour church.
I don't know. And I really do am open to other
areas of or ideas for for this podcast.
I know when we did they ask the pastor, it made Pastor Jerry
sweat a little bit. So it's probably good.
It might be hard to to get him back on if and when we we get
our youth and young adults pastor I'll I'll make him do it.
There you go. We'll grill him.
(10:10):
So well, so this episode here it's it's actually not going to
post till the 1st week of June. Hopefully by then it it we're
going to be back to summer weather.
Does your family have any big plans for the summer We.
Just enjoy summer for all thingssummer.
We just love to be outside, biking, swimming, fishing all
the summer. The Minnesota summer things to
(10:33):
do, we'll go to the libraries. Alex wants to is part of the
church softball team now so we can go into a lot of softball
games. He also runs run for fun.
So it's like summer kids track. So we're at the track every
week. We're getting a dog this
weekend, so we're going to be training a dog to be part of our
(10:53):
family like a one year old puppy.
So we're just really excited. Anthony's learning to ride his
bike, hopefully without trainingwheels.
Lucy May just runs. I you can't turn around for two
seconds, she'll be down the road.
So yeah, we're not huge travelers.
We'll travel throughout the state just visiting family.
(11:15):
But yeah, yeah. And just life just like slow
down. It's just a a good time to just
slow down and just take it as itcomes.
It is a good, it is a good time to just take that break.
And yeah, you know, even people that don't have three months off
in the summer kind of revolve or, or if you have kids that
revolve around that summer, you know, school year calendar.
(11:36):
There's just something about summer where it's, it's just a
change of season. Yeah, yes, you get to go outside
a lot more, do some of those outdoor things, so.
Yeah, it's, it's just as busy asthe school year, a different
kind of right. It's busy by choice, Yes, I
think would be a good way to say.
It That's because up here we're trying to cram up as much as we
can between Memorial Day and. Exactly.
(11:57):
That's that's the the sweet spotfor weather here.
So all right, this may be an oddquestion, but I was trying to
think of a unique way to say it.So.
So if you were to write a book about your faith journey, what
would you title it? So when you sent me these
questions, I was working on thisduring my prep at school all
(12:18):
week, partially because I was done with report cards.
My room was packed. I'm like, we'll just focus on
these. I did not.
I just I would read the first question, write my answers and
kept going. So I didn't like preview any of
these questions. So when I got to this one, I
laughed out loud to myself in myclassroom.
I laughed out loud and I said nothing special.
That would be that would be the title.
(12:39):
That would be the title nothing special.
And then I laughed like, but is that really what you would title
it? So I that's the first thing that
came to my head, which seems kind of rude because God is
special and he works in special ways in everybody's life,
whether we feel special. And I think where my brain went
(13:01):
is that I grew up in the church.I don't know what life is like
without God or without a huge family that believes in God.
I mean, so I talk about the little country church where
generations of my family have gone to.
I mean, we picked up great grandma every Sunday and brought
her with and great grandpa and my grandparents were there.
(13:23):
My second, my cousins, my great aunt and uncles.
I mean, it was like the family church going down a rabbit hole.
At one point, my cousin had married a Russian.
She was a missionary in Russia, and he came and visited in one
of the first times he looked at us and he said, well, you're
just like the modern day von Trapp family.
(13:44):
The Wilson von Trapp family is what we ended up being called by
him. That's just funny.
But so I yeah, when when the title in my head of nothing
special came, it really was justlike I didn't have one of those
big moments. I didn't come from a traumatic
background where all of a suddenGod pulled me from these great
(14:06):
depths and I'm saved. But I also don't want to
belittle those who have those experiences.
And I don't want to belittle anybody who hasn't either.
Like our stories are our storiesand God works in all of our
lives, whether no matter what background we come from.
So then I kind of was, I, I talked to Alex about it.
I'm like, I need a better title.He's like, I thought you would
(14:28):
have done something about like the eye of the Sparrow because
you always love the Sparrow Bible verses.
