Podcasts about spiritually

266. Choosing Fun and Adventure in Your Marriage and with Your Family: An Interview with Dan & Sam Mathews   Isaiah 55:12 MSG “So you'll go out in joy, you'll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines— Monuments to me, to God, living and lasting evidence of God.”   *Transcription Below*   Dan and Sam Mathews have been married since 2014 and currently reside in Missouri with their two kids, Canyon and Ember. Since the moment they got married, Dan and Samantha have been living a life of sacrifice and faith. From backpacking in Arkansas to RV road trips across the US, they have always taken the adventurous route. Sam is a lifestyle vlogger and content creator, and Dan hosts a hunting podcast in addition to his social platforms. Together they share their life of adventure online with millions of followers. Follow them on socials @wearedanandsam.    Thank You to Our Sponsor: Sam Leman Eureka   Questions and Topics We Cover: What are a few adventures you're so grateful you said yes to in life? Matthew 25:26 MSG says, "That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that!" So drawing your wisdom from the Lord, how does your faith fuel your sense of adventure?  How can we begin to enjoy an adventurous life in our marriage and with our family?   Other Episodes Mentioned from The Savvy Sauce Podcast: 82 Traveling with Your Family with Katie Mueller 242 Stories Series: He Gives and Takes Away with Joyce Hodel     Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger:  (0:11 - 1:47) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    The principles of honesty and integrity that Sam Leman founded his business on continue today over 55 years later at Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka.   Owned and operated by the Burchie family, Sam Leman's Eureka appreciates the support they've received from their customers all over central Illinois and beyond. Visit them today at lemangm.com.    Dan and Sam Mathews are my guests for today, and you may know them from all the social platforms at WeAreDanAndSam.   They live a life of high faith and delightful adventure, and their book, Always Choose Adventure: One Couple's Journey of Chasing the Things in Life That Matter Most, is actually going to release this month. I would highly recommend it. It was an amazing read.   I read through it so fast, and it was a great combination of enjoying the stories but learning so much along the way. It's kind of like our chat for today. We're going to cover various stories, but Dan and Sam are also going to give us simple and practical ideas and tips for adding a sense of fun into our marriage and into our family life.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Dan and Sam.    Dan Mathews: (1:47 - 1:48) Thank you for having us. We're excited. We are really excited.   Laura Dugger: (1:49 - 1:59) Well, I'm so excited to journey back and get to hear more of your story, but will you first just give us an overview of what current life looks like right now?   Sam Mathews: (2:00 - 2:29) Yes. Currently, I'm 22 weeks pregnant with our third baby. We have two kiddos.   Canyon is almost nine. Ember is seven. We live in Southern Missouri.   We love adventuring and traveling, and Dan hunts. We share life on every platform, so just lifestyle, vlogging, and sharing our adventures. We recently settled down in a home, and so this is our first time doing DIYs for ourselves.   Yeah, it's a fun season right now.   Dan Mathews: (2:29 - 2:46) And Sam loves to host, so I think we have 48 parties scheduled this summer and knocked out a couple already, but yeah, we're excited about life, excited about adventure, and sharing that with people and how they can actually get out and adventure more.   Laura Dugger: (2:47 - 3:01) You do that so well, but if we're going back then to more of the origin stories, will you both share your journey of growing up and your stories that eventually led for the two of you to overlap with one another?   Sam Mathews: (3:01 - 3:37) Yeah, definitely. It's always been me, my mom, and my sister. My mom was a single mom raising us, born in California, but then she moved us to Southern Missouri when I was young, and this was a great place to raise us.   In the Bible Belt, we were raised pretty much in church. She did an amazing job as a single mom, just caring for us and pointing us to Christ. We got plugged into a church very early on.   We volunteered there. My sister and I worked there. We attended there, and so we're really involved, and that's how I met Dan when he came to Bible College.   Dan Mathews: (3:37 - 4:58) Yeah, I grew up in central Wisconsin. We went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, was very, very involved with the kid's ministry and youth group and just any opportunity I could be around that church community, I was. We had a group called Master's Commission that would come up and do outreach at our church.   They were from Florida, and I was like, man, I want to do that one day. These guys are awesome. They're doing human videos, and they're all musical.   My dad's brother and his family moved down to Southern Missouri, and I get a call one day right after high school. They were like, “Hey, there's a Master's Commission program down here. If you want to do it, we'll pay for it.” I was like, “Sure, let's do it.” Almost no questions asked, just kind of like, all right, tell me the date I have to be there. Then, I started packing stuff up and quit my job and moved down knowing absolutely nobody. I got plugged into the church. I became very, very involved, and then just built a community, and through that, I went there with Sam's sister, her older sister, and I got to know Sam, and then I ended up working out at the gym that she worked at.   Sam Mathews: (4:59 - 5:00) Which was at our church.   Dan Mathews: (5:00 - 5:15) Which was at the church, and so we were just around each other all the time, and that kind of developed over years and years and years. Then one day, I was like, wow, this chick is awesome, and now we're here doing podcasting.   Laura Dugger: (5:16 - 5:32) Which is incredible. Okay, so just to pause, and you go into more of these stories, love your books, so easy to read, but can you take us back to what you both first thought of one another when you were meeting those days at the gym? Oh, gee.   Sam Mathews: (5:33 - 6:22) For sure, Dan is the life of the party, like he is comedy, and just, he has all the jokes, and definitely a charmer with all the ladies, but so fun to be around, and not only his humor draws you in, but I didn't grow up with a father, and so I liked the, I don't know, like strong aspect that he had, just like the confidence, and then his relationship with the Lord was something that I desired to have for myself, you know, a leader in a couple like together, someone to point me towards Christ, but the lightheartedness and jokes and humor keep the hard days fun, but that for me was, you know, I always can count on you for a good joke.   Dan Mathews: (6:23 - 6:41) Yeah, I, when I first met Sam, it was kind of in a group setting, and it was with her older sister with my younger brother, and it was like, oh, this is, you know, Justine's sister. Little sister. Didn't really think a whole lot of it, but after a couple years, I think you were probably a sophomore at that time when I first met you.   Sam Mathews: (6:41 - 6:42) Yeah.   Dan Mathews: (6:42 - 7:36) And, and then after a couple years, it was like she was volunteering in the youth group, and she was on the recreation staff at our camps, and so it's like we were spending more time together, and I'm like, oh, Justine's sister's kind of cute, and yeah, we started, we started just kind of a friendship. We were just around each other all the time. I mean, like before we were dating, we're really interested in each other.   It's like I was walking back from the lake, and she'd hop on my back, and I'd just give her a piggyback ride up to the cabins, and then looking back, I'm like, wow, our lives just were really intermingled and overlapped for years and years, but early on, she was younger. She had braces. She was a hip-hop dance instructor, so I mean, she would have like one sweat pant leg rolled up, high-top Nikes on all the time, like thought she was the coolest thing ever.   Laura Dugger: (7:36 - 7:52) I was. I didn't think. Oh, that's amazing.   I love that, and my husband and I were also friends first, and I feel like that does set you up well in marriage. Like you've got your built-in buddy.   Sam Mathews: (7:53 - 8:30) Exactly. I was going through pictures yesterday, because I was going to post a trend online, and it was like, oh, how cute. How many months have you been married?   And it's like months? You put a picture for every year, and it's like we've known each other since like 2008, maybe 2009. Then, like started our like dating in 2010. I look at pictures of us from 2010 as a couple. I'm like, oh, my gosh, we've grown so much just like, you know, like physically, but even just relationally and spiritually, and like it's crazy looking back, and so thankful for so many years of friendship with him, but you know, relationship-wise, it's been great.   Dan Mathews: (8:30 - 8:52) Well, and I feel like doing life together is a great model before ever like the romantic side comes in. You get to know the person in group settings. You get to know who they are without the interest, because people can put on a different face once you're trying to impress somebody, you know, but we were just being our genuine selves around each other for a long time.   Sam Mathews: (8:52 - 8:59) Probably saw some stupid moments, some hard moments, but that's, yeah, that's what you want to see before you get into a relationship with someone.   Laura Dugger: (9:00 - 9:12) Absolutely. Yeah. And as we're starting back that far, then when you reflect back, what are some of the adventures that you're most grateful you've said yes to in life?   Sam Mathews: (9:13 - 10:38) Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I feel like dating, we weren't even dating at this point, the canoe trip when you did a master's commission, and that was so fun.   It was like all of his friends, my sister, all the master's commission group went kayaking, and I decided to tag along as a sibling, and his brother did, and maybe a couple others. And that was fun, but it also gave me an opening into how Dan adventures, because his way of adventuring is way different than mine. I grew up, like I said, with a mom.   We would camp at a cabin, and you'd pack the car full of everything you need. Dan would literally just put everything in a backpack and hike in two miles to go camping. And so being in that group, going kayaking, it was so fun, and it sparked this new love for adventure and new desire to learn a new way of adventuring.   That was so fun. I mean, that was before we were married, but this is kind of jumping far ahead, but when we were married, we moved to Colorado for a couple of years, and although it was a hard season for us, we learned so much. We gained so much from it.   A lot was birthed in us in that season. I mean, physically, I welcomed my daughter. We welcomed our second child in Colorado, but spiritually, I think God planted a lot of seeds that it may not have been a tangible adventure of being out in the woods, but spiritually, we were in the woods, and we grew so much, and I'm glad we said yes to it because it opened the door and led to so many other things.   Dan Mathews: (10:38 - 12:31) Yeah, I feel like a lot of our adventures, some are traditional. I mean, a big adventure for me was leaving home. I mean, I moved straight out of my parents' house to a different state, and that was totally crazy for me.   But then watching Sam, I mean, she moved out to California for a summer, went to a ministry out there. Then I saw her go to Colorado and Nanny for a couple, all summer long, and so I was like watching this, and we were talking, and I realized, like, we're both all in on an adventurous life, and even when we don't have the answers, it's like, is the Lord telling you not to do it? No?   Okay, well, then we'll see what happens, and I thought that was really cool to watch her just like, oh, I'm going to California for a summer, and at first, I was like, please don't. I don't want you to come all the way to California, but then I was like, that's going to be so incredible. Like, you're just leaving everything behind and starting over for a whole summer in a different state, and so that was like the early dating years where we were kind of doing our own adventures, but we were watching and encouraging each other in doing them, and then we started actually going out and camping and floating rivers and hiking up waterfalls, and if you've never camped in the backcountry with someone, I suggest doing it. It's a great metric for if there's someone you want to marry.   Like, if you can figure out canoeing and camping, you're probably going to be okay in marriage. That's good. And so, yeah, we started doing that stuff, and then from there, it was just like one after the next, going to Alaska, camping in grizzly country by ourselves, and it's our first time there.   Like, we've done some pretty wild things, some pretty traditional things, but at the end of the day, all of the adventures are what brought us together.   Laura Dugger: (12:32 - 12:45) Well, and just thinking of the adventure that drew you together, and then also your current platforms on socials and vlogging and preserving all of these pictures, like you said, you've captured all the pictures throughout the time.   Sam Mathews: (12:45 - 12:45) Yes.   Laura Dugger: (12:47 - 12:58) When you look back, do you feel like God had given you little seeds of what was yet to come or what kind of career you would be in someday, or was this totally a shock to both of you?   Sam Mathews: (12:59 - 13:57) You know what? Looking back at pictures or even videos that I took, I could see how it was something that the Lord was birthing in us, and I would say probably me so more than Dan. I think Dan's like, whatever you want to do, I'm along for the ride type of thing.   It probably wasn't his first choice as a career, but now that we're in it, we love it and we're thankful for the blessing it is to our family and the time that we get to spend with the kiddos. But I look back and I started videoing and taking pictures like years before even starting on social media, and then even the first few months in the year of sharing, it was like I didn't know what I was doing, but I still wanted to just share life and encourage people and love on people and inspire people. And yeah, it's crazy to look back on, but I also see the work the Lord was doing to get it all started before we even thought about it and knew that it would be something that we'd be doing.   