Podcasts about Won

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: 5:05pm- Sarah Parshall Perry—Vice President of Defending Education & Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss her latest editorial for National Review, “We Sued an Ohio School District over Preferred Pronouns and Won.” You can find the article here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/11/we-sued-an-ohio-school-district-over-preferred-pronouns-and-won/. 5:30pm- Stacy Garrity—Pennsylvania Treasurer & Republican Candidate for Governor—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss her call for an investigation into how a suspected Uzbekistan terrorist obtained a CDL driver's license issued by PennDOT under Gov. Josh Shapiro's leadership. 5:40pm- Following their meeting at the White House, President Trump said he believes that conservatives might be pleasantly surprised by some of Zohran Mamdani's planned actions as mayor. While taking questions from the press, Mamdani was asked whether he regrets calling President Trump a “despot” during his recent mayoral campaign. Trump joked, “I've been called worse.” Meanwhile, Mamdani said that their Oval Office meeting was constructive, focusing on areas of agreement—like bringing peace to the Middle East. Mamdani noted that one in ten Trump voters in NYC also voted for him.

The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Show (11/21/2025): 3:05pm- On Friday, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House. Will there be fireworks? 3:30pm- Kathleen Lochel—Co-owner Lochel Bakery in Hatboro, Pennsylvania—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the unfair backlash her bakery has received for simply offering her customers a Trump-themed gingerbread house for the holidays! You can order your holiday desserts from Lochel Bakery or learn more about the store here: https://www.lochelsbakery.com/. 3:40pm- Following their meeting at the White House, President Trump said he believes that conservatives might be pleasantly surprised by some of Zohran Mamdani's planned actions as mayor. While taking questions from the press, Mamdani was asked whether he regrets calling President Trump a “despot” during his recent mayoral campaign. Trump joked, “I've been called worse.” Meanwhile, Mamdani said that their Oval Office meeting was constructive, focusing on areas of agreement—like bringing peace to the Middle East. Mamdani noted that one in ten Trump voters in NYC also voted for him. 4:00pm- While speaking with the press from the Oval Office, President Trump said he would be comfortable living in New York City with Zohran Mamdani as mayor—noting they have far more in common than he would have thought prior to their meeting. Also, Mamdani confirmed that he would be retaining Jessica Tisch as NYC Police Commissioner—she's a good friend of Ivanka Trump. Did Trump and Mamdani just become friends? 4:30pm- On Thursday, several Democratic lawmakers—Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly, Rep. Jason Crow, Rep. Maggie Goodlander, Rep. Chris Deluzio, and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan—released a video to social media imploring service members and intelligence officials to disobey “illegal” orders issued by President Donald Trump. Though, they never once mentioned what the orders might hypothetically be. In a post to Truth Social, President Trump stated: “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” He added, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” 5:05pm- Sarah Parshall Perry—Vice President of Defending Education & Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss her latest editorial for National Review, “We Sued an Ohio School District over Preferred Pronouns and Won.” You can find the article here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/11/we-sued-an-ohio-school-district-over-preferred-pronouns-and-won/. 5:30pm- Stacy Garrity—Pennsylvania Treasurer & Republican Candidate for Governor—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss her call for an investigation into how a suspected Uzbekistan terrorist obtained a CDL driver's license issued by PennDOT under Gov. Josh Shapiro's leadership. 5:40pm- Following their meeting at the White House, President Trump said he believes that conservatives might be pleasantly surprised by some of Zohran Mamdani's planned actions as mayor. While taking questions from the press, Mamdani was asked whether he regrets calling President Trump a “despot” during his recent mayoral campaign. Trump joked, “I've been called worse.” Meanwhile, Mamdani said that their Oval Office meeting was constructive, focusing on areas of agreement—like bringing peace to the Middle East. Mamdani noted that one in ten Trump voters in NYC also voted for him. 6:00pm- Don't fight with family members over politics at Thanksgiving dinner, Mamdani flies to Washington DC instead of taking the train (isn't that bad for the environment?), and Rich is making pizza! 6:30pm- Hours before Zohran Mamdani's visit to the White House, the House of Representatives passed a resolution denouncing the “horrors of socialism.” The bipartisan vote was 285 to 98. 6:40pm- Rich Zeoli Flashback: From 2015, Rich gets into an argument at the mall over Santa Claus's not so jolly sche ...

Today's Oddcast - Talking Lamar - Thanksgiving Movie Menu (Airdate 11/21/2025)   Don't skip over to Christmas just yet! Whether you're gathered with your family or have low-key holiday plans, Lamar shares his list of favorite movies to watch during Thanksgiving.   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Troy Weatherhead from the class of 2011 was known for his accuracy and leadership at quarterback for the Chargers. The former All-American and GLIAC Player of the Year is one of the newest members of Hillsdale College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Once a standout on the football field, he now succeeds in the medical sales field as Senior Director of Global Marketing for Stryker Sage. ------ Informative. Inspirational. Uplifting. Those are the goals of the White and Blue podcast. We are here to tell the interesting stories of Hillsdale College alumni, who number more than 15,000 strong. Our guests will share about their time and experiences while on campus, and also the impact they have had on the world since graduating. What makes the Hillsdale College graduate unique? We will explore that question and more, including how alumni have impacted the past, present, and future of the College. Won’t you join us?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a season of Stillness, but I'm still here. ❤️‍

In this special episode, we celebrate the leadership of 2025 MAR President Gena Nolan and her inspiring year built around the theme "Won't You Be Our Neighbor?"—a year focused on connection, collaboration, and community across Mississippi REALTORS®. We also welcome 2026 MAR President DeShawn Davis, who shares his vision for the year ahead and his theme, MAR Forward. As we move into MAR's 101st year, DeShawn's focus is on propelling our members forward, building on our strong foundation while embracing fresh opportunities, and creating innovation for the next century. Tune in as DeShawn discusses how MAR Forward will honor our legacy, empower our members, and set the course for the next century of REALTOR® leadership in Mississippi.

Today's Oddcast - We Owe You Everything (Airdate 11/17/2025)   We're still in shock over all the support you've given us for our induction into the Radio Hall of Fame, especially everyone who secretly donated to a GoFundMe to help us cover the costs of travel to the induction ceremony.    The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

KITH your money goodbye! The acronymic apparel brand brings Hasbro and Jada Toys together to make the ugliest Marvel vs. Capcom toys since ToyBiz. Plus, the most influential creators in our hobby aren't tariff-fied to jump into the already crowded independent toy market. And Paramount cancels Tales of the TMNT, meanwhile while Mondo is soliciting a $250 1/6 scale Donatello action figure. Won't somebody please think of the children… and their poor parents! It's The Reluctant Adult Podcast. Email TheReluctantAdultPodcast@gmail.com TikTok @TheReluctantAdultPodcast Instagram @TheReluctantAdultPodcast Facebook The Reluctant Adult Podcast YouTube The Reluctant Adult Podcast Paul's eBay Auctions Save 10% with code RAP101 at New Meta Save and get Free Shipping from Entertainment Earth

The Greatest Command — Mark 12:28–34 Culture of Gospel One of the things we want as a church is to grow in our ability to share about Jesus with those who don't know Jesus. Use this summary statement to share with someone in your life who doesn't know Jesus: “Jesus isn't inviting you into cold religion or a list of demands—He's inviting you into the kind of love that reshapes your life from the inside out. The God of the universe doesn't want your performance; He wants your heart. Sermon Summary Introduction Coleton opens by naming the central question every follower of Jesus must answer: What matters most to God?  Not: What matters most to Christians, churches, or religious culture… but what matters most to God Himself. Jesus answers that question directly in Mark 12. And Coleton's goal is simple: To show what God values most. To show why it matters. To show what this means for our church and for each person individually. 1. What Matters Most to God? Mark 12:29–30 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'” The most important thing to God is that you love Him.  Not that you serve Him. Not that you behave correctly. Not that you meet moral standards. Not that you avoid sin. Love is the highest command. What Most People Think Matters Most to God Coleton names the most common assumptions Christians carry: “God mostly wants me to get saved.” “God mostly wants me to stop sinning.” “God mostly wants me to pray more, read more, go to church more.” “God mostly wants me to serve the poor, give money, volunteer, or be more missional.” All important. But not most important. Jesus' Rebuke of Ephesus—Proof That Good Works ≠ Love Revelation 2:2–5 “I know your deeds… Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first… Repent.” This church was doctrinally strong. Morally clean. Active in service. Enduring hardship. Doing everything “right.”  And Jesus still says: You do not love Me anymore.  And failing to love Him is so serious that Jesus warns: “If you do not repent, I will remove your lampstand.” God cares more about your affection for Him than the actions you perform in His name. Key Point Doing things for God is not the same as loving God. 2. Why This Matters: Love for God Shapes Who You Become One of the main reasons this is the greatest command is because love is what transforms you. God wants His people to be: Compassionate Generous Sacrificial Humble Pure Joyful Loving toward neighbor and enemy But these things don't come from effort or trying harder. They grow naturally out of love. Illustration: Coleton and Rainey's Early Relationship When they were dating long-distance: He drove 8 hours overnight just to spend a few hours with her. He wrote letters daily. He spent money he didn't have to buy her meals and gifts. He thought about her constantly. Why?  Not because she handed him a list of rules.  Because he loved her. Love makes sacrifice a joy.  Love makes devotion natural.  Love makes obedience a delight. This Is What God Wants With You When you love Him… Spending time with Him becomes natural. Sacrificing for Him becomes joy. Worship becomes expression, not obligation. Caring for the poor flows from His heart in yours. Sin loses its power because your love is captured elsewhere. Spurgeon Quote (used by Coleton) “Jesus loved you when you lived carelessly… when you were hiding your every sin… even when you were at hell's gate… Think of His great love towards you… and your love will grow.” Why Other Commands Aren't “Most Important” Because all of them grow out of the soil of love for God.  Love is the tree—everything else is fruit. 3. What This Means for Our Church Coleton gives a strong pastoral warning:  Churches die not because culture changes or neighborhoods shift.  Churches die when they stop loving Jesus. Revelation 2 Revisited Jesus says to Ephesus: “If you do not repent, I will remove your lampstand.” Meaning: I will remove your church.  Not Satan. Not culture.  Jesus Himself. Why?  Because a church that doesn't love Jesus can't represent Jesus. A church that doesn't love Him… Won't love people the way He does. Won't reflect His character. Won't look like Him. Won't be shaped into His image. Won't show the world what God is like. Coleton's Burden He described visiting dying churches—churches with excuses: “The neighborhood changed.” “Young people don't want church.” “Culture is too secular.” No.  The lampstand was removed. He says: “I do not want us to be a church He removes.”  We cannot simply be a church that does many things for God.  We must be a church that loves God. 4. How Do We Grow in Love for God? Jesus tells Ephesus: “Do the things you did at first.” — Revelation 2:5 Coleton's Example: Relearning Love Three years into their relationship, he and Rainey “fell out of love.”  Counselor's advice: “Go do the things you did at first.” Jesus says the same:  Return to: The places you prayed. The songs that once moved you. The Scriptures that once awakened your heart. The memories of grace that once fueled your love. The habits you had when your heart was alive. What Were You Doing When You First Loved Him? Coleton gave examples: Marveling that He forgave you. Tears during worship songs. Hours in Scripture. Memorizing verses. Sharing the gospel with everyone. Private prayer retreats. Celebrating your spiritual birthday. Teaching or serving with joy. Returning to the place where you first believed. Biblical Foundation 1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.” Love grows by remembering His love toward you. Conclusion The most important thing to God is not that you serve Him, work for Him, or perform for Him.  He wants your heart. He wants your love. Ask Him: “Remind me of who I was when You saved me.” “Help me love You again the way I once did.” “Grow my love for You this year more than last year.” And as love grows, life follows. Discipleship Group Questions When you think about what God wants most from you, what is your instinctive answer—and how does Jesus' teaching challenge that? Can you identify a time in your life when your love for God felt stronger or more alive? What were you doing in that season? Which “good works” in your life are you tempted to mistake for love? How can you reorder them so they flow from affection instead of obligation? What first steps can you take this week to “do the things you did at first”? How would our church change if our primary goal became loving Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