I'm like, OK, well, that's, that's something.
But I kind of just settled on like simplicity, just trying to
live a simple faith. And just right now in my life,
I'm just really trying to figureout what God's got planned.
Where am I going to go from here?
(14:49):
What are we doing? Whether that's work related,
home related, what do I want to get involved in?
How many yeses should I say? How many noes should I say?
So just simple faith is kind of what I've settled on.
And yeah, I mean, because I, I don't, I don't, I don't know
(15:09):
what life is like without God init.
There's been times where I've tried to have full control and
said, OK, you just sit over there, God, I'm going to do this
by myself and totally failed at anything I've tried to do by
myself. But just like all of us, we have
those valleys and then we have those mountain tops and just
(15:33):
trying to balance it all is really where I'm at.
So, yeah, So just living that simple faith and just trying to
respect everybody's story. I don't want to try and like one
up somebody or mine's better than yours or yours is lesser
than mine. Like that's not the point of
discipleship, I guess, in my opinion.
(15:53):
Or even just sharing testimonies, but just sharing
stories because we all have similarities and differences and
respecting that and praising Godfor that.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I really appreciate that
because I think there's a lot ofpeople that will resonate with
that kind of a story of just. And I've heard that many times.
I can't remember a time where God wasn't a part of at least
(16:18):
our household, right? You know, whether that person
can really mark a particular daywhere they came to faith or
something like that. And you know, that's by God's
grace and and we should. Celebrate that, right?
We should praise that like I am.I feel very blessed to say that
I've never known life without Christ, right?
Whether it was like really, truly personal, like there was
(16:38):
always Christ there. You had the opportunity.
Like I said, that little white steeple church on the top of the
hill in the middle of nowhere was just an extension of our
living room, essentially. OK.
OK, Well, yeah, I mean, part of I, I've probably shared some of
my own story, but our first church that we served in in
Iowa, I'll never forget that because it was a small town, the
church and we lived in the Parsonage across the.
(17:00):
Yes, yeah, we had that too. And.
Corn all the way around. Corn or soybeans?
Yeah. Always rotated.
Where am I living? Because we moved from the
suburbs of Chicago. That's.
What was a giraffe? Oh my gosh, that is a huge
change. But, you know, but I wouldn't
change it for the world. And, and yes, I was just back
that way a couple of weekends ago for a funeral.
(17:22):
And it it almost brought tears to my eyes because that is where
my kids grew up. And my kids were the ones
running around the church in bare feet and, you know, living.
Did they? Did you have the old wooden pews
too? We had the old wooden pews.
We did under the Pew Army crawl races just.
Yes, our kids did that. Yep, Yep.
(17:44):
Yeah. So I mean, it's, and again,
that's just having that comfortableness.
Yeah. In church.
I mean, I even remember, like, we were always the first ones
there, last ones to leave. Yep, 'cause my parents were
involved in all of the ways and even going into like pastor's
office, like we knew right wherethe cookie jar was.
We knew what we could do in there and what we couldn't, and
(18:07):
it just always felt like you were going to.
I don't like Grandpa's living room.
Like you knew a story was going to be told, you knew a cookie
was going to be had, and you just felt safe.
Like you knew this is where you need to be.
Yeah, maybe that's what I need. Maybe I need a cookie jar in my
my church office. OK, OK, I will work on that.
(18:30):
So, yeah. OK.
Well, you know, we're talking about testimonies here.
Sylvia, have you ever taken the time to actually write out your
testimony, your story, you know,the story of your spiritual
journey and, and, and what valuedo you think there would be in
taking the time to really just reflect on, on how a person came
to faith and how the Lord's beenat work?
(18:51):
So I think the last time I actually wrote it anything out
related to my faith was confirmation class, and that was
a long time ago. I don't even think I was in high
school yet, probably middle school.