Dan Mathews: (13:57 - 16:00) Yeah, and I feel like with Sam, she gets promptings from the Lord that she doesn't know what it is. She doesn't know what it means. And early on, I think the very first one, she's like, babe, I just have this feeling like a big change is coming.   And I'm like, anymore? Like, do you have any more information for me? That's not a whole lot to go off of.   And I mean, in the conversation, I was like, okay, we'll see. Then I just forgot about it. And I mean, it was like the next day.   There was an issue at work, just a very immoral thing that they were asking us to do as employees. And I was like, no, I can't be part of this. And I called her right after, and I was like, babe, I think this might be it.   Like I'm going to resign tomorrow. And we talked and prayed, and I only had like a five-minute car ride home. We talked, prayed, got off the phone, and immediately I get a call from my buddy.   And he's like, “Hey, dude, don't know what you're doing for work right now, but I've got a job for you if you want to come work at this place I'm at.” And I was like, “Oh, my gosh.” So then two years later, the same thing happened.   She's like, I feel like a change is coming. Boom, big change. Two years later, I feel like a change is coming.   All of a sudden, we're in a car moving out to Colorado. And it was just like that cycle. And so now when she's like, hey, there's a change coming, I'm like, oh, my gosh.   I got to pack my bags. Something big's happening. I know something major is happening.   And so, I don't know that early on either of us expected us to be where we are today. But we knew that we wanted to prioritize time together. We wanted to prioritize time with our kids and above all of it, time with the Lord.   And if we could get those three in the right order, it didn't really matter where we were. It didn't matter what state we were in. If we were living in a bumper pole camper, an RV, a tiny home, or a regular sized house, we just knew that we had to prioritize those things, and everything was going to work out.   Laura Dugger: (16:01 - 18:03) Truly. And that's the promise from Matthew 6:33, that you're really living that out. And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka has been owned and operated by the Burchie family for over 25 years. A lot has changed in the car business since Sam and Stephen's grandfather, Sam Leman, opened his first Chevrolet dealership over 55 years ago. If you visit their dealership today though, you'll find that not everything has changed.   They still operate their dealership like their grandfather did, with honesty and integrity. Sam and Stephen understand that you have many different choices in where you buy or service your vehicle. This is why they do everything they can to make the car buying process as easy and hassle-free as possible.   They are thankful for the many lasting friendships that began with a simple, Welcome to Sam Leman's. Their customers keep coming back because they experience something different. I've known Sam and Stephen and their lives my entire life and I can vouch for their character and integrity, which makes it easy to highly recommend you check them out today.   Your car buying process doesn't have to be something you dread, so come see for yourself at Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka. Sam and Stephen would love to see you and they appreciate your business. Learn more at their website, samlemanchevy.com or visit them on Facebook by searching for Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka. You can also call them at 309-467-2351. Thanks for your sponsorship.    There's a verse that you quoted in your book, and I had never read it before, in the message translation.   So, it's Matthew 25:26 that says, “That's a terrible way to live.” It's criminal to live cautiously like that. So, drawing your wisdom then from the Lord, how does your faith fuel your sense of adventure?   Sam Mathews: (18:04 - 19:50) Yeah, a lot of faith and trust. Several points in our life have been like a crossroads where we feel like we want to almost desire more out of everything to go towards the direction where God is leading us, where we don't know the outcome. We don't know what's ahead.   We don't know what's coming and it's forcing us to trust the Lord, to have faith, even though we're fearful of it. Or we look at another option where it's like, you know what, this is very comfortable. We know the outcome.   We know what's going to be required of us. We know how we're going to get there, how we're going to pay for it. And it was something we didn't desire.   We liked being in a position where we needed the Lord. We're reliant upon Him. And so, you know, we talk often in the book about being comfortable.   And I feel like when you're in a comfortable setting in life, it's safe. There's no risk involved. There's little to no trust in the Lord.   I say that, you know, there's more to the story of that. But that you don't want to be at a place where you don't need God, where you don't need to rely on Him. And so, for us, we just encourage people that if you do find yourself in a comfortable place, to maybe step out of your comfort zone a little bit.   To what's an area where you need to trust the Lord more? Is it finding that new job that you've been waiting for, that you've been hoping for? Is it moving to the state that's closer by your family or closer by your friends that you really desire but you're scared too?   To not just be comfortable and stay for the sake of not being fearful or not, like knowing what's next, but instead step out, trust the Lord, you know, as long as you have peace and as long as you feel that yes from Him. And just lay fear aside and move forward with the Lord.   Dan Mathews: (19:50 - 21:54) Yeah, with every big decision that we make, we're led by peace. And we've said it for years. If either one of us don't have peace about it, we're not doing it.   But when there are multiple doors open, we say we're going to choose the most adventurous one. If we don't feel a specific direction from the Lord, let's just pick the most adventurous one. And it's kind of become common practice for us to not have really many of the details planned out on a major decision on a trip.   And people are like, do you have any idea of what you're going to do when you move there? Or how long you're going to be traveling the country in an RV? And we're like, nope, we'll figure it out.   I joke with my buddies all the time because they're like, “I mean, how do you know everything's going to be okay? How do you know this?” I go, well, between me and God, we've got everything figured out.   And they're like, “Oh, okay, I get it.” I'm like, “well, the Lord has everything figured out, but I can throw myself in that team, you know?” And I feel like it's been an encouragement to some of our friends as they watch it.   And they're like, whoa, you guys did it. I'll talk about it for years. And even when we moved out to Colorado, in our minds, we were going to move out there.   All of our friend group was like, one person needs to move. And then everybody else is going to slowly follow out. Well, we end up moving out there.   And I'm like shooting my buddies messages like, “All right, when are you coming out? And one by one, it was like, “No, I don't think we're coming.”   No, it's not going to be for at least five years. It's going to be, you know, maybe when the kids graduate, all of these different responses. And I'm like, man, that was one of the biggest things that we missed when we were out there.   But we knew that moving to Colorado, taking a pay cut, paying more in rent, like all of those things were a stepping stone to get us to where we were today, to trusting the Lord and starting our first business together, trusting the Lord with our finances, with our time. And really putting us in a position where we were fully dependent on him for our survival.   Sam Mathews: (21:54 - 22:40) And so even if something doesn't work out, we mentioned a couple of stories in the book where we may have moved forward without peace, and it did not end well. But the Lord always brings it around and teaches us something from it or a situation where we felt the peace to move to Colorado, but we were only there for two years. It was hard on us financially.   We got into debt. We had no friends, no family out there. It was a hard season.   We still gained from it. So instead of looking at something as a complete loss, we still look to find the good. You know, what did the Lord birth in us?   You know, like Dean said, spiritually, we grew together. Financially, we started a business. Like so much good came from it that even though it maybe on paper or to others, it didn't make sense.   It was still good. And something that the Lord, yeah, started for us.   Laura Dugger: (22:41 - 23:05) And you've learned those lessons and now you get to share them with others. Even super practical with this one. Our family has never done the RV thing before, but even just dipping our toes in and trying a vacation that way.   What tips do you have for families, maybe who aren't traveling around, living out of their RV, but vacationing with one, what are some of your best tips?   Sam Mathews: (23:05 - 24:27) I just saw a video of someone sharing the other day where they took their family of, let's see, four, six total on an RV for the first time. And I was like, oh no, because the first warning I give to everyone is you have to drain your poop through the hose. If you're out on that, RV life is not for you.   RV vacation is not for you. Do you have to get down and dirty and take care of a few things? There's a lot more maintenance that comes with RV vacationing or RV life.   And I usually have the dirty work for Dan to do and I'm inside cooking, cleaning. But an RV has all your basic needs. You can still go to the bathroom, you can still shower, there's a toilet, there's a bed.   It's just on a lot smaller scale. And if you're not good with being in close proximity with all your children or your spouse, then you may just need a little bit of a bigger space to stay in. But it's fun because you get to navigate it together and you get to learn just a new way of life or new way of traveling.   And yeah, the maintenance of the restroom, you have to have water hookups, or you need solar for electric or you have to be hooked up to electric. The great part is you can go anywhere, and you can get right up close to some great adventures. Our favorite spot to park an RV is the rim of the Badlands.   It's so pretty. Is it the North Rim?   Dan Mathews: (24:28 - 24:28) Yeah.   Sam Mathews: (24:28 - 24:54) It's gorgeous. You wake up to the sun rising over it and it's the most peaceful thing to be right there next to it. And you can't do that with a cabin in the woods.   But the benefit to a cabin in the woods is that's its own adventure. And so just do a little bit of research on the maintenance required for setting up, tearing down the RV in order to get on the road and to like park it and set up.   Dan Mathews: (24:55 - 26:44) I like how you weave some of the worst parts about our RV life in there. But I will say being on the road, traveling and like just kind of deciding on the way is one of the greatest things ever. I did not, like we definitely had a plan.   It was like, “Hey, we're gonna stop one time.” Growing up, we've got five kids. So, it was like, we're stopping one time to go to the bathroom.   If you have to go, you're just gonna have to hold it type of thing. We were fairly structured in the traveling to a place. But being in an RV, it really opens up so much to where you can on the way be like, oh, I just saw a billboard.   I wonder what that is. Look it up. How far away is it?   Hey, what if we take a 45-minute detour and go check this out? Like we found places in the middle of Kansas that 1% of the population knows about. We camped.   There's spots that you can camp on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Like no guardrail, back your vehicle right up, walk out the door, sit there, have coffee or whatever in the morning. And that was like our favorite part about it.   There were nights that we would drive until like one in the morning. And we might be sleeping in a truck stop. But we were on the way to Glacier National Park or to the Oregon coast or wherever.   And so, I feel like ditching the schedule and just kind of figuring it out as you go is one of the most freeing things on a vacation. And the other nice part about it is if you find a place that you absolutely love and you're like, we want to spend four days here, do it. You don't have a new reservation somewhere else that you have to get to.   You can just go wherever the wind blows, have fun with the family. And yeah, I think everybody needs to do it at least one time.   Laura Dugger: (26:44 - 27:02) Oh yeah, for sure. What a great challenge to step outside our comfort zone like you said. Well, one other amazing adventure that you've embarked on together is becoming a surrogate twice, I believe.   Will you tell us a little bit more about that process and that experience?   Sam Mathews: (27:03 - 31:10) Yeah, definitely. So, in 2018, we had our daughter and she was a little bit more work than our first. So, our first was super easy.   Ate well, slept well, like barely cried. And our daughter, maybe it was just her being a girl. A little bit more needy and required some extra grace and some more prayer for patience on my part.   But at that point, I was like, yeah, I think I'm done. Having children of our own and parenting our own children because even raising two kids is going to be a task. But I didn't feel like I was done carrying children.   And I'm like, I still want to have babies, but I don't want to have more to parent. How do I do that? But I felt like the Lord just laid surrogacy in my heart.   And I started thinking about it, praying about it, researching it. And I brought it up to Dan like, hey, what would you think about me doing this? And I had to educate him a little bit on like what being a surrogate was.   As a gestational surrogate, I wasn't carrying an embryo with an egg that was mine. So, I'm not biologically related to the baby. And after some prayer, we both felt at peace about it.   And so, we walked through that door and started the process of meeting a couple or going through an agency to start a journey. And yeah, we've done two now. So, in 2022, I delivered a baby boy for a couple.   And then in 2024, so just last year, I've just actually in a few days, I'm going to hit my year mark of my second belly bud being one and a little girl for a couple. And it was like the most, one of the greatest adventures I've been on. And I've gained so much from it.   