The Time Riders: Part 9 Planning Another Vacation Time Travel. Based on a post by BiscuitHammer, in 16 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Cast of Characters: Mark Simmons: 18 year old High School grad, enamored with Miss Becky Fischer. He finds the time machine and builds a new life. Uses various aliases in traveling. Rebecca 'Becky' Fischer: Mark's Physics teacher. Very intelligent, in her later twenties, Shapely Tall Blonde, lusty bisexual, D Cup tits. Martial arts expert, Uses various aliases in traveling. Henri: Claims to be a French physician and Apothicary. Chester Edgerton: Time traveling mentor, living in 17th Century French village. Cardinal Richelieu: ‘The Red Duke'. Statesman and Roman Catholic Cardinal. Dispises Queen Anne. Alexandra D'Assaut ('Alexa', or 'Lexi': Lady in waiting (and trusted advisor) to Queen Anne of France, Lusty bisexual, Very Tall, Busty DD tits, long golden blonde hair, Blue eyed. Lisette: servant (and lover) of Lady Alexandra, young, bespeckled brown eyes. Short, shapely, with wavy dark hair, bisexual. Dhallyla: Mark's mother. Roxy: Mark's sister. Nanu: An Egyptian slave of Pompeneia Flavius, purchased by Becky, dark complexion. Pompeneia: Roman hostess of Orgies. Lusty wife of Flavius, Mother of Domitia, bisexual, tall and shapely. Flavius: Roman aristocrat, husband of Pompeneia, protective father of Dometia, Domitia: Lusty young daughter of Pompeneia and Flavius. A pledged Vestal Virgin, Escapes to Sumeria when sentenced to death by starvation by Roman court. The Retiallis: A gladiator of the Collosseum. Prefers the trident spear and netting, to subdue opponents. Escapes to Sumeria. Rullus: A bulky gladiator of huge physical dimensions. Has an affection for Achilleia. Escapes to Sumeria. Achilleia: A fierce female gladiator. Prefers the whip and sword as weapons. Has a crush on Rullus. Escapes to Sumeria. Roxy stomped out of his room, trying to not slam the door behind her. Once he heard her heading down the stairs, Mark sank onto the corner of his bed and exhaled loudly, another shiver running up his spine. He suddenly had to pee. Had he really told Roxy the truth? He hadn't planned to, but he didn't exactly know what he planned to tell her, either. Now that he thought of it, telling her the truth was even more ridiculous than any appreciable lie he could have come up with, wasn't it? Of course she wouldn't believe him about a time machine, and she was quite reasonable not to. Just because it was true didn't mean she was committing an error in judgment. But now what? He had no idea how long her coerced 'promise' would hold her. She was really hot under the collar, and Roxy didn't take losing well at the best of times. He'd just have to be careful, he supposed. More so. He sighed and looked down at her little weed pipe, still in its baggie. In a moment of panic, when Roxy had been standing over him and threatening to slug him across the jaw, he'd made an instant decision; taking a lesson from his playbook with Becky; and resolved that he would get into Danni's house and filch the pipe, because he knew Roxy kept it there. He'd heard her talking over the phone about it with Danni at various points, and never really thought anything of it. Until now. He was familiar with Danni's house, since she'd been best friends with Roxy since they were little. When the two families were having dinner together, the girls had often dragged Mark upstairs and dressed him in girl's clothes and put makeup on him, like he was a doll for their tea parties. He also knew that Danni's parents didn't care if she smoked, because he'd heard Roxy lament this fact over the phone, wishing her parents were that cool. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to do the math of all this in his head. It would take Roxy thirty minutes to reach Danni's house in her car, to ask what the Hell had happened. But Danni would protest, insisting she'd never betray her friend and give Mark the pipe. Then she'd prove it by showing Roxy it was exactly where it was supposed to be, which was taped inside to the top of her underwear drawer. Only it wouldn't be there. Unless Mark went back to Danni's place and stashed it again, before the girls got up to her room. And then got out again. That'd really fuck with Roxy's head, and make Danni think Rox had gone insane. It took eight minutes for Mark to fire up and prime the Holmes Field Device, which was sitting in a corner in the basement that no one ever used. It was dead space, and as safe as any place else could be that wasn't Becky's basement. Eight minutes to prime it and program in the coordinates and the time. Like, literally a minute after he'd apparently gotten the pipe out of there to begin with. What? His mind was almost spinning at the logic flips. He had to return the pipe before he actually stole it? When did he steal it if he hadn't done it before returning it? And did that mean he had to steal it twice? He could account, apparently, for Danni not being in her room the first time, because he'd seemingly gotten away with it. If he landed a minute or so after he had burgled her, he would have the time he needed, he hoped, before she came back from wherever she was. Return it; steal it later, when no one is looking, then return it; I think. He heard the distinct sound of Roxy's Mustang roaring away down the road angrily. He somehow doubted that he had thirty minutes. What if he miscalculated and got caught? The obvious issues aside, how did he explain the Holmes Field Device? Could he explain it? People in this era thought time travel was fanciful sci-fi, after all. What happened then? He dropped the baggie on the bed, clasped his face in his hands and groaned, the number of calculations he needed to do making his head hurt. He really needed to stop pulling his solutions out of his ass, he was going to give himself a time-hemorrhoid. Time was wasting. "Wow, Mark," Becky mused as she sat in her lounger, sipping at the Falernian wine. Her bottles were almost gone, and they'd soon have to go back to their secret place in the woods and get more. It had been a rather involved operation, getting the giant vats aged a certain number of years back in the Roman era, then transporting them into the present and burying them again, so that they had a large stock of perfectly aged wine. "You sure like to play with fire, don't you?" "Tell me about it," he said wearily, as he sat on the couch, long pull drink from his own wine glass. "Can't believe it went off without a hitch." "You were near death that first night with me," Becky said rather somberly, concerned about the stress on her student's face. "And that only required one trip on your part, and my belief in myself. This little circus, however, I'll be amazed if your time cops don't show up to lecture you again. You'd deserve it." "I felt trapped, okay?" he said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice. He knew Becky was right, and he didn't want to snap at her. It had just really worn him out. He'd lost track of when he was supposed to be there, and how often. He'd eventually concluded that dumb luck had saved him from criminal charges, not to mention any other headaches. "I just; when telling her the truth didn't make her go away, I jumped into my playbook, which at this time, consists of what I did with you." "What would you have done, exactly, if she'd believed you about the Holmes Field Device?" Becky queried, looking at him with interest. He considered and gave a halfhearted shrug. "I guess I knew she wouldn't, because if I told Roxy I was a guy, she'd yank my pants down to make sure. But to answer your question, I; I dunno. I was just really outta options." "I know you know this, Mark, but we obviously have to find ways for you to be even more careful," she said in a gentle tone. "You haven't timelocked yourself yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if you came really close there." "No shit," he muttered, scowling at his glass. "Sorry, just stressed." "Oh, poor baby," Becky cooed, getting out of her seat and coming over to sit down next to Mark. She pulled him into lean on her and then rested his face between her opulent tits, knowing exactly the effect this would have on him. "Just relax, it's all fine now." Mark sighed and nuzzled into her tits, relaxing a little. His teacher's scent and her glorious softness had a calming effect on his frazzled nerves. "Uhd, we should go on vacation in some remote time for a year or so. I could use it." Becky giggled, stroking her fingers through her student's dark hair. "If only we could." "Well, why couldn't we?" Mark reasoned, still nuzzling and refusing to leave his nest. "We've got a time machine, don't we?" "Mark, a two-week vacation is one thing, but longer stretches are problematic." "Why?" Becky sighed and put down her wine, opting to just hold him while he nuzzled her boobs. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy the sensation, after all. She knew that Mark, even though he was at least as experienced a time traveler as she was at this point, was still an eighteen-year-old boy, who had failed her Physics course. He just wasn't good at this stuff yet. But he took her with him readily, and she would have all the patience in the world until he caught up. If he ever did. "Mark, let's say you and I did indeed go on vacation for a year, somewhere in the time stream," she began, still stroking his wavy, dark hair. "And let's say we left tonight." "Sounds good, I'm in," Mark replied in a muffled tone. She smirked and continued. "And we come back after a year, to, say, an hour after we left, no one would notice, right?" "That's the beauty of it," he agreed, nodding in her boobs. "But we'd notice," she pointed out. We'd be a whole year older than when we left. When you got back, everyone would be trying to celebrate your nineteenth birthday, when, in reality, you're twenty. And you're the only one aside from me who knows it. Thanks to my captivity in the Louvre, I'm already a month older than our calendar indicates, so my birthday is technically inaccurate." He paused as he considered what she was saying. "And let's say, God forbid, that the time machine broke down somewhere in the past," she said, her voice taking on a serious tone. "Neither of us knows how to fix it, and there's absolutely no guarantee that we'd be able to find someone who could. What if it took the two of us five years to repair it, against all odds? We'd arrive back, an hour after we left, if we could, and everyone would notice we were magically five years older. I'd be thirty, you'd be twenty-three. We'd both look somewhat older, undoubtedly. How would we account for that?" Mark said nothing, just listening. "The only alternative would be to arrive five years in the future, to make up the difference, but then we've been AWOL with no explanation for five years," she continued. "Sure, maybe you can say you joined the merchant marines without a moment's notice, but what would I say?" She took his chin gently and turned his head to look up into her blue eyes. "We can't mess with the time stream and people's lives like that," she said quietly, almost sadly. "We're not from an era where time travel is the norm and people know what to expect." "You sure know how to take the fun out of time travel, Becks," he sighed, shaking his head. She giggled and cradled him in her bosom again, knowing he didn't mean it. "Silly," she cooed, jiggling her tits against his face a little. "You know better than anyone how much fun I can be in the time stream." "Yeah, that's true," Mark admitted, smiling and turning over on his back to look up at her while he lay in her lap. She was wearing black yoga pants, and a tight tank top and gave her impressive bust lots of breathing room. "But I really could use a little time away, to be honest. This nonsense stressed me out." "I'm sure it did, and hopefully you'll start thinking about these things ahead of time," she agreed, poking him in the nose. "In terms of what we could do, I have been giving the matter some thought." Mark raised an eyebrow. Becky never had bad ideas. Not compared to his, in any event. "I'm all ears." "Hardly," Becky giggled, reaching her hand down to gently cup his crotch beneath his jeans. "Let me explain first. You're not the only one with a predicament, although mine isn't necessarily self-inflicted." "Still listening," Mark said dryly, noticing the cheerful jibe. "It's difficult, being separated by three months the way we are," Becky said, caressing his cheek. "You, the Mark lying in my lap, you're from my upcoming summer. Me, I'm still waiting for the school year to finish. And three times a week, I see you in my classroom, and have to remind myself that the you sitting in that desk is not only still a minor, still, but has absolutely no idea about any of this." Mark said nothing, considering. "And I have to constantly be on guard, making sure I'm not sitting behind my desk, gazing at you dreamily in an off moment, or reminding myself not to sext you from the bathroom." "Damn, now I kinda wish you had," Mark mused, making her snicker. "Silly. What I'm saying, is that I think in the very near future, we'll need to not see each other for three months, as agonizing as that sounds, so that I can catch up with you." Mark screwed up his face as he thought about that. "That does sound sucky." "Oh, it won't be for you," Becky pointed out. "You get to hop on your time machine and return to three months from now, just like you always do every time we meet up. You won't even notice the difference. But you've also very tacitly avoided my future self for now, haven't you?" He nodded. "Yeah, you said to. Not that hard; it's a big city, and you told me where you tend to be at any given time, so it isn't much of a challenge." "Well, I want to catch up," Becky said firmly. "I want us to be on the same relative time frame, so that we don't need to worry about twists and so on, where things can go wrong. And if that means not seeing this you for three months," she whispered, placing her hand gently on his crotch, "and no time travelling for me because you've got the Holmes Field Device, then I'll manage. But it needs fixing, Mark." "Okay, done," Mark agreed, nodding. "But you mentioned something fun, which hasn't come up yet in this presentation so far." "Well," Becky began again. "I was thinking that we really should go and get Nanu and bring her forward with us. "It's not fair to leave her in that villa by herself. She doesn't really know how to look after herself, after all." "But we can keep visiting her," Mark pointed out. "She doesn't understand time travel, she'd hardly notice." "If we keep coming back to the same point in time to visit her, or at least within the same period frequently, it's true that little or no time will have passed for her," Becky said. "But we have our own lives, and goodness only knows when we'll have the time to pop out to Imperial Rome again. Years might pass for us before we can see her. How would we explain how much older we look to her?" "That again," Mark sighed, resenting the mathematical drudgery of time travel. "Yeah, that would freak her out. And as far as she's concerned, I'm still your slave, and she is too." "It's a notion I'll have to disabuse her of, once we bring her back here," Becky confirmed. "But I was thinking we'd have some fun when we go back and get her, and then she could stay with me. I'd spend our three months apart teaching her about our time and world, and when you meet us, we'd all be caught up together. Sound good?" "Well, I can't imagine it not being fun if you're around," Mark replied, grinning and sitting up, feeling considerably better after this talk with his teacher. "What're we gonna use to get the funds?" "Well," Becky said, making a cute show of thinking. "I've actually checked with that chroniques dealer? The one over on Adelaide that we were directed to?" "You've been busy!" Mark laughed, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I like to be prepared," she purred, snuggling into his side. "Anyway, I told him about my complete collection of Monchhichi minis that I inherited from my older cousin when I was young. Never did anything with 'em, because they just took up shelf space. But he's willing to give me a lot of money for them, apparently they're huge in the thirty-third century." "Well, of course they are," Mark said, rolling his eyes. "I; what the Hell are they, anyway? Never heard of 'em." "Oh, just collectible figurines from Japan in the Seventies, they look like cute little lolicon monkeys, along with a plushie toyline and several cartoons," she explained, waiving dismissively. "I couldn't care less about them, and if they make some person happy thirteen hundred years in the future, great. I'm getting lots of money for 'em." "Okay," Mark agreed, shrugging. "I was gonna sell my dad's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots or Micronauts if we needed the geld. I'd probably get a good price on those, too." "You will," she confirmed. "But my lolicon monkeys are worth more, so we'll use them. So, we'll go see Nanu, tell her what's really up, have a lot of fun, spread my money around, and then bring her back. Sound good? I think two