I think when I grew up, I grew up in a different church
tradition and it was probably, Iwant to say like 10th grade or
(19:12):
7th grade. Yeah, that sounds like, Yeah,
like between like 7th and 10th grade and, and we took
confirmation, our pastor taught it and we actually, and for most
of it, we would go across the parking lot to the Parsonage and
we would meet in his living room.
And I, that class really I thinkwas the moment where my faith
(19:33):
became my faith. Like outside of my family and
outside of my parents. For those who maybe don't know,
my mom was the youth leader mostof my life, even when I was
really little, my dad ran the sound booth.
He was a trustee. My mom was the worship team
leader. I mean, they, when I say we were
the first ones there and the last ones to leave, that's
(19:55):
usually why. So I witnessed them being super
involved in church and we did all the camps at Camp Shamina.
We did the district blitz in Duluth and in Rochester when it
was down there. So I've done several different
missions trips growing up. I helped lead VBS as soon as I
(20:16):
aged out of VBSI was leading VBSin many different ways.
So they my test about it like writing it out really is was
kind of difficult because there like again, there wasn't just
like 1 moment where I'm like, this is it.
But there were so many puzzle pieces that have added to each
(20:37):
other to help make my faith my faith.
So yeah, the highs of camps and conferences.
And, you know, there's lows where you walk away and you try
to have your own control of everything.
But it probably was in my later teenage years.
And really going off to college is probably when it really
became real because then I wouldtruly was on my own, away from
(21:00):
my parents, away from my community that I grew up in.
And I had nothing else but to rely on my faith in God.
So yeah. So, so not only just, and I like
how you said that, you know, notonly just making your faith your
own, but was it at that point that you feel like, OK, now I'm
really starting to understand this thing called the gospel.
(21:21):
When when when did maybe that that light bulb go?
Off yeah, one of the images I, Ithink I come back to is the
image of the prodigal son returning to his father.
Because there were a lot of times in college where I get
called out, usually by my mom. Like, have you prayed about this
(21:42):
yet? Have you opened up your Bible
lately? And it was like, oh, OK, OK.
So I mean, I being that person who like, kind of like, you
know, puts your head down in shame coming back to Christ,
Like, I'm sorry, I did it again.I, I tried, I tried to do it on
my own, but I can't. And just that image of a patient
(22:02):
father standing there, not angry, not even disappointed,
but just standing there like, yeah, I know.
And here I am. I'm not going anywhere.
I'm glad you realize it again. So that's really.
Yeah. The gospel has come to life more
and more. And now being a mom, it comes to
(22:24):
life in a total new light because you're teaching your
kids who God is and the promisesof Jesus.
And just having that, trying to explain that to a four year old
who asks very literal questions.It's like, OK, how do I explain
(22:47):
this? And so it's been, it's been a
fun challenge because Anthony does love to ask a lot of
questions. That's a good, that's a good.
You want, you want that curiosity.
Yeah. Yeah.
So, So who do you think has has really had the greatest
spiritual influence in your life?
You know, there again so many people, so many.
(23:09):
I couldn't narrow it down to 1 because I've again I've had
since my great grandma. I I have very strong memories
with my great grandparents. I was blessed to know them well
into my middle school years. And that's very unique.
Yeah, it is. It's unique.
(23:29):
I still have all my grandparentswith us today and just how all
of them have poured into my lifeand the great aunts and uncles
and the cousins and and having your mom as the youth leaders,
kind of like by default, but probably the pastor I grew up
with the most, Pastor Jeff, and he's the one who taught that
(23:52):
confirmation class. He's had a huge impact, but I
couldn't narrow it down to just one person.
Yeah, well, let's say, I mean, that's great because, you know,
that's just showing that the Lord's using all kinds of people
in your life and at at differentstages.
Yeah, and lately it's probably been Co workers.
You always kind of wonder like where did my Co worker at?
(24:14):
Like I think they go to church, but I don't know if they go to
church. Like and just this week
actually, I had a Co worker, we were sitting together and she
was like, I don't know what I want to do.