And it's so rewarding to see someone who desires to be a parent, to be a mom, but physically can't. To see them walk that road and just step into the role that like watching her become a mom is like, you can tell that's what she was meant to be. That's what the Lord had for her.   And it's so fun seeing the joy of their family and watching her grow up and like being a part of her life. That, yeah, like we just encourage other people, if you're able to do something like that, or no matter what it is, it's not just surrogacy, but if God's calling you to something that may require a lot more from you or something that is not normal, it's not traditional, you don't see it a lot, like just step out and do it. And yeah, it's been fun.   It definitely grouped Dan and I closer together. Spiritually, he was there for me in times of emotional hardship. Pregnancy in itself is hard, but to do it multiple times, you know, this is my fifth pregnancy now.   There's a lot of roles that he takes on to care for the kids more, to care for me more. And we've grown closer and just his love for me, seeing it that even though it's not our baby, like he's still caring for me and taking care of me as if it was. And the Lord, I've had to rely on the Lord so many times because pregnancy and birthing in itself is a miracle.   To go through moments of transfer, like the embryo doesn't always take the first time on a transfer or your levels are off or maybe one of the ultrasounds is, you know, something doesn't look good on it. We're constantly relying on the Lord and it gives us an opportunity to share with intended parents, you know, someone who didn't have hope, didn't have anything to look forward to for parenting their own children, to just like be an encouragement to them spiritually and then share these journeys with others publicly has been a great way just to share our faith and to share how going through a surrogacy journey caused us to rely on the Lord and, you know, point everything back to Christ and, you know, God being just very pro-life and we're excited to bring this life into the world.   And so, yeah, definitely a big adventure to embark on to bring two babies into the world that aren't ours, but one of like the greatest things I've ever done. It's awesome.   Laura Dugger: (31:11 - 31:25) It's a beautiful sacrifice and I'm sure others are also wondering at that moment when you meet the baby that you've been carrying, how did you handle those emotions of sharing the baby?   Sam Mathews: (31:25 - 33:42) Yes. Yeah, definitely. So, when you go into surrogacy, you know, from the beginning that it's not your child, especially as a gestational carrier, not related to it.   Throughout the pregnancy, all these milestones that you hit, you're excited for it, but you're excited for it for the parents. So, finding out, you know, there's a heartbeat and seeing the baby for the first time on ultrasound, you're excited for them. Finding out the gender, you're excited for them.   You know, delivering the baby, you're excited for them that you do a lot of mental prep, but there's also like a lot of research that shows to like plan something after delivery for your family to do, something for you to do with your kids so that when you do leave the hospital, you don't think about what you don't have anymore. You think about what you do have at your house with your family. And so, it may seem hard.   I think a lot of times people compare it to adoption where the birth mom is literally giving up her child to somebody else and the hardship that that would cause on her as a surrogate. And I can only speak for myself because I'm sure there are times where it is hard for a surrogate. But for me, it wasn't because I did a lot of mental preparing, emotionally preparing that I knowing that this child wasn't mine going into it.   I knew that at the end of it, I would deliver the baby and the baby would be taken from me and I'm not raising this child. And a lot of times you don't even touch a baby until like maybe you're discharged to see the baby before you leave. So, it's not like I'm delivering the baby.   The baby's being given to me and I'm holding and I'm bonding with it. And then it's being taken away. It's no, this is from the moment it comes out of the womb.   It is their baby and it's in their care. And again, seeing their face, their joy, the moment where like they're seeing their child for the first time is so rewarding. And that's something that I would never want to take from them.   It was never my role to be this baby's mother. It was to just carry their baby and to bring their baby into the world. And so, it's not as hard as you think, thankfully.   I mean, I wouldn't have done it a second time for sure if it was. And we're praying about a third one. But it's so rewarding.   And yeah, you know from the beginning that it's not yours. So, it's easy to, in a sense, pass the baby off.   Laura Dugger: (33:43 - 34:56) Well, that's a story that really encapsulates stewardship. I think that's a great example.    Did you know you could receive a free email with monthly encouragement, practical tips, and plenty of questions to ask to take your conversation a level deeper, whether that's in parenting or on date nights?   Make sure you access all of this at thesavvysauce.com by clicking the button that says join our email list so that you can follow the prompts and begin receiving these emails at the beginning of each month. Enjoy.    For both of you, your lives are just fascinating mostly because you're living this life of faith and sacrifice. So, it's compelling to get to hear how you're actually doing that. But then I love how you call out that you don't recommend people go to the other extreme and become reckless and chase adventure. You discern between choosing adventure and chasing adventure.   So, I'm wondering if you can give us any of your definitions or parameters around what choosing adventure does and does not look like for you.   Dan Mathews: (34:57 - 38:00) Yeah, I think that choosing adventure for us is looking at opportunities where we can spend as a family, where we can get outside of our comfort zones and just really put it in the Lord's hands. Have fun along the way, you know, whether it's ziplining or jumping off a cliff, like a lot of people think adventure has to be this grand thing and super dangerous. And for us, it isn't really.   Like there's been a couple of times where we've been like, this got crazy quickly. Maybe we could have planned it out a little bit better. But at the end of the day, it all worked out.   And so, when we talk about people choosing instead of chasing or not being reckless, it's all about like, do something new, do something fun, do something that puts you outside of your comfort zone, but isn't going to put you in a bad position. I'm not the guy that's like, you know what? Never swam across Lake Michigan.   I'm going to give it a go, see how it happens, and see what happens. If that's the case, it's like maybe start out with a triathlon and see what you're going to do and work your way up. And so, I don't ever want anyone to take the book or take the things that we say or the adventures that we've had in life and think I'm going to do something absolutely crazy that doesn't make sense.   That's not logical. That's not safe. Like, that's not what this is about.   It's about just getting outside of your comfort zone. And the more you're outside of it, the more comfortable you become with being uncomfortable. And I tell people, like on some of my backcountry hunts, I want to be comfortable in suffering.   Like when I'm really, really struggling physically to climb up a mountain with a 70-pound pack on my back, I want to be like, I know I'm making it out of this. It's not fun in the moment. Like it hurts.   My legs are burning. My back hurts. I feel like I need a break, but I'm going to keep pushing through.   And when I look back on that, I'm going to go, that was brutal and awesome. And I loved every second of it. And I feel like that's how, how we view our trips, our road trips.   I mean, driving, what was it? Thirty something thousand miles in a couple months and visiting dozens and dozens of states. It was like, there were times where it was like, I don't want to be on the road anymore.   The wind is literally about to tip the RV over. I'm almost taking out construction cones or running into things because I had never driven an RV before. And the very first place we go is Wisconsin.   And we drive right past Chicago and there's like construction for a hundred miles. And so it's like all of those things, they were fun. Yeah, they were scary in the moment we got through, we were never in any real danger.   And so, yeah, I feel like it's a stair step when it comes to adventure. I didn't start out just wandering around Alaska by myself. It started with going down to Arkansas, being five miles away from the vehicle and then kind of built from there.   Sam Mathews: (38:00 - 39:50) Yeah, to not be reckless, like to, you know, we talked about this earlier to move forward when you have peace. And just because you have peace with it, someone else may not understand it. But with peace, like there's wisdom too.   You don't want to move forward with a lack of peace and not using wisdom in a decision because yeah, that will get you in trouble and that will cause hardship and pain later down the road. But if you have peace about something and there is that open door and you feel the release from the Lord to go on this adventure, then do it. And even though if it doesn't work out, you know, God will still work everything out.   But yeah, like Dan said, when you, the more you do things that are outside your comfort zone or that, you know, even others may not agree with, but you feel at peace with and you're moving forward, the easier it becomes to do those. And the more you would trust the Lord. And like you said, again, it doesn't have to be some grand adventure.   We encourage people that if they're new to choosing adventure and they're new to stepping outside their comfort zone, try like a new restaurant one day, go to like a new, I was thinking the other day, we live in Missouri and we always travel outside of Missouri for adventure. I'm like, we need to do a six-month adventure just within Missouri. Like we drove two hours South and through Missouri to go to Georgia last week.   And we were driving down this hill on one of the roads. I'm like, this looks like, it looked like Georgia already, or it looked like Colorado, the hillside and the trees and the fog, I'm like, this is beautiful. And I look down, I'm like, oh, we're still in Missouri.   So, there's so much to adventure and to explore in your own backyard or down your street that it doesn't have to be something crazy wild. We're not saying go, you know, jump out of a plane and skydive or something, but just start small, start where you have peace and where you feel the Lord's leading.   Laura Dugger: (39:52 - 40:26) That's great. I love having a handful of practical things. I think of my brother, Drew and his wife, Amanda, when their kids were really little, they just drew a two hour radius to see what places would be fun to go invest and explore.   Or for us, I would say one of our most recent adventures, we didn't know what it would look like on the other side, but it's become one of our favorite things in life and probably our best decision in parenting for us as we started homeschooling our kids last year. And it has been a wild adventure.   Sam Mathews: (40:26 - 40:27) That's an adventure.   Laura Dugger: (40:28 - 40:36) So, any other tips to get people started? Those are even trying the new restaurant. Yeah.   Anything else like that that you would say?   Dan Mathews: (40:37 - 42:13) The nice thing is that we all have this supercomputer in our hand or in our pocket all the time. And there are so many lists of like the top 10 places to see, places to eat. There's books that are just like places to canoe before you dive, places to hike before you dive, and they have all of this stuff listed out.   And so, it's not that you have to be a pioneer and find a new place that nobody's ever been before. Look at the research that people have done before you and look at lists, get on Pinterest or any social media platform and try to just figure out what are practical things that you can do. And then you can also say, how difficult is this going to be for me?   Do I really need to jump that far into it right now? Or should I just go to a local park that might have a cool cave that I can explore? Or maybe there's a creek near the house and like, what if we just go down there and see if we can find fish or crawdads or try to skip rocks?   My kids, that is one of their favorite things. I'm like, I love doing it as a kid. I didn't realize how exciting just the act of watching a rock skip on the water would be for kids.   And so there's, yeah, there's a million different resources online for things that you can practically do close to home. And it might, for some people, just be trying that DIY project instead of calling a carpenter to put yourself up, you know, or a handyman. Like, give it a try.   The worst that's going to happen, you have a hole in your wall. Now you watch a video on how to patch it.   Laura Dugger: (42:14 - 42:37) That's so good. And I'm seeing a theme. A lot of these are getting outdoors and nature.   That's always an adventure. But then I'm even thinking simple things in conversation, trying out a new question, even with a loved one. Or you said at the beginning that you love hospitality.   So inviting somebody new into your home. I think any of that novelty is just really good for us. Yeah, definitely.   Dan Mathews: (42:38 - 44:32) Yeah, I think even making it a point in conversation when somebody asks you how your day is, instead of just saying good and continuing on, actually stop and talk to them. Because a lot of people, their biggest fear might not be going on a road trip, might not be financial ruin. It might just be opening up and being vulnerable with another person.   And so it could be the person at the office that you've never actually had a conversation with. You know each other. You might wave when you walk by their desk.   But actually talk to them. Get to know them. Tell them about yourself.   And so the book has a lot of those types of things lined out where it's like it might not be physical. It might not be out in nature. It might be within your home.   It might be, I mean, some people need to do this with their kids. Like that might be the scariest thing is talking to your teenager. Like actually having a conversation.   And we're going to sit down and we're going to have a meal together and actually talk as a family. And so, yeah, it looks different for everybody. And that's one thing, because our passion is being outside.   