weeks of solid sucking and fucking should make you forget your woes." "I can hardly wait," Mark declared. "Why wait at all, big boy?" she purred again, as she undid his fly and bent her head down while fishing his cock out of his pants. Nanu sighed as she sat on the solium, kicking her legs back and forth slowly as she looked at the mosaic on the floor. It had been over a week now since she had seen anybody, let alone her mistress. As gorgeous as her surroundings were, this expansive villa hidden in the distant hills outside of mighty Rome, she was decidedly lonely. She'd never really spent any appreciable time by herself before Lady Aurora had purchased her from the Flavians. Despite her mistress' unwelcome absence, she found herself smiling as she thought of her. Lovely, lovely Lady Aurora Horatia; tall, with long, golden blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, sensuous lips that were always parted to show her white teeth and radiant smile. Her thoughts turned to the lady's other parts now, and she blushed. She thought of her mistress' lovely neck, supple shoulders, her large, perky bust, trim waist and glorious, tight ass. Nanu felt warm as she pictured Lady Aurora's cunt, which she kept smooth and clean; so unusual for a Roman patrician woman. She had long, strong dancer's legs, just like Nanu. She remembered how captivated she'd been while she watched Lady Aurora dance at the orgy. Bonosus. Lady Aurora's principal slave, and her lover. Dark, wavy hair, and deep brown eyes; he was unnaturally tall, at least to Nanu, with an athletic build, broad shoulders, and a small waist that was hard to the touch; and his cock was huge. It had felt like it was tearing Nanu apart when she rode on it with wild abandon. She came out of her reverie and looked around again, sighing forlornly. The villa was beautiful, with plastered walls covered in colorful frescoes, mosaic floors, indoor bathing chambers and toilets, beautiful gardens, a stream just behind the building, and all the delicious food she could eat. She had all the creature comforts any slave could ever want, but it was still quiet and lonely for her. She looked down at herself, using her fingers to pull slightly at the material of the top of the dress she wore. It was a spare garment, made of quality linen, one of several Lady Aurora had bought for Nanu from the Flavius family. Of course, the slave girl was thrilled beyond words to wear such a thing, and in all ways, she saw her ownership by Lady Aurora as a turning point in her life, the beginning of something wonderful beyond words. She and Bonosus were the luckiest slaves to ever live. But not if she was so very alone. Nanu, born into poverty in the tiny settlement of Akhmim in Egypt, the youngest of twelve children. Sold into slavery to the Flavians at a tender age to help feed her family, she'd lived a hard life, doing the most menial of tasks for the wealthy Roman family at their home in Tepihu, far up the Nile. But then they discovered she could dance, and dance well. She was sent to the principal Flavian household in distant Rome, a place she'd only ever heard of, and could never imagine. She danced for the patriarch and his wife, and they agreed to keep her on, as long as her legs held out. So Nanu danced relentlessly, determined to never return to the misery she'd known before. Within a year, she was the leader of the dancing girls the Flavians owned, and whatever jealousies the other girls might have held were quickly cast aside. Nanu understood that if she treated them all equally, she was more likely to prosper, rather than looking after only herself at their expense. She was lovers with all of them, and it wasn't long before she was fucking the lord and lady as well. Her position was as secure as a slave's could be under such circumstances. True, she was still punished, quite often for things beyond her control. But the Flavians were not overly harsh with her, having her flogged with short, thin reed brooms, to avoid scarring her. It hurt, and she cried, but she inevitably recovered, usually to be fucked by Master Flavius as she soon as she could walk. She left the chair and walked over to a small table, on which sat a highly polished silver mirror. She picked it up and looked at herself, pursing her lips, assessing her features. She'd always concluded that she was at least somewhat attractive, since men (and women) always wanted to fuck her. She was aware that being a highly trained dancer gave her a desirable physique for a slave, and her strong, taut muscles kept her cunt tight. Her tits were not overly large, but were pronounced from her torso, and jiggled when she danced or ran. She thought they swayed nicely when she walked. She had the creamy bronze skin of the people of the Black Lands, children of the pharaohs. Her thick hair was a glossy blue-black, and she kept it trimmed to just past her jaw, in the manner of women in her country. Her eyes were a warm hazel, with tawny flecks many of the other dancing girls described as bewitching and seductive. If only she could- "Well now, if it isn't everyone's favorite dancing slave," quipped a lyrical voice from nearby. Nanu's head snapped around and she cried out in delight as she espied Lady Aurora standing in the door nearby, with Bonuses just behind, looming over her and grinning. Nanu had been so wrapped up in looking at her reflection and feeling sorry for herself that she hadn't even heard them approach. "Mistress!" the Egyptian girl called out as she darted across the room and threw herself into Lady Aurora's waiting arms. "Magistra! How I Have Missed You!" "We've missed you too, Nanu," Becky said softly, hugging the shorter girl and kissing the top of her head while Nanu burst into tears. "I'm sorry we were away for so long." "It felt like forever, mistress, I won't lie," Nanu said, choking back her sobs before pressing her mouth to Becky's and kissing her fiercely. Becky returned the kiss gladly, and the women greeted one another with tangling tongues and wandering hands for nearly a minute before they needed to breathe. Nanu looked up at Becky now, her eyes still wide and wet with emotion. "May I; may I say hello to Bonosus, mistress?" "I'm pretty sure he's counting on it," Becky said, stepping aside and giggling as Nanu flung herself against Mark, kissing him feverishly, but with her hands predictably snaking down his frame and under his tunic to fondle his cock. "Goodness, girl, did those toys I left get no love from you in my absence?" "Oh, mistress, they got loved day and night," Nanu replied, turning to look at Becky since she was being addressed. "But I do not need to tell you that it is hardly the same as the real thing, as to have a real lover. And I am sorry if it makes me sound deficient, but; I am not good at being alone. I am not at all used to it." "Oh, I'm sorry, darling," Becky said as Mark picked Nanu up in his arms and carried her back into the room. Nanu had her arms around his neck, and seemed to be in absolute heaven, now that the two most important people in her life had returned. "But we're back now, and we have no intention of leaving you behind again." Nanu looked curious. "Won't leave me behind again; are we going somewhere, mistress? Are we to leave the villa?" "It will take some explaining, I promise you that," Becky answered, nodding. "But first, I think the three of us should fuck one another stupid all over the villa, don't you?" Nanu's face lit up at her mistress' suggestion and she nodded eagerly. "Yes, mistress! I want to fuck you both until I cannot see or walk straight!" Becky made a grand gesture with her hand, taking in the whole villa. "Then you may pick where we fuck, my love. Anywhere, as much as you please. We await your pleasure." Nanu looked around in almost breathless excitement as Mark put her down. She didn't know where to begin, only that she wanted to fuck Mistress Aurora and Bonosus in every single area of the villa. She'd been so glum that she barely noticed how horny she was. Now the rampant feelings of lust washed over her, and her cunt was shamefully wet. She grabbed Becky's hand and pulled her excitedly along through the house. "This way!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with anticipation. "I want us to bathe and fuck!" Becky and Mark laughed as they followed the Egyptian girl into the small antechamber in front of the sudatorium, which Mark and Becky would normally identify as a sauna. They were amazed at the speed with which Nanu had not only removed her own clothes, but also undressed the two of them. Clearly she was in great need and had no intention of waiting. She had apparently lit the fire to heat the small room earlier in the day, for her own use, and now all she had to do was scrub the three of them down before bringing them inside. With a small sponge and rough linen cloths, she did this quickly. She then brought them into the sweat room, which was filled with steam already. Rocks in the little containment chamber over the brazier heated water and caused the steam, while small pouches of herbs hung over the rocks, and wine dripped through them to sizzle and evaporate, giving the steam a heady, aromatic quality that often left guests somewhat drunk. The three now stretched out on the wooden benches that lined the wall, sighing and relaxing for a moment before Nanu's eagerness overtook her. She crawled on top of Becky and kissed her deeply, squirming her body down into her mistress' while they fondled one another. Mark watched on lazily, knowing that the day was young, and it was best that he conserve his strength. Keeping up with Nanu's libido was no small task, not to mention Becky's once she got going. It wasn't long before the two girls were locked in a slippery, trembling sixty-nine, moaning as they lapped at one another's twats and fingered each other's puckered knots. Nanu came so hard she almost shrieked inside Becky's cunt, while the blonde goddess shuddered and speared her tongue deep inside her lover as she came, glazing Nanu's face with her cum. Both girls seemed almost to become puddles, sighing languidly as they lay together, bodies shining with sweat. Through the haze of steam, Mark could see them kissing one another's pussies gently, and the look on Nanu's face could only be described as rapture, mixed with a sense of relief and contentment. She was so happy her mistress had come back to her. But Nanu recovered quickly, turning her head to look at her fellow 'slave', whom she knew as Bonosus. Mark was lying on his side on the bench he occupied, idly stroking his cock. Nanu had already focused on his manhood like an arrow, and managed to extricate herself from Becky without disturbing her mistress' bliss, and crawled across the tile floor on all fours, her hazel eyes glinting. Without waiting, she knelt next to him, moved Mark's hand aside, and took his cock into her grip. She began stroking slowly and gently, before leaning in to kiss the swelling tool lovingly. She swirled her tongue around the head, then up and down the hardening shaft several times, her hand following her tongue. Then she popped her mouth around the head and slowly pushed down, humming as she moved wetly down his length. Mark sighed in pleasure and began running his hand through her raven hair. Becky now watched, caressing her creamy cunt as she gazed over at the lovers. Mark was half on his back, half on his side, while Nanu was kneeling on the floor, bent over and bobbing up and down on his stiff cock. Her tiny hand made a gentle twisting motion on the smooth skin of his shaft, following her warm, wet mouth. Becky smiled, knowing how great it was to give her student head, since she'd done it countless times herself now. Things would be so much easier for them all when she finally caught up with him in the timeline. Mark stroked down Nanu's back and reached her ass, giving one of the tight, perk cheeks a squeeze before nudging her. Nanu took the hint readily and stood up, clambering over Mark's face and looking down his body. The bench wouldn't have been big enough for Mark and Becky to do what was now happening, but Nanu was considerably smaller than Becky, and somehow managed. She leaned down his body, crying out suddenly as Mark pulled her ass cheeks apart and slid his tongue around her gooey cunt. She trembled and squirmed for several moments before composing herself and returning to the task of sucking on his cock hungrily. He was at full mast now, and Nanu's tiny hand could hardly fit around the girth of his shaft. Amazingly, though, she could take his manhood all the way inside her mouth, and down her throat readily. Becky's slave was as gifted as she was shameless, clearly. Nanu grunted as Mark slid one of his fingers inside her ass. Mark had larger hands than most people from her home era, and his finger was larger than some dicks she'd had back there before. Or at least, it certainly felt that way at the moment. She accepted the intrusion willingly, squirming back against his hand, and squeezing her tight tunnel around it while he massaged her cunt and clit with her tongue. She let out little moans, still bobbing up and down while giving Becky a sidelong look with heavily lidded, glazed eyes. Determined to not be left out, Becky slowly rose from her bench and wiggled over across the small area. She observed the setting with a critical eye for several moments, working out the logistics of how to best fit into this carnal puzzle. Just like she could not readily engage in a sixty-nine with Mark on these relatively (to them) narrow benches, she could not straddle him and fuck him to proper effect either. The answer presented itself quickly. She eased Nanu up into a sitting position over Mark's face, and if the slave girl was disappointed in having to relinquish that delicious cock, the feeling quickly gave way to yelps of delight as she sank her cunt even further down onto Mark's tongue, squirming and grinding lustily. Becky pumped and stroked Mark's cock steadily for several seconds, making sure he would stay hard. He was lying down the length of the bench, his tool ramrod-erect for her. She then stood and moved over his midsection, facing out into the tiny chamber. She bent her knees and reached under, steadying his throbbing cock while she guided it to her cuntlips. One she had him in place, she slowly sat down, sighing as he pushed up inside her steaming depths. Her ass come to rest on his hips, while she sat sideways on him, pinned to his cock. She closed her eyes and just savored the sensation for several seconds, her fingers flexing against his stomach and his knee, respectively. She finally opened her blue eyes and turned her head to smile at Nanu, who was moving up and down slowly on Mark's tireless tongue. Becky leaned in toward the slave, who immediately moved her torso forward to meet Becky. They kissed over Mark's long form, tongues tangling while Becky began to move up and down slowly, loving the feel of this unique position with him deep inside her. The threesome slowly squirmed and undulated against one another, time lost within the confines of the tiny, steaming chamber. The dim, amber light of the fire beneath the heated stones was their only illumination, but in this misty, ethereal sitting, it was utter perfection. The scent of spiced wine mingled with the aromas of bodies making love. Becky could taste the wine in Nanu's sweat as she drew her tongue along the girl's collarbone and over her tits. "I think it's about time for you to fuck Nanu and cum in her, Mark," Becky panted after several minutes of churning up and down on his thick rod. She was massaging and groping her tits, or Nanu's as she rode. The Egyptian girl had reached forward and was massaging her mistress' cunt dutifully as well. "It's been a few weeks for her, and you just filled me up this morning." "Relatively speaking," Mark quipped from beneath Nanu's writhing hips. "You sit on the bench and spread 'em, Becks, and she can kneel and lick you. I'll get behind her." Becky had no problem with this plan, and quickly coaxed Nanu off Mark's face, to kneel on the floor in front of her. Nanu's eyes widened with delight as Becky smiled and parted her legs, before reaching down with two fingers to spread her thick nether lips wide, exposing her glistening inner pink to the slave girl. Nanu practically dived in, and Becky grunted and almost jumped, clasping the girl's head suddenly, her feet leaving the floor. "Nuh, fuck!" she wheezed as Nanu began lapping at her like she was eating her last meal before she died. Her fingers gripped Nanu's black hair while she began grinding her snatch against the girl's face desperately. Nanu licked cunt like nobody's business. Mark, meanwhile, had positioned himself behind Nanu, and lined his cock up with her dripping twat, holding her by the ass cheeks. Nanu trembled while he slid his cockhead up and down her slippery lips, and against her tingling clit, making her squeak and whimper into Becky's cunt. He braced her for only the briefest of moments before sliding inside her without any warning, sinking in to the hilt. The Egyptian slave-girl wailed in ecstasy as he forced her wide, pinning her to him. Mark began fucking Nanu with a steady, strong