Like do I want to stay here and work here?
Do I want to go somewhere else? I have an opportunity to go
somewhere else. And I just looked at her.
I said, where does God want you to go?
(24:35):
And she goes, I don't know. I'm like, OK, were you like, did
you know God wanted you to come to LaPorte a year ago?
And she goes, yeah, that was really clear.
You probably think I'm weird forthinking that.
I'm like, no, trust me, I don't.I said I'm waiting for God's big
shining lights to shade this way.
(24:56):
Sylvia and I haven't had that yet either.
So I mean, it's just a great wayto have that door open.
So lately I've been finding moreCo workers who are like, is it
weird that I'm just trusting God?
I'm like, no, it's really not weird.
Like it's really cool. And so now I'm finding who those
people are and I'm trying to pour into them to like, let's
(25:18):
pray together or I'm going to pray for you.
And that's been really fun. And just knowing that working in
a public school where you kind of like tiptoe around talking
about God and faith, I'm no longer afraid to tiptoe because
I'm finding that there are more out there and I'm finding that
(25:38):
this is where God wants me to beand he doesn't want me to tiptoe
around the subject anymore. So I'm not going to.
So yeah, I guess I guess as of late it'd be Co workers who just
are reaching out to saying like I'm really struggling and just
like wondering where I'm at. So we've just been having a lot
of really good conversations at work about our faith and in
(26:01):
purpose. Like, what is the purpose in all
of this? Yeah.
Well, you know, in the in the workplace can be a challenging
place to talk about your faith. I, I think just even the way you
describe it is okay. Who here would understand what
I'm talking about and who here wants to actually maybe dialogue
about spiritual things or, or even somebody that's sort of
(26:22):
early on in, in that and you know, OK, Lord, who, who might
you want me to talk to or talk with?
It's, it's not necessarily a taboo topic, but you've got to,
you've got to watch. It's there's a right place in
the right time, I suppose. Yeah, right.
So you're just trusting that those doors open, right?
Yep. Right.
Maybe thinking back over the years, what are what are maybe
(26:43):
are some of the ways that you'veseen the Lord bring about some
spiritual growth in you over theyears?
Can you maybe even think of somemilestone events or seasons in
your life that really shaped your faith?
Well, starting back with confirmation class, missions
trips, VBS, again, dating Alex was probably a big one because
(27:07):
we really had to, we had our ownfaith, but then it was how do we
create a faith together like in a marriage?
And coming from 2 very differentbackgrounds, Catholic and then
little country church, we reallystarted to process what was
important to us and, and what was important to us and how each
(27:29):
of us worship. So I really love to worship
through music. He really loves the traditional
sides of just like structured prayer and routine, and that's
how his brain like works. So finding E free and having
both of those things come together, and we found that at
Bethel too, and now we've found it here.
(27:49):
It's really helped us to come together.
So that's probably been one of the ways I've spiritually grown.
Having my parents move to Bemidji has helped as well, and
just having that family aspect to church, I just, yeah, I don't
(28:12):
know. That's about what I got for that
one. That's AI mean that really is a
blessing beyond the free babysitting but.
Yeah, that doesn't. Hurt too.
Yeah, right. Well, Speaking of which, so, you
know, you're you're a busy mom. You've got little ones at home.
How do you make time for spiritual growth in this
parenting season of life? What?
(28:32):
What really works for you to encourage your faith?
I laughed at this one too, because I wake up very early.
I wake up before anybody else. I wake up before the deer wake
up. They're usually still bedded
down when when I'm well awake, but I get up early morning and I
(28:53):
just kind of, I just walk. I walk on the treadmill.
I run sometimes and that's been my time with God.
So sometimes, you know, I'll turn on like a background show
or music and I'd like don't evenknow what's going on because God
and I have just had a whole conversation.
And so that's that's been my time.
(29:13):
So I've done a lot of praying onthe treadmill as of late and it
just has been really encouragingto just be still and patient.