Like Sam wants a houseboat. She wants to buy a houseboat and renovate it and live in it for a certain amount of time. And we've had other people who a bunch of homeschool families bought sailboats and sailed all around the world as they were homeschooling their kids.   And I heard that and I was like, yeah, yeah, we're going to have to do that at some point. But I know for a lot of people, just going outside is a big deal. And so it looks different for everybody.   We do give a lot of nature examples, but there's different ways for every type of person, every level of. What would you even call it? Social.   There's a lot of different levels to the social scale. And so no matter where you are, there's something for you to be a little bit more adventurous.   Laura Dugger: (44:34 - 44:42) OK, so like I said, you've made a compelling argument for getting outside of our comfort zone. Why do you think some of us resist this attractive lifestyle?   Sam Mathews: (44:43 - 46:46) Yeah, I think there's fear in it. There's sadly nowadays, you know, what will other people think of me? What will what if we fail?   What if we lose money? What if we what if I look a certain way that I don't want to appear to others? And that's where you just have to think back to Christ.   Like what is it? What really matters at the end of the day? It's how God views you.   And if you fail, oh, well, what if the Lord like just opens up so many doors and creates an avenue for you to get out? Or what if so much good comes from it that we can't be afraid of failure? Again, move forward cautiously with wisdom and with the Lord's peace and direction.   But in our book, we share one of our biggest adventures was going out to Colorado and renovating a van for five days. And we broke down on the side of the road, something no one wants to do in the desert, in the middle of twice. We did twice.   We broke down in the middle of Kansas and then in Colorado again. And it was we'll be honest, it was not fun. It was one of like the scariest times.   But looking back, like we're so thankful we did because so much good came from it. Like we met some amazing people who helped us along the way. And it's now one of our favorite stories to tell of encouragement that just because you say yes to adventure and just because something bad happens, it's not all a waste.   And I think, yeah, that fear just keeps people from being able to move forward and being like, you know what? Like I'm comfortable right here in my house, my kids in public school, not going anywhere because I know where my money's coming. I know like what's happening tomorrow.   I know how people are going to respond. And I'm just going to like stay here. Not that that's a bad thing, because the Lord needs people in every season in every situation.   But if he's prompting you to step out and to try something new, like don't be afraid of what's required from you or what could happen. You never know like where it could lead.   Dan Mathews: (46:47 - 48:10) Yeah, I think a lot of it is those few things, fear, pride, or just you believing that God isn't big enough or doesn't care about your situation. And unfortunately, a lot of people are there where I really want to try this, but like what if things go wrong? And for us, it's like when things go wrong, that's where the Lord provides.   That's where the Lord directs. That's where he leads. That's where his word can be the lamp to your feet and a light to your path.   When you're trying to do it all on your own and you're staying in this safety net of comfort, nothing amazing happens in that place. And so, we've seen it time and time again, the Lord's provision, the Lord's provision in our lives and not only the provision financially, but actually like setting us free from constraints like social constraints of like you have to work nine to five. We heard that over and over and over.   And I'm like, well, the nice thing is Sam and I are both hard workers and super driven, and I'm sure we could get jobs again. Yeah, so like worst case scenario, we run completely out of money and we go back to go back to work. And I'm like, what does failure actually look like?   And I try to get people to break it down for me. People who are like, I'm glad that worked for you, but that couldn't work for us. And I go, why?   Sam Mathews: (48:10 - 48:10) Yeah.   Dan Mathews: (48:11 - 48:20) Like, why couldn't it work for you? And they're like, well, I like what happens if it doesn't work out? And I'm like, let's expand on that as far out as we can think.   Sam Mathews: (48:20 - 48:21) Even the worst.   Dan Mathews: (48:21 - 48:24) Like, does that work? Like, are you going to die? No.   Sam Mathews: (48:24 - 48:24) Yeah.   Dan Mathews: (48:24 - 49:02) Like, no, you'll probably just come back home if it doesn't work out, you know? And so, trying to trying to show people that because the fear of the unknown is pretty significant to people. Something completely new to them that they've never tried it's really challenging to get people to take that first step.   But once they do, the second step is easier. The third step is easier. And pretty soon you're jumping and sprinting and you're like, whoa, this whole life is out here that I didn't even know existed.   So yeah, I definitely think it's those three, though.   Laura Dugger: (49:03 - 50:59) That's good. And it makes me think that typically the way that we grow our faith is action. We put our faith into action and God gives us with more faith when we're faithful with the little faith that we have.   And it also makes me think back, I believe it was episode 82, 82. Traveling With Your Family With Teacher, Wife, and Mother to 4,, with the guest, Katie Mueller. I'm going to link to it. I think you guys would love it where she parallels what God called people to do throughout the Bible with travel, what that looks like today, practical, fun things.   But Sam, something that you said reminded me of this when you're like, “Well, if nothing else, it's going to be a great story.” And she referred to that, like when things went wrong growing up on their travels, they laughed so hard about those memories. And in their family, they tragically lost their dad very unexpectedly.   Actually, her mom, I'll link to Joyce Hodel's episode as well. She shares that story. But their family has all of these stories and all of these memories from choosing adventure.   So that makes me start to think of marriage and family. And as we put that together with adventure, you guys always make adventure feel approachable, even in parenting. And I'm thinking on page 15, you wrote that as a kid, anytime you get to drive cross country, stay at a hotel or eat at a restaurant, it's an adventure for no reason other than it's a break from the norm, right?   And you know what? That's the whole point. Choosing adventure is about stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new.   There's no right or wrong way to do it. So, with that in mind, Dan and Sam, how can we begin to enjoy this adventurous life in marriage and in family?   Sam Mathews: (51:00 - 51:49) Yeah. Bringing your kids along is such a fun, it requires a little bit more packing, but such a fun aspect to adventure. And going on date nights with your spouse, trying something new, experiencing it together, finding something you enjoy together, but realizing that it can also, there's another level of fun to have your kids along with.   And sometimes we'll drive 30 minutes away and stay at a hotel for a night just because it's a new place to go and the kids love it. And it doesn't have to be expensive. They go putt-putt and that for them is the greatest thing.   If you end it with ice cream, it's even better than the cherry on top, that it's just something fun for them. But yeah, realizing that it can be a family thing, but it could just be you as a couple too. But yeah.   Dan Mathews: (51:50 - 54:56) Well, and for kids, there's so much adventure to be had right at home or right in your backyard. I bought, I went to Walmart one day and I bought two extra large king-size sheets just so that we could do forts. I was like, I'm gonna put these in the closet and now I've got like the alligator clips and so I can clip them to different things.   And when it's a rainy day and the kids are bored and we're stuck inside, it's just a break from the norm. And then they'll be like, mom, dad, come see what we did. And they might build like a little shop where they sell us stuff inside of their fort.   Or they might make beds for us and for the stuffed animals and for our dog and all of these different things. And so, breaking out of the norm is just what adventure is. Like if they're not used to that, if they're not used to that time together, like some days it's, we're gonna go jump on the trampoline and they're like, wait, both of you at once?   Normally one of us is getting stuff done and the other one's hanging out with them. And when all of a sudden it's like both of us unexpectedly are walking to the trampoline, they're like, oh, family trampoline jump. If you need really good ideas for adventure and you're a parent, just watch Bluey.   If you haven't seen Bluey, that dad is awesome. And like we used to do the claw game. I would put all of their stuffed animals in my lap.   My thumb was the joystick and then my other hand was the claw and they had to move it and I would pick up the stuffed animals. And to them, it was the greatest thing they'd ever done. And we saw it on a cartoon.   And so, incorporating family into it, I feel like it's just, it's really easy. And aside from excuses, there's no reason not to get the kids involved in it. Also, there's a million books about getting kids outside.   And so, like checklists that they can do. Every national park, if for those that don't know or haven't visited national parks, I didn't know this because we didn't go to any national parks growing up, but your kids can become a junior ranger. They get these booklets and they get badges of the individual parks and they have to learn about nature and about the animals that are there and about the history.   And so that became a thing for the kids. Every place we went, it was like, “Oh, I need a junior ranger badge.” And I mean, they had wooden badges just lining their chest.   Like they were some war hero and they absolutely loved it. And so there's things like that locally in nature parks and stuff. But doing it together.   I mean, that's what it's all about. For me, I watched the guys on TV and I'm like, that guy just went to New Zealand by himself or like watching alone. I'm like, I don't want to do that.   It would be pretty crazy, I feel like. I think everybody needs some type of alone time here and there. But for me, I want to share this stuff with my wife, with my kids, with my buddies.   And so, yeah, that's what it's all about.   Sam Mathews: (54:56 - 55:07) Yeah, like you said, have those stories to tell with your family, of your family members. That way, if something does happen and they pass, you have so much to look back on of the memories you're able to share together.   Laura Dugger: (55:09 - 55:15) Absolutely. And to bring those up and share them with our kids while we are together. They love hearing stories about when they were little.   Sam Mathews: (55:16 - 55:16) Oh, yeah.   Laura Dugger: (55:17 - 55:29) And you guys have taken it a step further where you document it then and preserve. So if we want continued inspiration after this conversation, where can we go to follow you two and your adventures?   Sam Mathews: (55:30 - 56:08) Yes, we do. Our kids love watching our travels and stuff. We share along for videos and stuff on YouTube, Facebook.   But we share our life on every platform. We are Dan and Sam. Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook.   And then Dan has his hunting content over at the Nomadic Outdoorsman. And yeah, we share day-to-day life, what that looks like, lifestyle. But then our travels, our adventures, mom life, welcoming a new baby, our surrogacy journeys, whatever life looks like at that time and how we're enjoying it, what God's teaching us, where we're going.   And we laugh along the way, the encouragement and try to inspire you to live an adventurous, fun-filled life.   Laura Dugger: (56:09 - 56:28) Love it. We'll add links to all of those things in the show notes for today's episode. And you two may already be familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge.   And so, as my final question for both of you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Sam Mathews: (56:31 - 57:15) Ooh, practical knowledge. Let's see. I would say with motherhood, don't think that, I don't know if this would be considered savvy sauce, but it's just a good reminder to myself that as a mom, you may think you're alone in something, you're going through it, and it's just you, but you're not.   You are with a community of people who are feeling the same thing that you're walking through, going through the same thing, and just reminding yourself you're not alone because I think it makes the journey a lot easier to know that there's other people walking through the same season, the same hardship, the same joy, the same trials as you. And it makes life a little bit easier when you feel less alone.   Dan Mathews: (57:16 - 58:26) I think for me, it would be that your kids are going to be an extreme version of what you are. So, if you're showing fear and decisions, if you're hesitant, if you're not trusting the Lord, that's gonna be compounded in their lives. And they're just a more magnified mirror image of what their parents are.   And so, we try to, in everything that we do, go, is this something that's gonna set up our kids for success? And it's not like, oh, we have to have money in the bank for them, you know, for a retirement fund one day or a college fund. I'm talking like everyday lessons.   If I put my phone screen in front of my kids, they're gonna do that more and more and more. If I prioritize things that aren't meant to be prioritized over my wife, they're gonna see that. And so, we try to be very, very clear about what our priorities are.   We try to live intentionally, showing them the right way to do things and being an example to them. And so, yeah, that'd be my savvy sauce.   Laura Dugger: (58:27 - 58:49) I love it. You two are so full of integrity and you definitely shine the love and the light of Jesus brightly by the way that you live. So, I know I'm leaving this conversation feeling very inspired to choose adventure.   And I just wanna say thank you for being my guest today.   Sam Mathews: Thank you so much for having us. It was a joy.   Dan Mathews: (58:49 - 58:50) It was a blast.   Laura Dugger:  (58:52 - 1:02:06) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life?   We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.   If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone.   Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents

Various Texts | JD Summers Married couples are sinners who have joined their lives together. This means that there are real difficulties in marriage, but this does not mean that marriage must be a miserable slog of difficulties and disagreements. God designed marriage as a means of great joy in a multitude of ways. Couples find joy in companionship, in intimacy, and in starting families. Spiritually, God uses marriage to bring joy through sanctification. Our increased joy and holiness bring God glory as married couples reflect Christ's relationship with his bride, the church. Let us find joy in God's gift of marriage!

A new MP3 sermon from The Narrated Puritan is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Mind Being Enlightened Rightly and Spiritually Subtitle: The Religious Affections Speaker: Jonathan Edwards Broadcaster: The Narrated Puritan Event: Audiobook Date: 8/15/2025 Bible: Romans 8:14 Length: 62 min.

An unequaled explanation of what it means to being "led By The Spirit. "Gracious affections arise from the mind being enlightened rightly and spirituality to apprehend divine things. Holy affections are not heat without light; but evermore arise from some information of the understanding, some spiritual instruction that the mind receives, some light or actual knowledge. The child of God is graciously affected, because he sees and understands something more of divine things than he did before, more of God or Christ, and of the glorious things exhibited in the gospel."

Today Fr. Philip offers a reflection on St. Peter's walking on water and the Feast of the Dormition. You can find his blog with this reflection and more in written form at https://easternchristianinsights.blogspot.com/.

Practice the flow of letting go. Spiritually, letting go allows us to trust in a greater plan or the natural unfolding of events. Modern psychological studies show that practicing acceptance and releasing the need to control others and situations significantly reduces stress and anxiety. WELCOME TO THIS WEEK'S SERIES: THE UNCONDITIONAL HEART: TURNING ANGER INTO POSITIVE ENERGY This series is your guide to transforming the energy of anger into something powerful and positive. We'll explore spiritual insights and practices rooted in the chakra system, a concept in Eastern traditions that describes energetic centers in the body. We'll move from the core of your power to the wellspring of your creativity, culminating in the limitless compassion of your heart. This is day 4 of a 7-day meditation series, "The Unconditional Heart: Turning Anger into Positive Energy," episodes 3360-3369. YOUR WEEKLY CHALLENGE Acts of Compassion Quest: For the next seven days, practice one small act of self-compassion and one act of gratitude each day. This could be as simple as acknowledging your own humanity when you make a mistake and consciously listing one thing you are thankful for. YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY DURING THIS WEEK'S SERIES Day 1:   Releasing Anger Visualization Day 2:  Affirmation: "I give thanks to this present moment." Day 3:  Flowing River Breath Day 4:  Mudra to Trust Yourself Day 5:  Second chakra flow meditation Day 6: Flow meditation combining the week's techniques Day 7:  Weekly review meditation and closure SHARE YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEDITATORS Let's connect and inspire each other! Please share a little about how meditation has helped you by reaching out to me at Mary@SipandOm.com or better yet -- direct message me on https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om. We'd love to hear about your meditation ritual!  WAYS TO SUPPORT THE DAILY MEDITATION PODCAST SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss a single episode. Consistency is the KEY to a successful meditation ritual. SHARE the podcast with someone who could use a little extra support. I'd be honored if you left me a podcast review. If you do, please email me at Mary@sipandom.com and let me know a little about yourself and how meditation has helped you. I'd love to share your journey to inspire fellow meditators on the podcast! All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com. FOR DAILY EXTRA SUPPORT OUTSIDE THE PODCAST Each day's meditation techniques are shared at: sip.and.om Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om/ sip and om Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SipandOm/ SIP AND OM MEDITATION APP Looking for a little more support? If you're ready for a more in-depth meditation experience, allow Mary to guide you in daily 30-minute guided meditations on the Sip and Om meditation app. Give it a whirl for 7-days free! Receive access to 2,000+ 30-minute guided meditations customized around a weekly theme to help you manage emotions. Receive a Clarity Journal and a Slow Down Guide customized for each weekly theme.  2-Week's Free Access on iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sip-and-om/id1216664612?platform=iphone&preserveScrollPosition=true#platform/iphone All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com.Let go of repetitive negative thoughts. The beach waves were composed by Mike Koenig. Music composed by Christopher Lloyd Clark licensed by RoyaltyFreeMusic.com, and also by musician Greg Keller.

Continuing our work with the Third Chakra, today's insight is about channeling your life force, or zest, into positive action. Unaddressed anger can be a powerful but destructive energy. When you feel anger, it's often a sign of a boundary crossed or an unmet need. Spiritually, this is an opportunity to assert your will in a healthy way. Psychologically, studies show that channeling intense emotion into productive, goal-oriented activities (like creative work or exercise) can lead to a state of flow, reducing rumination and increasing feelings of accomplishment. WELCOME TO THIS WEEK'S SERIES: THE UNCONDITIONAL HEART: TURNING ANGER INTO POSITIVE ENERGY This series is your guide to transforming the energy of anger into something powerful and positive. We'll explore spiritual insights and practices rooted in the chakra system, a concept in Eastern traditions that describes energetic centers in the body. We'll move from the core of your power to the wellspring of your creativity, culminating in the limitless compassion of your heart. This is day 3 of a 7-day meditation series, "The Unconditional Heart: Turning Anger into Positive Energy," episodes 3360-3369. YOUR WEEKLY CHALLENGE Acts of Compassion Quest: For the next seven days, practice one small act of self-compassion and one act of gratitude each day. This could be as simple as acknowledging your own humanity when you make a mistake and consciously listing one thing you are thankful for. YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY DURING THIS WEEK'S SERIES Day 1:   Releasing Anger Visualization Day 2:  Affirmation: "I give thanks to this present moment." Day 3:  Flowing River Breath Day 4:  Mudra to Trust Yourself Day 5:  Second chakra flow meditation Day 6: Flow meditation combining the week's techniques Day 7:  Weekly review meditation and closure SHARE YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEDITATORS Let's connect and inspire each other! Please share a little about how meditation has helped you by reaching out to me at Mary@SipandOm.com or better yet -- direct message me on https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om. We'd love to hear about your meditation ritual!  WAYS TO SUPPORT THE DAILY MEDITATION PODCAST SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss a single episode. Consistency is the KEY to a successful meditation ritual. SHARE the podcast with someone who could use a little extra support. I'd be honored if you left me a podcast review. If you do, please email me at Mary@sipandom.com and let me know a little about yourself and how meditation has helped you. I'd love to share your journey to inspire fellow meditators on the podcast! All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com. FOR DAILY EXTRA SUPPORT OUTSIDE THE PODCAST Each day's meditation techniques are shared at: sip.and.om Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om/ sip and om Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SipandOm/ SIP AND OM MEDITATION APP Looking for a little more support? If you're ready for a more in-depth meditation experience, allow Mary to guide you in daily 30-minute guided meditations on the Sip and Om meditation app. Give it a whirl for 7-days free! Receive access to 2,000+ 30-minute guided meditations customized around a weekly theme to help you manage emotions. Receive a Clarity Journal and a Slow Down Guide customized for each weekly theme.  2-Week's Free Access on iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sip-and-om/id1216664612?platform=iphone&preserveScrollPosition=true#platform/iphone All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com.Let go of repetitive negative thoughts. The beach waves were composed by Mike Koenig. Music composed by Christopher Lloyd Clark licensed by RoyaltyFreeMusic.com, and also by musician Greg Keller.

Sister, this episode is a beautiful reminder of what happens when you invite God into your health—miracles happen. At 58, Kim Castro was recovering from a car accident, battling body dysmorphia, and hooked on candy and energy drinks. She felt like change wasn't possible… but God had a different story for her. Hear how He broke the chains, renewed her mind, and restored her joy. Kim is now free from food addictions, confident in her body, and more in love with Jesus than ever before. And the best part? What He did for her, He can do for you, too. If you're ready for your own breakthrough and transformation, join us for the next Fit God's Way 30-Day Transformation starting September 11th → https://kimdolanleto.com/fit-gods-way-course Timestamps: 0:00 – Welcome & “Look what God did” 1:15 – Kim's starting point: injured, discouraged, and stuck 3:00 – How God began her transformation 6:00 – The small yes that opened the door to freedom 8:15 – Breaking free from food addictions & body dysmorphia 10:45 – The Scriptures that anchored her journey 13:00 – Encouragement for women on the fence about starting 14:30 – Closing encouragement & prayer If Kim's story blessed you, share it with a friend—you never know whose life God might change through your obedience. Remember, You are Strong. Confident. His. Kim Dolan Leto  Links Mentioned Take the Fit God's Way 30-Day Transformation Start today at your own pace, here: https://kimdolanleto.com/fit-gods-way-course Or join the live experience beginning September 11th with weekly coaching and support: https://kimdolanleto.com/waitlist Join the Fit God's Way Breakthrough Challenge Get unstuck and discover the biblical path to lasting health: https://kimdolanleto.com/breakthrough-challenge Download the Free Christian Weight Loss + Fitness Beginner Guide 3 biblical steps to start your God-first health journey today: https://kimdolanleto.com/christian-weight-loss-fitness-guide Listen to the Strong. Confident. His. Podcast on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strong-confident-his-christian-fitness-health-and/id1504962677 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ymer79UOqIbItrwPJErxC?si=32d524f8c4a74b5d Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/kimdolanletofit Explore all podcast episodes: https://kimdolanleto.com/podcast  