pace, and she yelped into her mistress' cunt with each thrust, even while lapping at her pink twat hungrily. Her face was shining with sweat, and Becky's wetness, her tongue thick with the cloying sweetness of the blonde woman. Nanu's head was spinning in delight. Surely this was the heavenly afterlife? Becky almost curled up on herself, her fingernails threatening to leave grooves in Nanu's scalp as she shook uncontrollably and came, barely able to keep herself from screeching. She slathered Nanu's face in her essence, her entire body tingling with fire. Nanu shuddered and writhed, wailing as she came, her cunt tightening around Mark's cock fiendishly. As if on cue, Mark arched his back, gritted his teeth and growled, pumping all his cum inside Nanu, thrusting strongly. The trio rocked and writhed in depraved unison for close to a minute before Mark leaned forward on Nanu's back, breathing heavily. Becky sighed in exhaustion, sinking down on the bench, her cunt pressing into Nanu's face. The slave girl, pinned in place between her mistress and her fellow slave, simply held still, surrounded by warm, slick flesh and gently caressing fingers. She could still feel Bonosus throbbing deep inside her, and her mistress' cunt oozed against her mouth. She felt so blessed and safe like this. But then she looked up from between Becky's legs, her own glinting with eagerness. "Come! I know where we need to fuck next!" And with that, the Egyptian girl extricated herself from between them and wiggled quickly out of the room. Mark groaned and sagged forward between Becky's tits, and she held onto him wearily. "Now I know why we can't leave her for weeks on end," he mumbled in her cleavage. "Because we won't survive the backlog of fucking we need to do;” Nanu was sitting in the chair, her expression one of bewilderment. She seemed to have forgotten the goblet of wine in her hand, and she sat with her arms and legs tucked in close to her body. Clearly, she was confused and feeling uncertain about what she was hearing. "You're; mistress, you're not a Roman at all?" she asked quietly as she stared at Becky. They were sitting in the atrium of the villa, and it was a quiet evening. Birds sang, and a gentle breeze caressed their faces and the nearby blossoms as it dipped over the villa and into the central opening. Becky shook her head, knowing that this was going to take a lot of patience on her and Mark's part; and even more on Nanu's. Everything she was in the process of telling the girl would sound completely preposterous, even more so than Mark's explanation to his sister the day before. "No, Nanu, I'm not a Roman of any sort," the blonde woman confessed, trying to smile. "And my name is not Aurora Horatia. My name is Rebecca." "Rebekah?" Nanu queried, making a wry face. "That is a Hebrew name." She looked Becky up and down skeptically. "You don't look like a Hebrew." The slave girl looked at Mark. "And your name is not Bonosus, and you're not a Roman either?" He shook his head. "Nope. I'm Mark. And Becks is actually my teacher." Nanu squeezed her eyes shut for several seconds and when she finally opened them, they were filled with worry. "Are; are you going to kill me?" Despite herself, Becky burst into giggle fits at the question. Nanu looked confused, and then slightly irked at the response from her 'mistress'. She thought it was a perfectly reasonable question, under these circumstances. She folded her arms, crossed her legs, and looked off at the sky over the far wall, annoyed. "I'm sorry, Nanu," Becky said finally reining herself in. "I wasn't laughing at you, I mean it. It just wasn't what I expected to hear at all, and we both love you too much to ever consider killing you. Hell, I'm not sure we could if we tried." "Well I don't know what to believe," sniffed the younger girl. "You've bought me, and taken me away from a comfortable, if not happy life, and nearly gotten me killed at least once, and then there was that; thing; that you two ride around on;” "The Holmes Field Device," Becky said, nodding. "It doesn't just take us where we want to go, it allows us to travel through time, which is why we are here at all." Nanu shook her head, indicating that she had no idea what Becky meant. The teacher leaned forward slightly, smiling. They weren't sitting that far apart, but she had allowed for a small amount of distance between them, so that Nanu didn't feel trapped or pressured if she took all this poorly. To be honest, she was taking it surprisingly well, even if she wasn't buying all of it. "Nanu, I apologize for asking simple questions, but please bear with me;” she said quietly, noticing that even if she was listening, Nanu was now staring at Becky's cleavage, framed between her arms while she sat forward. Mark was staring too. Some thing would never change. "You understand the concepts of yesterday, today and tomorrow, yes?" Nanu nodded slowly. "Yes, mistress." "Do you ever wish you could visit days that have gone by?" Becky asked. "Like maybe go back and visit your childhood, or meet some member of your family who was lost years ago? Or even see the Sphinx getting built?" The girl looked confused again. "Suh-finx?" Becky looked at Mark, hoping for some help. He still had the chip that let him speak Egyptian in his head. He pondered the issue for a moment before the tiny computer in his noggin gave him the answer. He looked at Nanu and smiled. "Horemakhet." Nanu's eyes went wide. To see the Horus of the Western Horizon being built by the gods. She shook her head. "What you say is impossible!" Becky smiled now, not blaming Nunu for her disbelief. "Nanu, a long time ago, people would have thought that chariots were impossible, that mastering fire and steel were impossible. But you know they're not just possible, you know that these things are fact." Nanu nodded, willing to listen to her beloved mistress, who apparently wasn't her mistress. But she listened. "Mark and I come from many, many tomorrows away, a time many years from now. That device that we travel on, it allows us to do it." The Egyptian girl screwed up her face, trying to understand. She thought she'd heard outlandish things in her life before, but this was so far beyond her conceptions and experience that it sounded like a ridiculous fable her grandmother would tell her. But she had stepped on the wondrous device, and it had taken them somewhere far away from Rome in the blink of an eye, and back. She could not deny this had happened, even if she didn't understand it. Which brought up a big question for her. "Why do you do this?" she queried, looking at each of them. Mark shrugged. "It's fun to move through time and do things." Another skeptical look from Nanu. "You think it's fun to have the gladiators of Rome try to kill you?" Mark faltered slightly. "I; well, no, not that part." Becky giggled. "No, Nanu, that part is unplanned. Mark and I like to travel to different times, to see important events, and to fuck there." Nanu tilted her head curiously at the statement. "What it so important about fucking in these places?" Becky considered her answer. "There's nothing important about it, you're right. But it's still fun. We love to do these things, because almost no one else can. And hopefully it's exciting but not dangerous. If we didn't do this, we never would have met you, and we wouldn't be fucking you now. And we both wouldn't be crazy about you." Nanu's stomach was in her feet as she thought about what her mis; what Rebekah was saying. She was horrified by the thought now that she might never have met them, they she might not have been bought, or living here, in freedom, and getting fucked to her little heart's content. "But if you are not; not from today;” she murmured, trying to formulate her thoughts around these strange concepts. "Then you will keep leaving me. You might come back, but you will keep leaving." Becky could see the tears welling in Nanu's eyes, and she rose from her chair and moved to sit with the smaller girl, cradling her into her bosom as Nanu tried not to cry. "Oh, Nanu, I'm sorry," she cooed. "I didn't realize how hard it was for you to be alone." "I've never been alone," sniffled the raven-haired girl, wrapping her arms around Becky's waist tightly, unwilling to let go. "My whole life, I've never been alone for so much as a day, never mind a week. It was terrifying. I'm a slave, you know." Becky caressed her fingers through Nanu's hair and kissed the top of her said. "I understand now. And I am sorry. But Mark and I wanted to talk to you about that, actually." Nanu choked back a sob and looked up at Becky, ready to hear what she had to say. "Mark and I want to bring you with us," Becky explained, using a thumb to wipe some tears from Nanu's cheek. "Come back to our time, and perhaps take you with us on our adventures." Nanu's eyes went wide. "L; leave Rome?" Becky shrugged. "Is there anyone left for you to care about?" "Well, no." Nanu admitted. "And as I've already told you, Mark and I are crazy about you, so since we cannot stay here in Rome with you, maybe you should come with us, Becky continued. "I love having you around." Nanu's face lit up at Becky's words, but then a cloud passed over her face as things occurred to her. "But I; know nothing about this place you are from. How would I live?" "Well I would teach you, of course," Becky replied, smiling. "And it'll probably be terrifying at first, since you will see things you cannot even imagine, but Mark and I will protect you and help you learn." "I; would stay with you?" Nanu asked in a voice begging for assurance. Becky nodded. "You won't leave me alone?" The blonde woman smiled. "Well, I might have to step out the door once in a while to go and get food, or go to my job, but I won't leave you alone for days at a time, I promise." Nanu returned to hugging Becky, looking off at the far wall across the atrium. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she thought about what she should do. Did she take these two up on their weird offer? Did she just ask to stay here at the villa, and take her chances about when they could visit? Did she ask to be sent back to the Flavius household? Every option terrified her. She finally looked up at Becky again and drew a deep breath. "Can we; fuck some more, while I think about it?" Becky and Mark both laughed and nodded their assent. It was the most Nanu thing Nanu had ever said. Predictably, Nanu, after much fucking and pondering, had decided to take Mark and Becky up on their offer. Delighted, Becky had declared that they would be doing some shopping first, heading into Rome to get things she wanted. Nanu was always happy to visit the city, she was always enthralled by the sights and sounds around her. "But I; I must point out something," she confessed, looking uneasy. "I know you keep saying that I need not be your slave anymore, but it is not safe for me to walk around freely, Mistress, no matter what you tell me. If you say you don't own me, I am still a slave to them. They'll put me in chains and have me on the auction block again in no time, but probably not before they do awful things to me." "She has a point, Becks," Mark started, shrugging as he fastened his tunic in place. "We may know slavery is immoral, but Rome doesn't give a shit. As far as they're concerned, you're still a patrician woman, and we're still your slaves." "Which brings up another troublesome fact," Becky sighed, building on Mark's premise. "You're the most hated individual in Rome. You defiled a Vestal Virgin;” "Pervert," Nanu said in a low voice, nudging Mark. "You made a mockery of the legal system, and turned the Colosseum into a sexual freak show. I wouldn't be surprised if every soldier in Rome had orders to skewer you on sight." "Hey, I'm not the one who dropped a giant canvas sail on the emperor's head and wiggled my tits at seventy thousand people, you know!" Mark protested. "Well, that part was fun," Becky mused, smirking, lapsing into English for a moment. "So what do we do? I want to go shopping, but without getting you killed." "Yeah, you've got a point there," Mark allowed, looking at the ground as he pondered the issue. Nanu looked back and forth between them as they spoke in their unintelligible gibberish. "Well, we either need a disguise for me, so I don't look like Bonosus anymore, or we need to jump back a few days to before we arrived, and before anyone would know us." "More of your time twists," Becky chided, holding up a finger. "Didn't you learn?" "I know what you mean, but I kinda think we did that," Mark replied. "Don't you remember how you said people were waving at you like they knew you already, and you thought that was weird? That maybe they'd mistaken you for someone else? It's kinda unlikely that they are mistaking you for anyone, Becks. You're as tall as most of the men, and you're like a living embodiment of Venus to them, with blonde hair." "I'm afraid you may be right," Becky sighed, not liking the hypothesis, but forced to admit it was probably accurate. "So we go back maybe a week before we first arrived, do our shopping, and split?" Mark turned and looked at Nanu now. "Nanu, have you been into the city of Rome any time in the last week before you met us? Or anyone from the Flavius household?" "Ooh, good catch, Mark," Becky mentioned, nodding. "Can't have her running into herself by accident, no matter how unlikely." Nanu considered for a moment and then shook her head. "No, before you arrived, it had been more than a month, I think. Master Flavius resented paying the prices they wanted in the city, he usually made us shop in Lavinium, it was cheaper." Mark shrugged. "We could probably do your shopping and find some fun, Becks. Then we'll plan our next move. Sound good?" Becky removed her outfit, letting pool around her feet before sitting down in a low chair. She held out her arms, beckoning for Nanu to join her. The Egyptian girl shed her clothing, and then went to sit naked in her blonde lover's lap, their lovely tits squashing together. They kissed for some moments before Becky smiled at Nanu. "I want to buy you some outfits, Nanu, outfits like I wear. Would you like to dress and look like mistress?" It seemed as though Nanu might faint. Becky was also pretty sure she felt the girl getting wet. She giggled and kissed Nanu's nose. "I'll take that as a yes." Rome. The litter glided through the crowded street, with people dutifully making way for it; whomever was inside was clearly important. The four dark-skinned slaves bearing it on their shoulders walked along silently, seemingly not bothered by the weight within. The litter itself was simple in design, but ornate in appearance, the canopy held aloft on carved poles, and much of it decorated with gold leaf or edging. Diaphanous curtains on all sides obscured the women within. Becky and Nanu lay on their sides, facing in toward one another. Nanu was wearing a beautiful stola, just like Becky, and she gazed down at her raiment in wonder, running a hand delicately over the fabric. Becky smiled as she watched the Egyptian girl while reaching into a bowl between them and putting a grape in her mouth. "Mistress, this is wonderful," Nanu whispered, knowing to not refer to Becky as her mistress too loudly. "I've never felt anything like this in my life, except on someone else." "Well, it's yours, and yours alone, so enjoy it," Becky said cheerfully, enjoying Nanu's elation. She put another grape between her teeth and smiled slyly. Nanu leaned in and took the grape between her own teeth, their lips touching. As Nanu masticated on the grape, Becky opened the gauze-like drapes in the back if the litter and called out gently. "How we doing back there, Mark?" "Oh, just fine, thanks so very much for asking," muttered the student-slave, who trudged along behind the litter, carrying several handbags made of linen and animal skins, filled with shopping goods. His hands and shoulders ached. How the Hell could Becky purchase so much shit in an era that didn't have electronics? "How much farther we got?" "Not too much longer, I think," mused the blonde teacher casually. She wasn't too worried about Mark having to carry stuff, he'd been through worse recently. She'd bought outfits and jewelry, pretty house furnishings, and other curios to take home. She considered what she'd need to buy for Nanu upon their return. Clothes aside, she would somehow need to procure ID for her, some sorts of medical records, and so forth. How did she get any of that done? "Will I like my new life, mistress?" Nanu asked, eating another grape. "I am sure I will love living with you, but;” Becky smiled and caressed her face lovingly. "It will be very, very different, Nanu. And at times it will seem frightening. But there are so many things I cannot wait to show you." "Then I will wait and trust you," the Egyptian girl said softly, giving herself over to her mistress' carefully in her mind. "Because I believe you when you say you love me and want the best for me." Nanu was silent for some time, as if deep in thought. "What's on your mind, darling?" Becky asked, curious. Nanu sighed. "I just miss my family. I have not seen them since I was young. And I dreamed of returning to them one day." Becky smiled. "Oh, you want t