Now I'm walking, so it's not really being physically still,
but it helps put my mind still so that to hear God's voice.
The podcast that has been part of my weekly routine.
(29:36):
So usually Wednesday mornings I'm listening to the podcast
while I'm walking and that gets my brain going as well.
But life is hard and it's hard to be still.
And there's a lot going on with a four year old and a 2 year old
and being a school teacher and all these things.
So. So yes, another thing I've done
(29:57):
is just kind of step away from from things.
When I first became a teacher, Iwas involved in everything,
every committee, the union, becoming union president, I was
a negotiator. I, I did it all and I wanted to
do it all. And then my kids came along and
that put a new perspective on things like, Nope, my priorities
(30:20):
need to shift. And they have.
So yeah, at the end, this today was my last day with students
and at work. So now I can just be done with a
lot of those positions and reshift my focus to being a wife
and being a mom and just being aclassroom teacher and not a
classroom teacher and XYZ. So yeah, as of late, just
(30:47):
spending time in God's Word by myself has been out true busing,
praying with my kids, teaching them how to pray.
Anthony's been really into learning the Lord's Prayer.
I've been doing that with him almost every night and he can
pretty much say it all. Sometimes he likes to think it's
a race, how fast can I say it? He does it at dinner, too.
(31:12):
It's just that's been what's been working for me and it's not
something I'm willing to give upagain.
So yeah, there's probably something more I wanted to say,
but. Well, it so when I was thinking
about, you know, what I wanted to ask you and I was kind of
thinking about you and your family and your your kids, this
this first came to mind. This is a verse I really love.
(31:34):
It's in Paul's, you know, secondletter to Timothy.
And and he writes to Timothy andhe says, I'm reminded of your
sincere faith, which first livedin your grandmother Lois, and in
your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you also.
Of course, we don't know anything about those two ladies,
but but to me, there's a lot that's being said in that verse.
(31:57):
And so, Sylvia, I'm kind of curious, what do you think it
looks like for moms and dads to pass along their faith to the
next generation? And, and, and what do you really
hope that your kids not just learn from you, but but see in
you and adopt for their own faith?
Yeah. So I don't remember where I
heard this, but somebody had said something along the way.
(32:20):
Maybe it was a video I watched or something but how?
A lot of us have the Bible app and we're reading the Bible on
our phone but our kids don't know it.
So something I'm trying to do more of is reading from the
Bible and not just the Bible app.
Yes, and I love reading physicalbooks way more than I do off of
(32:42):
a screen. But when I'm when I'm walking
and moving it's easier just to listen than it is to try and
read while you're walking. But so that's something I'm
trying to do more of so that my kids see that they see that I am
reading the Bible, building those routines of prayer with
them as well. And, and just coming to church
(33:02):
together and having it be OK that they're not in the nursery,
but they're with us. Which I'm sorry to all of you
who have heard the screaming andthe laughing.
Sorry rabbit hole again. There was 1 sermon Pastor Jerry
said Amen and Anthony went whoo,that's over.
(33:24):
And like was way louder than anyof us expected.
So sorry Pastor Jerry, but it, it was comical.
He, he just, he knows that when there's the Amen, there's treats
afterwards. It's kind.
Of the But he's been Yeah, but we all got a good chuckle out of
that one that's. Incredible.
(33:44):
So where was I going with this? So when you when I read this
verse, when you shared it, I actually thought of my
daughter's name. So Lucy May Marie, Lucy May
being one word, Marie being her middle name.
Each of those names comes from adifferent generation of women in
our families, so great great grandma, great grandma and
(34:05):
grandma. So each part of her name and all
of those women that she is namedafter have all played a role in
building my faith. And so I want to pass that on to
her and Anthony. I want them to see Christ within
us and hopefully someday they take it beyond the family like
(34:26):
we did. So yeah, God is good and he
shines through all generations and I just pray that my kids
will grow up to be a shining light for him in the lives of
others with no matter what life throws at them.