Today on Bold Steps with Pastor Mark Jobe … we’re learning how to get "unstuck" in our spiritual lives. Have you ever been stuck? You know where you should be … but you're unable to move forward … Many people are in this situation in life. Spiritually we can get stuck too. Today Mark explores the story of a woman in Luke 13 who was living life in a “stuck way”. And the only solution was through a much-needed experience with the Savior. You’ll be encouraged as you learn how to walk tall again. Bold Step Gift: MOVING FORWARD AFTER MESSING UP: A NEW FUTURE WITH THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCESBecome a Bold Partner: https://www.moodyradio.org/donateto/boldstepsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Continuing our work with the Third Chakra, today's insight is about channeling your life force, or zest, into positive action. Unaddressed anger can be a powerful but destructive energy. When you feel anger, it's often a sign of a boundary crossed or an unmet need. Spiritually, this is an opportunity to assert your will in a healthy way. Psychologically, studies show that channeling intense emotion into productive, goal-oriented activities (like creative work or exercise) can lead to a state of flow, reducing rumination and increasing feelings of accomplishment. WELCOME TO THIS WEEK'S SERIES: THE UNCONDITIONAL HEART: TURNING ANGER INTO POSITIVE ENERGY This series is your guide to transforming the energy of anger into something powerful and positive. We'll explore spiritual insights and practices rooted in the chakra system, a concept in Eastern traditions that describes energetic centers in the body. We'll move from the core of your power to the wellspring of your creativity, culminating in the limitless compassion of your heart. This is day 2 of a 7-day meditation series, "The Unconditional Heart: Turning Anger into Positive Energy," episodes 3360-3369. YOUR WEEKLY CHALLENGE Acts of Compassion Quest: For the next seven days, practice one small act of self-compassion and one act of gratitude each day. This could be as simple as acknowledging your own humanity when you make a mistake and consciously listing one thing you are thankful for. YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY DURING THIS WEEK'S SERIES Day 1:   Releasing Anger Visualization Day 2:  Affirmation: "I give thanks to this present moment." Day 3:  Flowing River Breath Day 4:  Mudra to Trust Yourself Day 5:  Second chakra flow meditation Day 6: Flow meditation combining the week's techniques Day 7:  Weekly review meditation and closure SHARE YOUR MEDITATION JOURNEY WITH YOUR FELLOW MEDITATORS Let's connect and inspire each other! Please share a little about how meditation has helped you by reaching out to me at Mary@SipandOm.com or better yet -- direct message me on https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om. We'd love to hear about your meditation ritual!  WAYS TO SUPPORT THE DAILY MEDITATION PODCAST SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss a single episode. Consistency is the KEY to a successful meditation ritual. SHARE the podcast with someone who could use a little extra support. I'd be honored if you left me a podcast review. If you do, please email me at Mary@sipandom.com and let me know a little about yourself and how meditation has helped you. I'd love to share your journey to inspire fellow meditators on the podcast! All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com. FOR DAILY EXTRA SUPPORT OUTSIDE THE PODCAST Each day's meditation techniques are shared at: sip.and.om Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.om/ sip and om Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SipandOm/ SIP AND OM MEDITATION APP Looking for a little more support? If you're ready for a more in-depth meditation experience, allow Mary to guide you in daily 30-minute guided meditations on the Sip and Om meditation app. Give it a whirl for 7-days free! Receive access to 2,000+ 30-minute guided meditations customized around a weekly theme to help you manage emotions. Receive a Clarity Journal and a Slow Down Guide customized for each weekly theme.  2-Week's Free Access on iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sip-and-om/id1216664612?platform=iphone&preserveScrollPosition=true#platform/iphone All meditations are created by Mary Meckley and are her original content. Please request permission to use any of Mary's content by sending an email to Mary@sipandom.com.Let go of repetitive negative thoughts. The beach waves were composed by Mike Koenig. Music composed by Christopher Lloyd Clark licensed by RoyaltyFreeMusic.com, and also by musician Greg Keller.

On this Gospel Study, Jana Spangler guides listeners through some of the more despairing passages of the D&C and put it in context of spiritual seeking and embracing the dark and the light. Jana Spangler… The post Spiritually Seeking: Gospel Study with Jana Spangler appeared first on Dialogue Journal.

On this Gospel Study, Jana Spangler guides listeners through some of the more despairing passages of the D&C and put it in context of spiritual seeking and embracing the dark and the light. Jana Spangler… The post Spiritually Seeking: Gospel Study with Jana Spangler appeared first on Dialogue Journal.

In an attempt to defend her brother Mike Bickle, Lisa Stribling preached a sermon that excuses sin, shames victims, and shields abusers.

We made it, friends!

Minister Sino Agueze is a radical missionary for Christ. He challenges all Christiana with this episode that highlights the great commission in every believer's life! Must watch! M633Websit: https://www.633movement.comFacebook:   / sinoagueze  Instagram:   / m633movement  YouTube:    / m633movement  https://www.633movement.com/event-det...StoreBooks: https://www.sinoagueze.com/category/b...All Products: https://www.sinoagueze.com/category/a...Sino AguezeWebsite: https://www.sinoagueze.com/Facebook:   / sino.agueze.1  Instagram:   / sinoagueze  Join this channel to get access to perks:   / @weneed2talktv  GO DEEPER W/ COMMUNITY https://family.godsvoicetoday.comFinancially Support this Podcast:$TheAzonwusPayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...Zelle: fwdprodinc@gmail.com PayPal: Submit Your Story for a chance to feature - Email short video to: TheAzonwus@gmail.comSocial media: Wordsbyezekiel Thisisglory Weneed2talkexpSign up for The Azonwus relationship coaching waitlist:Listen to all podcast episodes:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TKwMpq...Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Join Band of Brothers Men's Grouphttps://bandofbrothersintl.org/Book Us for an Event: http://www.wordsbyezekiel.com/bookeze...Merch: Shop — WORDS BY EZEKIELThe Azonwus Books: The Whole Woman https://a.co/d/jioxLDuThe Whole Man https://a.co/d/ejIGSqI

Message by Pastor Mat - August 9, 2025 Apologetics, Debate, Bible Discussions, Evangelism, and much more Discerning the fruits of the Spirit vs the fruits of self - Mark 7:5-23 "The mystic fruit bowl" - https://youtu.be/kw7QiLQMQ_M?si=356Fx_r9ohUeTLwjThe Deity of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation - https://www.youtube.com/live/gquqBQIL_0U?si=7zmPLi1X0CcW-v7f(Discussing discipleship) Bible study on Luke 9:60-62 "Let the dead bury the dead" - https://www.youtube.com/live/BkWtkOrEs-Q?si=y-zyqNGfWi3kzVu2To know more on how to be saved, what are the requirements and such, please see our playlist on the Gospel and Eternal Security (assurance of salvation) - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3pJdCnnwrEeCQOCTTmDW1GjUYxpd44DG&si=_rT-lThl0klHt5Cd Our Ministries Website - https://christiancoffeetime.ca/ 1John 5:20) "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." - Intro Music: A Flourish by Niya is licensed under a Creative Commons License.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...Support by RFM - NCM: https://bit.ly/2xGHypM -

Lisa Stribling's sermon defending her brother Mike Bickle ignited backlash. Now IHOPKC insiders expose its troubling theology and impact on abuse survivors.

Chris has fights addiction and finally gets saved and an encounter where he sees what lust does in the spirit.YouTube description The Azonwus:Join this channel to get access to perks:   / @weneed2talktv  GO DEEPER W/ COMMUNITY https://family.godsvoicetoday.comFinancially Support this Podcast:$TheAzonwusPayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...Submit Your Story for a chance to feature - Email short video to: TheAzonwus@gmail.comSocial media: Wordsbyezekiel Thisisglory Weneed2talkexpSign up for The Azonwus relationship coaching waitlist:Listen to all podcast episodes:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TKwMpq...Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Join Band of Brothers Men's Grouphttps://bandofbrothersintl.org/Book Us for an Event: http://www.wordsbyezekiel.com/bookeze...Merch: Shop — WORDS BY EZEKIELThe Azonwus Books: The Whole Woman https://a.co/d/jioxLDuThe Whole Man https://a.co/d/ejIGSqI

What to do When We Feel Spiritually Dull : Song of Solomon Part 2 : Pastor Raef Chenery : 08-03-25 by Park Community Church

Join us for a deep dive into the world of Tony Robbins—the world-renowned self-help guru whose influence reaches millions. We're asking the hard questions: 

It's like Lion King 1 1/2 (or Platform 9 3/4) but better! Spiritually Ever After is back with a brand new series: SEA Shorts. These shorter episodes (the goal is < 15 min) will feature magical wisdom riffs, quick rants on Disney news, important updates in Kitty's world and more. This first SEA Short dives into why it's been a bit since the last episode and what to expect from the podcast moving forward. This episode covers:* Current Spiritually Ever After podcast stats (hint: you all are amazing, THANK YOU) * The new project that has been keeping Kitty from SEA * Which of Kitty's events have included children, turtles, and goats

Spiritually speaking, our priorities are like the thermostat in our home. no matter how good our heating and air conditioning system is, if the thermostat is messed up, the heating and air conditioning are all but worthless. our priorities are the same. when our priorities are off, our spiritual walk is off. when our priorities are in order, everything else will line up.