Locals call it “The Road to Nowhere,” but its official name is Lakeview Drive. It’s a scenic six-mile stretch overlooking Fontana Lake in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Bryson City, North Carolina. After the road goes through a 1200-foot-long tunnel blasted out of a granite mountainside, it abruptly stops. The government spent millions of dollars until environmental concerns discovered later ended the project. Jesus, who was a carpenter by trade, once told a construction parable about counting the cost of following Him. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower,” He asked. “Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). Another parable follows about a king who considers the cost of going to war, and it makes the same point. Speaking to the “large crowds . . . traveling” with Him (v. 25), Jesus wanted them to understand that there was a cost to sincerely believing in and following Him. Following Jesus only because of what He can do for us is a “road to nowhere.” But following Him for Him—turning daily from sin and self-focus to live for Him and His kingdom (carrying our “cross,” as He put it in v. 27)—changes everything. The cost must be counted. But He’s worth it.

Dr Clark continues the series Have This Mind on the book of Philippians. In this episode, he concludes the discussion of Paul's introduction to his letter: chapter 1, verses 1 - 11.  This episode of the Heidelcast is sponsored by the Heidelberg Reformation Association. You love the Heidelcast and the Heidelblog. You share it with friends, with members of your church, and others but have you stopped to think what would happen if it all disappeared? The truth is that we depend on your support. If you don't make the coffer clink, the HRA will simply sink. Won't you help us keep it going? The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All your gifts are tax deductible. Use the donate link on this page or mail a check to Heidelberg Reformation Association, 1637 E Valley Parkway #391, Escondido CA 92027. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! Browse the Heidelshop! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Academic) Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