So yeah. That's, that's really neat and
(34:47):
it's, you know, I think there's a lot of people who can really
resonate with that. It is it is kind of neat to see
the generations of not just generations of people in the
church, but generations of faith.
You can really see that line. And not all of us can can say
that, right. You know, I I don't come from a
family that of believers. And so we were kind of
(35:10):
generation 1. Yeah, hopefully passing it on to
our kids and things like that. And, you know, different people
have different stories where maybe, you know, their kids
didn't come to faith or, or really struggling with their
faith. So again, it's, you know, it's
by God's grace. And I think we should celebrate
when we see those great things happening, right?
Yep, we all have that story to tell.
Yeah, well. This has been a lot of fun.
(35:31):
I hope we've covered it all. Maybe.
Maybe. Plenty more stories to go.
But that that's a lot of fun. It's been good to kind of get to
know you and and chat about this.
But, you know, before we wrap this up, at the end of every
episode, I like to ask this lastquestion.
You know, we talk about becomingdeeply devoted followers of
Jesus together here at our church.
(35:52):
Sylvia, what? What is one thing that you have
been blessed by lately that is deepening your devotion to
Jesus? Music.
My commute to LaPorte is 30 minutes one way, and this year
I've been doing that commute alone.
In the past I've carpooled. So this year, you know, just
like my early mornings to myself, the car ride is usually
(36:13):
to myself, although two days a week Anthony's with me going to
preschool. But I just spend those for those
30 minutes just worshipping, singing to myself and and just
praising. And as of late, there's been
like this weird theme to this music of praising God in all
things. And I think we hear this phrase
(36:35):
a lot in churches. And I think it can be easily one
of those things that we just saywithout putting a whole lot of
like, merit to just praise God even when it's rough, like good
luck. Yeah.
So, you know, like I said earlier, teaching is hard, being
a mom is hard, being a wife, being a human is just hard.
(36:56):
We have that conversation in my Class A lot like humouring is
hard. And yet God is good and there is
something to praise him for in all things.
And that has really hit home to me in the last couple of weeks.
So yeah, all these songs I've been just randomly listening to,
(37:18):
I just pick like random playlistand they all have this theme of
life is hard, but guess what? They're still good to be had.
Yeah. So that's that's where I've been
at with that. I mean, even on the days
Anthony's in the car with me, we're still worshipping together
(37:38):
and singing. It's just usually more VBS ish
music, which is great too. I love listening.
I love listening to his love of music as well.
And he just wants to sing and hewants to learn.
So we we usually jam out together and that's been a whole
lot of fun. That's great.
Yeah. Yeah.
I love how the Lord uses music in our lives and not everybody's
(38:01):
musical, but I I'm convinced that, you know, the Lord really
knew what he was doing when he made music.
And Oh yeah, just. How it resonates.
With us, yes. You know it can be used for good
and it can be used for evil, but, right?
But when it's used for His gloryand praise, really neat things
happen. Yeah, because, you know, at the
(38:23):
end of the day, he's still thereand like he's the same
yesterday, today and forever. And yeah, like I said, that that
music lately has just been so very clear to me, so.
Yeah, fantastic. But this has been a lot of fun.
I think we've covered most of it.
We maybe we'll have a future of returning guests someday.
We could do that. Keep sending in questions the
(38:46):
next time. We haven't asked the pastor
episode here, but folks, that's going to do it for this episode
of the Deeply Devoted podcast. My thanks to Sylvia for joining
me today to talk about her faithin Christ and share a little bit
of her story. Folks, once again, don't forget
that you can send in comments, questions, feedback, topic
suggestions. I do look at those and try to
(39:09):
get some ideas there. You can send an e-mail to
podcast@efcbemidji.org or just bump into me in church and let
me know what you think. But folks will be back next
Tuesday with another episode anduntil then, have a great week
and thanks for listening.
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