Earlier this year, FaithFi had the opportunity to sit down with Tim Tebow—Heisman Trophy winner, former NFL quarterback, and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation. But this wasn't a conversation about championships or accolades. Instead, it focused on the moments that most people would rather forget—the painful setbacks that God can use to shape something far greater than we could ever have imagined.Tim Tebow is a Heisman Trophy winner, former NFL quarterback, and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving vulnerable children and individuals with disabilities through initiatives such as Night to Shine, orphan care, medical outreach, anti-human trafficking efforts, and support for children with profound medical needs.The Loss That Sparked a PromiseOne of those moments came during the 2008 college football season, when the University of Florida suffered an unexpected loss to Ole Miss. It's a game many fans remember, but for Tebow, it was deeply personal.As the team's quarterback and leader, he took responsibility—not just for the plays on the field, but for the team's mindset, culture, and lack of focus. “We thought we had it in the bag,” he recalled. But after falling behind and ultimately missing a critical extra point, the Gators were handed a humbling defeat.That moment set the stage for what became one of the most iconic press conferences in college football history—Tebow's passionate promise that the team would never be outworked again. What few saw, however, was the deeper soul-searching that happened behind the scenes. It was a moment of internal reckoning and spiritual clarity.Released, Then RedirectedA more recent setback came in 2021, when Tebow signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was released after just one preseason game. “I knew all the right truths,” he said, “but I wasn't fully living them out. My ego was wrapped up in it.”Shortly afterward, news broke of the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan, triggering a humanitarian crisis. As the situation unfolded, the Tim Tebow Foundation mobilized to respond. Tim flew to the Middle East, where he spent time serving in a refugee camp amidst chaos and suffering.Looking back, he sees God's timing clearly. “If I hadn't been cut, I wouldn't have been there. I wouldn't have been free to do what I was really called to do—care for the most vulnerable.” What looked like a professional failure turned out to be a divine redirection.A Calling Rooted in CompassionThe heart behind the Tim Tebow Foundation was planted years earlier, when a 15-year-old Tim met a boy in the jungles of the Philippines. The boy had been born with his feet on backwards and was viewed by many as cursed or disposable.“I knew God didn't see him that way,” Tim said. “But I also felt like God was asking me, ‘If you know this boy matters to Me, what are you going to do about it?'”That moment became the driving force behind the foundation's mission: to bring faith, hope, and love to those in need of a brighter day in their darkest hour. Today, that mission plays out through global efforts in orphan care, anti-human trafficking, medical outreach, and Night to Shine—a worldwide prom event celebrating individuals with special needs.From Success to Eternal SignificanceTebow also offered a powerful challenge: What are we really chasing—success or significance?“Success is about us. Significance is about others. But in God's economy, He allows us to turn our success—our platform, influence, and resources—into something that matters eternally.”He referenced Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice.” The question becomes, are our achievements causing others to rejoice, or are they only benefiting ourselves?This mindset starts with a proper view of ownership. “If we believe what we have is ours, we'll hold it tightly. But if we believe it's God's, we'll live open-handed. We're stewards, not owners.”And when it comes to investing, Tebow offered a new take on ROI: “What if ROI didn't just mean ‘return on investment,' but ‘rescuing of image-bearers'? Spiritually, emotionally, eternally—investing in people who matter to God.”To anyone in the middle of a setback, Tebow pointed to a deep truth rooted in Scripture: “Do you really believe that God works all things together for good?” (Romans 8:28). Even this heartbreak? Even this moment?He reminded listeners that God is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18), and when we can't understand His plan, we can still trust His heart—because His love has already been proven at the cross.On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:My husband and I own a condo that we're planning to move out of soon. We're considering two options: renting it out or selling it, which could bring in around $100,000 in profit. Would it be wiser to sell and invest the proceeds or hold onto it as a rental property?My wife has a beneficiary IRA worth approximately $108,000, and she has been required to take distributions from it. I'm trying to understand how a beneficiary IRA differs from a traditional IRA, especially when it comes to how it's managed. Also, she's turning 62 in November—does that milestone change anything about how we should approach this account?Resources Mentioned:Faithful Steward: FaithFi's New Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner)Tim Tebow FoundationWisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on MoneyLook At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and AnxietyRich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich FoolFind a Certified Kingdom Advisor (CKA) or Certified Christian Financial Counselor (CertCFC)FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on the Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. Visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can join the FaithFi Community and give as we expand our outreach.

Hey mama, what do you do when your husband isn't following God—and you feel like you're carrying the spiritual weight of your home all by yourself? In this Spirit-led and deeply honest episode, I'm sharing how to walk in peace even when your marriage feels uneven, your prayers seem unanswered, and you're tired of doing this alone. Here's what we dive into: Why peace doesn't come from your husband's progress—it comes from God's presence How to stop being led by emotions and start being led by the Holy Spirit (especially when fear and anxiety creep in) Why your prayers are powerful and effective—and how to shift the spiritual atmosphere in your home I'll also share a few practical things you can do today to renew your mind, restore your peace, and stand firm in the promises of God—even if your husband hasn't surrendered his life to Jesus yet.

Wil Fisher, also known as Sylvia Wil Gather Rainbow, is a life coach, spiritual healer, and drag queen who loves getting super “woo” and chatting with fascinating folks about all things spiritually queer and queerly spiritual. Wil's mission is to support GBTQ men on their journeys toward self-love, authenticity, and profound fulfillment. Wil is also the host of the podcast Queerly Beloved, where they have playful and profound interviews with LGBTQIA+ guests working in the field of spirituality and personal growth.If you're interested in joining a free mediumship group session that will be recorded for the podcast, go to juanfranciscospirit.com/podcastgroup.Got thoughts? Send the show a text.

Read OnlineTaking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19–20An important aspect of this miracle that is easy to miss is that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes through His disciples' instrumentality. He did this by inviting them to assist in the distribution of the loaves and in the gathering of the fragments left over. This reveals that God often uses us as mediators of His superabundant graces given to others. Though God could pour forth His mercy directly, most often He does so through others.As you ponder this miracle, try to see yourself as one of the disciples who was invited to distribute the bread to the people. If you were there and were hungry and then were given bread, you would be tempted to eat the bread yourself before giving any away. But Jesus gave the bread to His hungry disciples with the instruction to first give it to others.Sometimes, when God calls us to give His mercy to others, we become selfish. It's easy to think that we must first take care of ourselves and our own needs. We erroneously believe that we can only offer mercy to others after our needs are met. Imagine, for example, if upon receiving the bread from Jesus the disciples would have decided that they should eat of it first. Then, if there was anything extra, they could give it to others. Had they done this, the superabundance of the multiplication of the loaves would not have happened. In the end, the disciples themselves received a superabundance of food—precisely because they first gave away what they had received.Spiritually speaking, the same is true with us. When we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord, our first thought must be to give it away. We must first see all that we receive from God as an opportunity to bestow those blessings upon others. This is the nature of grace. For example, if we are given a sense of peace or joy within our hearts, we must realize that this peace or joy we receive is a gift that must be immediately offered to others. If we are given a spiritual insight into the Scriptures, this is given to us first and foremost to share with others. Every gift we receive from God must be understood as a gift given to us so that we can immediately share it with others. The good news is that when we seek to give away that which we have received, more is given to us and, in the end, we will be far richer.Reflect, today, upon the action of the disciples receiving this food from our Lord and immediately giving it away. See yourself in this miracle, and see the bread as a symbol of every grace you receive from God. What have you received that God wants you to distribute to others? Are there graces you have received that you selfishly try to hold onto? The nature of grace is that it is given to give it to others. Seek to do this with every spiritual gift you receive, and you will find that the graces multiply to the point that you receive more than you could ever imagine.Most generous Lord, You pour forth Your grace and mercy in superabundance. As I receive all that You bestow, please fill my heart with generosity so that I will never hesitate to offer Your mercy to others. Please use me as Your instrument, dear Lord, so that, through me, You may abundantly feed others. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Jacopo Tintoretto, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Send us a textColby Wilk is a spiritual healer, intuitive guide, and transformational coach who helps individuals break through emotional and energetic blockages to awaken their innate power and potential. Through a combination of energy work, intuitive insight, and somatic practices, he guides clients in reconnecting with their higher selves, clearing past trauma, and stepping into greater alignment with their purpose. Based in Seattle, Colby offers private sessions, group workshops, and online resources to support personal healing, spiritual growth, and embodiment of one's authentic self.www.ColbyWilk.comResources:www.SoulAwakeningStore.comwww.claudiumurgan.comclaudiu@claudiumurgan.comhttps://spirituallyinspired.buzzsprout.comSubscribe for more videos! youtube.com/channel/UC6RlLkzUK_LdyRSV7DE6obQSupport the show

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.”_________________________________Join me on the 'gram! Get free recipes and tips delivered right to your inbox every Friday!Learn more about your options for working 1:1 with me: https://www.revivewellness.health/services Schedule a free call with me hereTry Syntrax! To try to the most delicious, gluten free, lactose free "top of the line" whey isolate AND save 25% use the code "syntraxallison" at checkout.Want some FREE LMNT? Use this link for a FREE sample pack with any order!Better Bodies discount code "BB15" at checkout to save 15% on my favorite betterbodies gear! Save 10% on PureFactorFormulations supplements with my code "Revive10" at checkout!

This is What Happens Spiritually When You Play THESE GamesFor More Information Visit pastorvlad.orgChapters0:00 - Intro0:34 - 1. Entertainment is not all neutral1:20 - 2. Some games glorify darkness2:39 - What demons watch out for3:59 - 3. Distraction is also a strategy4:57 - 4. Ask these questions before playing6:29 - Call to action 7:25 - Outro

Every night, join Father Joseph Matlak as he ends the day with prayer and reflection. In a few short minutes, and using the Douay-Rheims psalter for his reflections, Father Matlak guides you in prayer and shares a brief reflection and a thorough examination of conscience providing you with the encouragement necessary to go forward with peace and strength. ________________

Ever wondered if your home could be spiritually “off”? In this eye-opening episode, Doug Overmyer returns to take us deep into his book Peace in Your House. We get into everything from spiritual atmospheres and demonic influence to identity, repentance, and practical steps to cleansing your home and land. Doug breaks down the difference between praying a prayer and living in authority, talks angels (and why they're not your spiritual butlers), and dives into the role of worship and fasting in spiritual warfare. With loads of insight, honesty, and a healthy dose of discernment, this one's a must-listen for anyone serious about walking in spiritual freedom.Click to Join the upcoming Book Study with Doug!Sign up is FREEPeace in Your House book--https://amzn.to/4lpUtk4Seers See book --https://amzn.to/3XUviMChttps://www.youtube.com/@seersseeEpisode 123 To See or Not to See

Every night, join Father Joseph Matlak as he ends the day with prayer and reflection. In a few short minutes, and using the Douay-Rheims psalter for his reflections, Father Matlak guides you in prayer and shares a brief reflection and a thorough examination of conscience providing you with the encouragement necessary to go forward with peace and strength. ________________

In today's conversation, we tackle three words to help you grow spiritually—and they may be new to you! The words are: orthodoxy, orthopraxy, and orthopathy. Though these seem like big, weighty theological terms, we break them down and provide ways to practically incorporate these concepts into your walk with the Lord. Understanding these three words will help us to reorient our hearts and passions to align with the truths of Scripture. We pray this episode will deepen your love for God and His Word.   Sign up for the Daily Grace Podcast Newsletter and receive the free resource "Scripture for Every Season.”   Favorite Thing: Fur slippers Glasses with bamboo lids and straws   Resources mentioned in this episode:    Lent Bible Study The Thrill of Orthodoxy Living Theologically Article by R. Paul Stevens Be Thou My Vision Apostles' Creed Nicene Creed Athanasian Creed Westminster Shorter Catechism   Connect with us:  The Daily Grace Co. | Facebook | Instagram | Daily Grace Blog |  

Trusting God to Guide Us Through Painful UnknownsWhen life feels like a dark, uncertain path, Isaiah 42:16 reminds us that we are never walking it alone. In this deeply personal devotional, Jennifer Slattery shares how God restored her marriage and led her and her husband through a season of brokenness they couldn’t fix on their own. Through Scripture and raw testimony, we’re reminded that God will guide you, even when the road ahead is unfamiliar and painful. His promises hold firm—even when we can’t see what’s next. ✨ Highlights: God lights the way in darkness – Isaiah 42:16 offers hope for those feeling lost or stuck. Faith in hard times leads to spiritual healing – God doesn’t just show the way, He walks with us. Healing in marriage is possible – Even toxic patterns can be restored by divine intervention. We don’t have to have it all figured out – Trusting God through uncertainty brings peace and direction. God’s promises are personal – He meets us in our pain and leads us forward with grace.