The Jets did what?? Tap in with Cody today as he breaks down the big moves the NYJ made on the trade deadline, how that affects the team moving forward and the usual banter about this week's matchups and more! Won't wanna miss. #codyscorner #nfl #americanfootballplayer #illseeya #football #newyorkjets #saucegardner #quinnenwilliams #trade #tradedeadline

Today's Oddcast  - Talking Lamar - Can't Play The Piano, But I Wet The Bed (Airdate 11/14/2025) Lamar shares the most embarrassing moment of his life...the time he wet the bed while visiting his girlfriend's parents. The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Your favorite Feminist Buzzkills are BACK and getting real with the woman who dared to take on the biggest ogre on the planet (Bubba's BFF, we're looking at you) and WON! TWICE! THE ONE AND ONLY E. JEAN CARROLL IS IN THE HOUSE. Buckle up: the brilliant journalist, advice columnist, and slayer of the Predator-In-Chief, E. Jean Carroll, teaches us all about how she used humor and fashion as a weapon to cope when suing the biggest asshole in the free world. This week, expect the Buzzkills to report on all vaginal nightmares that went down. Peter Theil funds a tradwife pregnancy app and is wrapping it in some shiny MAHA misinformation packaging. Expect ALL the deets about this insidious partnership and the dangerous lies they promote about birth control, sex, and oh, just about everything! Plus, we're serving up everything else you need to know about the misogyny minions obsessed with getting all up in our junk. Times are heavy, but knowledge is power, y'all. We gotchu.  HEAR YE, HEAR YE!! EMAIL your abobo questions to The Feminist Buzzkills – we have the FAMAZING John Fugelsang on our next podcast episode to gab with us on how to talk to your religious and conservative family during the holidays. Send us any questions you have for him! OPERATION SAVE ABORTION: Check out our NEW Operation Save Abortion workshop, recorded a live  from Netroots Nation 2025 that'll train you in coming for anti-abobo lawmakers, spotting and fighting against fake clinics, AND gears you up on how to help someone in a banned state access abortion. You can still join the 10,000+ womb warriors fighting the patriarchy by listening to past Operation Save Abortion trainings by clicking HERE for episodes, your toolkit, marching orders, and more. HOSTS:Lizz Winstead IG: @LizzWinstead Bluesky: @LizzWinstead.bsky.socialMoji Alawode-El IG: @Mojilocks Bluesky: @Mojilocks.bsky.social SPECIAL GUEST:E. Jean Carroll IG: @Ejeancarroll1 Bluesky: @Ejeancarroll.bsky.social GUEST LINKS:READ: E. Jean's Memoir “Not My Type”E. Jean Carroll's WebsiteE. Jean Carroll's Substack NEWS DUMP:What's the Best Place to Raise a Family? We Scored Every County.WaPo Article About “The Best Place to Raise a Family” Reeks With Pro-Abortion BiasRepublicans Demand Tougher Abortion Restrictions to Extend Obamacare FundsWisconsin GOP Lawmakers Consider Legal Definition of Abortion, Separate From Miscarriage CareThe New Argument Against Birth Control That Could Appeal Directly to RFK Jr.The Conservative Women's Magazine With Big Ambitions, and Sex Tips for Wives EPISODE LINKS:ADOPT-A-CLINIC: Just Choice/Aria at JustCenter in OhioOperation Save AbortionExpose Fake ClinicsBUY AAF MERCH!AAF's Abortion-Themed Rage Playlist FOLLOW US:Listen to us ~ FBK PodcastInstagram ~ @AbortionFrontBluesky ~ @AbortionFrontTikTok ~ @AbortionFrontFacebook ~ @AbortionFrontYouTube ~ @AbortionAccessFrontTALK TO THE CHARLEY BOT FOR ABOBO OPTIONS & RESOURCES HERE!PATREON HERE! Support our work, get exclusive merch and more! DONATE TO AAF HERE!ACTIVIST CALENDAR HERE!VOLUNTEER WITH US HERE!ADOPT-A-CLINIC HERE!GET ABOBO PILLS FROM PLAN C PILLS HERE!When BS is poppin', we pop off! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's Song of the Day is “Won't You Speak Your Mind” off Small Talk, the fourth album from Chicago band Whitney. Small Talk is out now.

Won't you be a dear and help an elderly person out? It could be the last thing you do! In this episode, Ayden takes a bite out of Bolivian folklore and tells a story about a vampiric entity that feeds off of your kindness!ICE Out of Spotify!PishtacoEl TíoVampiress of Pisco, PeruTlahuelpuchiA brief on the Language, History, Culture and Religion of the Aymara peopleWant to hear your story on Susto? Fill out the Letters From the Beyond form or visit SustoPodcast.com to be shared on the show!Become a Patron here! Subscribe to Susto's YouTube channel!

Ben and MP re-visit the merch table and come up with some terribly disappointing new marketing concepts. Note to bands: do NOT take our advice! Also, the boys talk about their obsessive collecting habits. This episode's playlist includes an exclusive world premiere and will con your sammy and kander your ebb.EPISODE PLAYLIST:SUDS, “Hook Me Out"goo, “Payday"Flowerbomb, “Forget My Name"The High Lines, “County Lines"Keep For Cheap, “Pennywise"Sloe Noon, “Youthless, Useless"Etta Marcus, “Girls Are God's Machines"Hannah Brewer, “Small Town Rockstar"Council Grounds, “Won't Run"Laney Jones, “We Belong Together"Bad Guru, “No Innocent"Caitlin Starr, “Take Me Down"BONUS TRACK: SUDS, “Quietly Feeling"

In this heartwarming episode of Nomadic Diaries, hosts Doreen Cumberford and Megan Norton-Newbanks welcome Hiroko Bell, a Japanese adult third culture kid (ATCK) and passionate advocate for cross-cultural families. Hiroko shares her remarkable geographical journey, from Japan to the US, England, and back again, before settling in New York City and embracing her multi-layered identity.Key Topics & HighlightsBelonging to New York CityHiroko reflects on finding home not in a physical location, but among family and community—a concept captured in her song “I Am Me.”Japanese TCKs and 'Kikokushijo'Unique Japanese term ‘Kikokushijo' and its evolution: from describing children struggling to reintegrate after living abroad, to being viewed as global assets.Educational and emotional challenges for returnees, especially regarding language tracks and stereotypes.Importance of translating TCK resources and raising awareness in Japan.The Role of Language and IdentityThe complex relationship between language proficiency and cultural belonging, illustrated by personal anecdotes and the nuances of bilingual/mixed families.Empowerment & MissionHiroko's commitment to affirming TCK strengths, advocating for visibility and belonging, and empowering future generations through language and awareness.Song Highlight:Hiroko shares the story behind “I Am Me,” written to express the TCK experience and the emotional journey of finding home and identity. The episode closes with a moving excerpt from the song.Songwriter: YUSHIOLyrics: Hiroko Nagata BellSingers: Minori Therrien Imai, Yaji Tomo, YUSHIOProduced by OkannootoFind Hiroko at:https://www.instagram.com/uptck.jphttps://youtu.be/bXv6Kt1t8gM?si=fYzpoVSEkCOZCqOHhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroko-nagata-bell-6457811/Here is a short excerpt from the song.Where are you from? It's an easy question But not for me Here, there or nowhere, I don't know  I come from different places  Mix of words Mix of norms I wonder if I'm all mixed up  Am I more like my dad Or more like my mom Or maybe neither  Where do I belong? Who am I?  Made up my mind Won't worry no more I don't have to be like anyone else  Don't define me Don't confine me I am ME  Where's your home? It's an easy question But not for me Here, there or nowhere, I don't know   Support the showHome is Where Your Story Crosses Borders!We aim to inspire expat solutions, by helping you navigate global living with ease and grace.

According to a YouGov study from 2022, 20% of Brits sleep naked. Men are actually more likely to do so than women, with a rate of 25% compared to 15%. And those who do so tend to talk up the health benefits. For example, science suggests that sleeping naked might help regulate your body temperature more effectively. Our bodies naturally fluctuate throughout the night, and wearing heavy pajamas can interfere with this process. What are the other advantages? Won't I get cold if I sleep naked? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here : ⁠Which foods shouldn't be eaten together?⁠ ⁠What is xylazine, the so-called zombie drug?⁠ ⁠How can I stop smoking?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 27/9/23 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We continue to tell our New Afrikan Ourstory from the streets of Oakland, from the calling of the names of our ancestors and bringing her forward to inspire the moment into remembrance of all our people have endured and from which we build our resilience and Unity. We continue to read “Assata, an autobiography,” we hear commentary and gain knowledge about Sandra “Red” Pratt, more than the wife of Geronomo Ji Jaga Pratt, and Brotha Balagoon shares his ode to Assata piece. Kan't stop, Won't stop All Power to the People Liberate Our Elders Free Africa! Free Palestine!

Emma M. Lion returns with gusto in volume 2 by Beth Brower. Do you like underdog stories? Emma may be in a precarious predicament but she's not one to throw in the towel! Advice from Emma's father, “You must be fighting fit, Emma, whatever else. Most of life is the ability to be ready for what comes your way.”Young Hawkes (the unlikely vicar) informs Emma that her cousin has been confessing his sins and a much longer list of her sins while showing the scar from the teapot Emma tossed at him long ago following much provocation. The Tenant aka Niall Pierce attempts to solve the mouse problem with a cat. He and Emma communicate by sending messages through a hole in the wall that divides the garret, like the following:I REPORT THAT TYBALT HAS TAKEN A MOUSE.Your news proves to be the chief triumph of my day.WITH NO WISH TO CAST ASPERSIONS, I WONDER HOW THAT COULD BE THE TRIUMPH OF AN ENTIRE DAY?Tea with my Aunt, the Lady Eugenia Spencer, in which I was instructed how to behave in public: namely, like an unobtrusive but on the window.I RETRACT MY PREVIOUS QUESTION.Cousin Arabella bravely declares that, “Emma can't live with Maxwell's ghost forever…As painful as it is, however desperately we miss him, Maxwell has been dead for three years…Allow him to go.”  Mary, Emma's friend and fellow survivor  from Fortitude enlists Emma's help in solving a problem involving retrieving a confiscated  copy of Jane Eyre and Jack (Mary's rented cousin).In the midst of Emma's comings and goings she intersects with the Duke of Islington's diary which she was unable to resist reading from cover to cover before returning it!We love Emma and her ability to move forward in spite of the trials her cousin places upon her. Won't you join the journey? Blessings!

Jason and Rosie come together to discuss Apple TV's new sci-fi series Pluribus, from prolific creator Vince Gilligan. They recap the fascinating two-episode premiere and then discuss the themes and big questions the show poses, as well as some predictions for where this unexpected show might lead as the season continues. Won't you join us? Follow Jason: IG & Bluesky Follow Rosie: IG & Letterboxd Follow X-Ray Vision on Instagram Join the X-Ray Vision DiscordSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The local Audubon Society chapter and residents in Sarasota took on the country's largest homebuilder - and WON!Florida was an essential training and support location for military operations during World War II. Anthony D. Atwood is a military historian who authored "State of War: A History of World War II in Florida." He joins us to discuss how Florida shaped the War and how the War shaped Florida.For only $5 per month, you can support "Welcome to Florida" by becoming a monthly patron. Patrons receive exclusive access to our weekly Florida Conservation Newsletter.Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Sometimes our students giggle, get wiggly, or completely check out when it's time to write. Is it task avoidance? A skills gap? Sensory overload? In this Misfit Minute, Audra walks through 5 quick questions to help you figure out what's really going on—and what to do about it—when pencil-and-paper tasks go sideways.

Angie is back for salon talk you WON’T be able to brush off. Lean back for this blow-out episode full of RHOSLC gossip. Plus, Angie’s new celebrity client and the housewife Angie can’t wait to get her hands on!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Oddcast - Henry Cho Talks “The Empty Nest Tour” (Airdate 11/10/2025)   From "chicken wire" gigs to being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, comedian Henry Cho stopped by the Oddcast! He's currently on his hilarious "Empty Nest Tour." For tickets: https://www.henrychocomedy.com/   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Welcome back to the Empower Her Business Accelerator podcast! I'm your host, Philippa Channer, and I'm so glad you're here with me for this important episode in our November series on strategic business goal setting for 2026. If you've been feeling like you're working constantly but not seeing the traction you'd expect — you're not alone. That's why this series is all about reclaiming your power and becoming more intentional with your goals and strategies. Today, we're diving deep into one of the most practical yet transformational tools for business growth — SMART Goals. Not just the buzzword version. I'm talking about goals that are rooted in clarity, aligned with your vision, and actually doable. If you're ready to leave the overwhelm behind and step into a more focused, confident 2026, this episode is for you. And hey — if you're craving strategic accountability and real systems that match your energy and goals, the Entrepreneur Incubator may be the perfect next step. This is my signature 4-month, done-with-you experience that walks you through clarity, planning, and execution — without the burnout. Tap the link in the show notes to schedule your free 30-minute strategy call and see if it's the right fit for you. ⏱ TIMESTAMPS & EPISODE BREAKDOWN (00:00) Welcome & Introduction to Strategic Goal Setting (01:30) What Are SMART Goals, Really? (02:30) The Power of Specificity (03:15) Measurable: Know When You've Won (04:20) Achievable Goals That Drive Confidence (05:30) Relevant Goals that Align with Vision (06:40) Time-Bound: Put a Clock on It

In the archives of major American rhetorical moments, "Leave Britney Alone!" by Cara Cunningham (formerly known as Chris Crocker) is one of the most impactful. She taught a generation about the dangers of gossip magazines and criticism culture in one poorly-lit youtube video.Well, Cara is in good company. Won't people ever Leave Jane Alone?