Over the past six months, I've spent a lot of time working in my yard—not because it's beautiful or easy to care for, but because it's where God unexpectedly met me. Between the weeds, the rocky soil, and a hose that never cooperates, I began to experience God as a gardener. What started as a to-do list to improve my yard became a sacred space for healing and connection with the Lord. I realized that working in the dirt became deeply spiritual. It taught me how God speaks through the most ordinary things—soil, sun, weeds, and even a leaky hose. One of the first powerful lessons I learned was about the garden hose. If there's a kink, the water won't flow—just like our spiritual lives. We can be doing all the right things—going to Mass, praying, reading Scripture—but if we're holding onto fear, shame, sin, resentment, or busyness, the grace of God can't flow through us fully. Leaks in the hose reminded me of trying to give to others while running on empty, leading to burnout, irritability, and emotional exhaustion. God used that leaky hose to show me that healing comes first—before we pour out to others, we must allow His grace to fill and restore us. Another lesson: not all weeds are ugly. Some look like good plants, even beautiful, but they choke out real growth. Spiritually, that means not everything that appears “good” is of God. I've had to discern what's life-giving versus what's distracting. Sometimes, good things—like serving in ministry or taking on new responsibilities—aren't meant for this season. As midlife women navigating change, it's vital to pause and ask: is this drawing me closer to Christ or pulling me away? By slowing down, praying, journaling, and inviting the Holy Spirit in, I've started to recognize the weeds I need to release in order to grow a more fruitful and grace-filled life. Jennie Guinn is a Catholic life coach, retreat leader, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. With over 26 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and Director of Religious Education, she is passionate about walking with midlife women through life's transitions—especially those that come from unexpected changes in relationships, identity, or purpose. A devoted mother of three grown sons and proud grandmother of two, Jennie creates sacred spaces where women can encounter the love of the Father, be transformed by the Holy Spirit, so they can magnify Christ in their everyday lives. Jennie is the host of the Catholic Moms in the Middle podcast and a featured voice on Nashville Catholic Radio and Radio Maria USA, where she shares encouragement and faith-filled wisdom with women navigating the twists and turns of midlife.

From the archives - it's the best of “Seeing others as Jesus sees them” podcast - summer edition:We all need corrective lenses to see clearly, spiritually speaking. God wants to help us see others the way He does, which is when we can truly be the hands and feet of Jesus. In today's devotion, Gene challenges us this week to do something to intentionally “...serve one another in love.” Gal. 5:13

Send us a textAbraham's family isn't defined by bloodlines, DNA, or ethnicity – it's determined solely by faith. This eye-opening exploration of Galatians 3:6-8 challenges prevalent misconceptions about who truly belongs in God's family.When Paul writes that "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness," he establishes the prototype for justification by faith alone. The startling truth? "Being Jewish means nothing" regarding salvation. The physical land in the Middle East? Spiritually meaningless compared to the faith that connects believers to Abraham.We dive deep into the forensic nature of justification – how Abraham's belief was credited to his account as righteousness, wiping away his spiritual debt. This legal transaction is what happens for every true believer, regardless of heritage. As one panel member powerfully states, justification means we're treated "just as if we had never sinned."Why do so many Christians struggle with this message? Perhaps because we get "bored" with the simplicity of faith. We create elaborate religious systems to feel we're contributing something to our salvation when God requires only faith – a faith that itself is His gift to us.The implications are revolutionary. There's no spiritual distinction between ethnic groups in God's economy. All humanity stands equally condemned without Christ and equally blessed through faith. This is God's true vision of equality – not based on human categories but on our relationship to Christ.If you're tired of religious performance and hungry for the liberating truth of grace, join us for this profound discussion about what it truly means to be part of Abraham's family affair. Discover why salvation is "about a work that only God can do" and why that's the best news you'll ever hear.Support the show

Date: July 20, 2025 Podcast Description: In spiritual warfare, every piece of armor matters—and that includes your shoes. In The Shoes of Peace, we dive into Ephesians 6:15 to understand how the Gospel of peace provides the stability and readiness we need to stand firm against the enemy's attacks. Whether it's tap shoes, cowboy boots, or hiking boots, the right footwear makes all the difference. Spiritually, it's the same. Peace with God—and the peace of God—give us strength to stand in life's hardest battles. Discover how knowing Jesus brings unshakable peace, even in uncertain times. Because with Him, you weren't meant to live defeated. You were made to overcome.

EVEN MORE about this episode!What if stress could be your doorway to enlightenment? Join us for an inspiring conversation with mindfulness pioneer Laurence Bibas, as she reveals how meditation can do more than just relax you—it can awaken your inner light. After a life-shifting loss, Laurence turned to mindfulness and Tibetan Buddhism, discovering a path to profound self-connection, joy, and spiritual empowerment.Together, we explore how tuning into the body's subtle signals can unlock emotional healing and lasting transformation. Learn how simple shifts in awareness, like using an “activation phrase,” can rewire your inner dialogue and break free from the pressures of perfection and self-judgment.If you're ready to move beyond coping and step into clarity, presence, and purpose—this episode is your gateway. Don't miss this soul-stirring journey into the power of mindfulness to heal, elevate, and liberate.Guest Biography:Laurence Bibas is a pioneer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in France, with over 25 years of experience in Tibetan meditation and other wisdom traditions. A passionate speaker and author of Manuel de Mindfulness and Ne s'attendre à rien, être prêt à tout, she shares an authentic and joyful path to self-awareness. Her latest book, The Great Return to Self, invites readers to reconnect with the deep beauty of their innate nature.Episode Chapters:(0:00:01) - Exploring Enlightenment and Joyful Scouting(0:15:10) - Discovering Mindfulness and Inner Peace(0:34:33) - Uncovering Inner Wisdom and Spiritual Growth(0:49:31) - Body Wisdom and Healing Meditation➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Español YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Português YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Deutsch YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Français YouTube✏️Ask Julie a Question!

Send us a textWe explore the powerful ROI of spiritual practices for entrepreneurs, revealing how meditation isn't just a tool for success but is itself the success you're seeking. • Spiritual alignment is the ultimate success – like sitting on a box of gold coins while asking how to become wealthy• Most entrepreneurs are either surrounded by spiritually dead colleagues or are the lone ambitious person in their network• Starting your day with meditation instead of checking emails creates natural flow and synchronicity in your business• Ideas and creative downloads often come in the quiet moments after meditation, from a place of non-forcing• Breaking the "do-everything-preneur" syndrome by harmonizing your skills and learning to relinquish control• Treating even mundane business tasks as spiritual practice – emails, logistics, and details become acts of surrender• The paradox: when you prioritize spiritual alignment, external business success follows naturally• Escape velocity comes from divine flow, not just grinding harderApply to join the 8am World, our members club for creative entrepreneurs who want to grow while staying spiritually aligned. DM me @arlin on Instagram with the words "8am world" or visit 8amapp.com to get the free Ascension Manual and apply. Support the showConnect with me on IG: @arlin and Apply to 8AM Worldwww.8AMapp.com

Life After Medicine is evolving — and it's time to officially introduce what's next.In this final chapter of the Aligned Pivot series, you'll hear the full story behind the rebrand and what The Spiritually Ambitious truly means. You'll learn:* The 4 core pillars that help you build a business that feels like YOU.* How spirituality and ambition can feed each other in a fulfilling and transformative way. * How to be part of this next chapterListen now to understand the vision behind Spiritually Ambitious — and why it might just be your next chapter, too.If you want to join us to kickoff The Spiritually Ambitious… you'll want to sign up for Aligned Income : a 5 day training to turn your inner knowing into income that feels like YOU. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit spirituallyambitious.substack.com

“What does your soul really want to say?”

Send us a textFrom Deities to Deep Throats: A Stellar Ride with Mina BrowerGods who beg. Dreams that fuck. Grief, guilt, and galaxy-sized smut.In this unholy episode, debut indie baddie Mina Brower takes us on a wild ride through A God of Moonlight and Stardust, her slow-burn, soul-punching romantasy where a haunted heroine is torn between two powerful men: one who mourns her, one who dreams of her, and both who want to ruin her in ways that are… spiritually devastating.We go deep (in every sense) on writing trauma with tenderness, slipping spice into celestial settings, and the anatomy of a good "squelch" scene. Plus, Mina spills the behind-the-scenes filth—including dream threesomes, villain worship, clit-sucking commentary, and why the word “grind” should win a Pulitzer.Featuring a “Sip & Strip” segment that had us sweating and a quote so filthy it nearly broke the transcript.Spoiler-free. Spiritually feral. Galactic thirst turned all the way up. You're not ready—but press play anyway.GRAB YOUR COPY OF: A God of Moonlight and Stardust!✨ Follow Mina: @minabrowerauthor 

Join Pastor Derek Neider in this inspiring episode of The Daily Devotional as he kicks off a powerful new series on the book of Romans. In today's devotional, Derek introduces us to one of the most theologically rich books of the Bible, unpacking the significance of the apostle Paul's words and the gospel's eternal message.In this first chapter, Derek dives deep into Paul's self-description as a servant of Christ and a chosen messenger of God's good news. Through thoughtful reflections, Derek encourages us to embrace our calling to serve Christ wholeheartedly and live out our faith with purpose and surrender.Tune in for insightful teachings, practical application, and a fresh perspective on what it means to live as servants of the gospel. This is just the beginning—there's so much more to come as we journey through Romans together!Thank you for listening! Here are some ways to learn more and stay connected!New to faith? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about Pastor Derek Neider⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Derek on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the daily devotional⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore recent messages!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast was created by Pastor Derek Neider as a ministry of Awaken Las Vegas.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠our website. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠We are located at 7175 W. Oquendo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89113.  Our gathering times are 9am & 11am Sundays and 6:30pm Thursdays.

Are you one of the spiritually lost men searching for deeper meaning and healing?In this powerful episode of the Spiritual Fitness podcast, Eric Bigger explores why so many men feel disconnected—and how embracing vulnerability and the feminine within is the key to growth. He shares personal stories, lessons from mentoring young men, and practical steps to help you soften into your heart and evolve spiritually.If you're ready to reclaim your inner power, this conversation is your guide.In this episode: Men feel lost when they reject their feminine side Many turn to online mentors for guidance True growth comes from integrating masculinity and spirituality Eric shares simple practices for spiritual awareness Spiritual growth improves trust and connection with womenShop IYLA: https://iylia.com/Use promo code EB20 for IYLIA champagne, offering 20% off on orders up to $200Check out Miracle Season's collection: https://itsmiracleseason.co/collections/frontpageWork with me: https://www.ericbigger.com/workwithme?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=work_with_m...Connect with Simplified Impact: https://hubs.ly/Q02vvMJ90

Hi friends, What is the one thing you strongly desire God to change in your life? That question stopped me in my tracks. I've prayed for God to move in a lot of areas—but this time, I couldn't ignore the deeper layers. I started searching Scripture, especially around obedience, surrender, and sacrifice… and what I found brought conviction and clarity. This episode is for the woman who's been praying for change—asking God to fix something, to lift a burden, or to bring breakthrough. But what if the change you're praying for isn't the change God is after? What if we've been praying about the symptom, and God wants to get to the root? In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, I share what I learned through Scripture about spiritual clutter—things like pride, fear, control, performance, and the pressure to be someone we were never called to be. And it all leads to one honest, life-shifting question: Have you truly had a real encounter with Christ? If your life feels cluttered—your space, your schedule, your soul—I hope this conversation helps you pause, reflect, and get honest with God about what you're really longing for. Scriptures (KJV 1611): Ecclesiastes 12, Mark 8:34, Philippians 4:11–13, 19, Deuteronomy 6:5, Acts 9:1–22