Dr Clark continues the series Have This Mind on the book of Philippians. In this episode, he discusses Paul's introduction to his letter: chapter 1, verses 1 - 11.  This episode of the Heidelcast is sponsored by the Heidelberg Reformation Association. You love the Heidelcast and the Heidelblog. You share it with friends, with members of your church, and others but have you stopped to think what would happen if it all disappeared? The truth is that we depend on your support. If you don't make the coffer clink, the HRA will simply sink. Won't you help us keep it going? The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All your gifts are tax deductible. Use the donate link on this page or mail a check to Heidelberg Reformation Association, 1637 E Valley Parkway #391, Escondido CA 92027. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! Browse the Heidelshop! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Academic) Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

We are standing on the edge of a massive energetic turning point. In this episode, top astrologer Rux from Written in the Stars joins Emilio Ortiz to decode the powerful astrology of 2026–2027, revealing how the upcoming planetary alignments — including Pluto in Aquarius, Uranus in Gemini, and the Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Aries — are setting the stage for a total reboot of human consciousness. Rux explains how these transits symbolize both the collapse of outdated systems and the birth of the New Earth — a revolutionary era of awakening, innovation, and collective evolution that will redefine every aspect of life on our planet.✦ Learn more about The Deep Dive Membership | https://iamemilioortiz.com/the-deep-d...Together, Emilio and Rux dive deep into the meaning behind this global transformation and how each of us can align with the cosmic revolution now underway. This is not just another astrology forecast — it's a prophetic look at humanity's next quantum leap in consciousness. If you've been feeling the intensity building, this conversation will help you understand why. You will also discover how to prepare for the New Earth frequencies, embody your higher timeline, and rise into the light of this coming age.Rux is a professional astrologer, content creator, and founder of Written in the Stars, where she bridges modern astrology with ancient wisdom to help people understand the deeper purpose behind cosmic cycles. Known for her precise and empowering interpretations, Rux offers insights on Pluto in Aquarius, the 2026–2027 planetary alignments, consciousness shifts, and collective evolution. Her work focuses on using astrology as a tool for personal awakening, emotional mastery, and spiritual alignment, guiding thousands of viewers to navigate destiny with clarity and confidence.___________________PODCAST CHAPTERS0:00 —Rux Astrologer Intro2:55 - Pluto in Aquarius8:32 - 2026 Astrology Predictions11:04 - Dissolving Old Leadership15:39 - Why 2026–2028 Won't Be What We Think17:50 - Why Gen Z Loves Astrology20:57 - Choosing the Right Moments27:47 - Destiny vs Free Will35:36 - We're More Predictable Than We Think37:10 - Mastering the Elements & Spiritual Evolution45:02 - Can Astrology Predict World Events? 50:15 - 2027 Is Disruption: Getting Our Minds Ready52:34 - New Planets, Comets & 3I/ATLAS55:31 - Are Planets Conscious?58:52 - Law of Correspondence1:03:36 - Harry Potter, Spells & Becoming the Magician1:19:04 - Devotion over Mood1:22:33 - The One Truth About Astrology1:24:14 - “No Matter What Happens in 2026, Remember…”1:24:45 - The New Children 2025–20321:28:08 - Time Capsule for Future Leaders:___________________Guest: Rux – Written in the Stars✦ Website | https://writteninthestars-astrology.com/✦ YouTube | ‪@WrittenintheStarsbyRux‬ ✦ Book a Session with Rux | https://writteninthestars-astrology.c...✦ Instagram |   / ruxunbelievable  Host: Emilio Ortiz✦ IG |   / iamemilioortiz  ✦ Subscribe to Channel |    / emilioortiz  Special Offerings to Support the Show:✦ Make a One-Time or Recurring Donation on PayPal

Won't You Be My Neighbor?Halloween is maybe the last bastion of true neighboring in suburban America. It's a shame that the liturgical story it tells is largely one of glorifying horror. Yet, like those buckets of trick or treating treasures, it's a mixed bag. There's something going on in the dynamics of Halloween that is truly worth celebrating. People come out of their houses. They walk and talk. Their kids run around together, laughing. Driveway fire pits transform into tables of welcome, where weary parents, laden with discarded costumes and strollers, can linger and get warm. Some misguided folks use the opportunity to hand out Nutrigrain bars or gospel tracts instead of candy. (These are the houses the kids know in their wisdom to avoid.) But there's no doubt about it: this celebration of death somehow brings the neighborhood back to life. I was talking with a friend and fellow pastor who serves in Louisville about their vision and mission statement language this week. There was a lot of talk about doing things for others in there, which is a good thing. But I suggested that maybe it's it was too broad. C.S. Lewis has his senior devil Screwtape give advice to keep his patient's mind on "others" in the abstract. He should have him focused on others “out there” so that he ignores the others he can actually love in the everyday.  That's why the Bible talks, not just about others, but about neighbors. I was thrilled the other day to walk in on my wife watching old episodes of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. She said she's been thinking lately about how formative the old pastor's public television show had shaped her as a child. I'm grateful to have shared that formative experience. I didn't know at the time that the nice man in comfy sneakers and a snazzy sweater unashamedly viewed what he was doing as ministry. Reverend Fred Rogers was indeed a passionate and outspoken advocate for “making goodness attractive again.” He did this in the everyday by dwelling richly with his neighbors, whom he defined as “those whose lives move near our own.” Then he would often quote Jesus' command to love these neighbors, the specific others, as ourselves.That's what we're talking about this Sunday: how what James calls “the law of freedom” compels us to creatively use every opportunity to make goodness attractive to our neighbors again. Join us!

Won't You Be My Neighbor?Halloween is maybe the last bastion of true neighboring in suburban America. It's a shame that the liturgical story it tells is largely one of glorifying horror. Yet, like those buckets of trick or treating treasures, it's a mixed bag. There's something going on in the dynamics of Halloween that is truly worth celebrating. People come out of their houses. They walk and talk. Their kids run around together, laughing. Driveway fire pits transform into tables of welcome, where weary parents, laden with discarded costumes and strollers, can linger and get warm. Some misguided folks use the opportunity to hand out Nutrigrain bars or gospel tracts instead of candy. (These are the houses the kids know in their wisdom to avoid.) But there's no doubt about it: this celebration of death somehow brings the neighborhood back to life. I was talking with a friend and fellow pastor who serves in Louisville about their vision and mission statement language this week. There was a lot of talk about doing things for others in there, which is a good thing. But I suggested that maybe it's it was too broad. C.S. Lewis has his senior devil Screwtape give advice to keep his patient's mind on "others" in the abstract. He should have him focused on others “out there” so that he ignores the others he can actually love in the everyday.  That's why the Bible talks, not just about others, but about neighbors. I was thrilled the other day to walk in on my wife watching old episodes of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. She said she's been thinking lately about how formative the old pastor's public television show had shaped her as a child. I'm grateful to have shared that formative experience. I didn't know at the time that the nice man in comfy sneakers and a snazzy sweater unashamedly viewed what he was doing as ministry. Reverend Fred Rogers was indeed a passionate and outspoken advocate for “making goodness attractive again.” He did this in the everyday by dwelling richly with his neighbors, whom he defined as “those whose lives move near our own.” Then he would often quote Jesus' command to love these neighbors, the specific others, as ourselves.That's what we're talking about this Sunday: how what James calls “the law of freedom” compels us to creatively use every opportunity to make goodness attractive to our neighbors again. Join us!

The Freedom of Surrender: Forty Devotions for a Joyful Life in ChristFind joy and freedom in surrenderLetting go is hard.To surrender is to let go of what we tightly grip, the good and the bad. It's a relinquishing of control, a recognition that God alone can meet our deepest needs. It's a holy pause that entrusts each hope, each worry, and each pressing concern to the One whose love for us is beyond measure. And in this surrender, we enter into freedom. But, even so, letting go often feels easier said than done.In The Freedom of Surrender, author Mary DeMuth invites you to journey through forty days of entrusting specific areas of your life to God―your inner struggles, your family, your expectations, your regrets, your ministry, your grief, your relationships, your job, your health, your finances, your future, and more. Every daily devotion includes Scripture, prayer, and Mary's original art that help you cast each care on the One who cares for you.On this forty-day journey, you'll learn:How to trust that God is in control, even in moments of chaos and stress.True joy and freedom can happen when we release what we're holding too tightly.God's plan is to see you thrive and grow.Prayer opens the door to freedom and peace.Even in your struggles, you are never alone.When we entrust our stresses and worries to God, we embrace the reality that's always been true: Our “control” is an illusion. God alone can meet our needs, heal our wounds, and guide our steps. From this place of total reliance on God, we can experience deep joy and the peace that passes understanding.What are you holding too tightly? Experience freedom as you invite Jesus to help you surrender all.Purchase a copy of Making Marriage Easier here.Connect with Mary DeMuthWebsite | Facebook | X | Instagram | YouTubeMary loves Jesus. And really that's the most important thing about her. It's not writing or speaking or praying or mommying or any other -ing you can find. She flat out loves Him. Why? Because he has utterly, truly, completely re-storied her. See her testimony below.She has three adult children, and she's been married to Patrick for 33 years now. Mary counts those relationships as the most important people in her life. In the mid 2000s, their family helped plant a church in Southern France–a difficult, but amazing experience. In her spare (ha!) time, she loves to cook, run, garden, decorate, paint, and do interior design. You can find all her artwork here.She's been writing for 30+ years–half of them in obscurity. She mentored many writers during that time, and continues to do so through the Rockwall Christian Writers Group and some of her  instructional books. Mary pioneered a literary agency in 2022, Mary DeMuth Literary, where she shepherds writers toward traditional publishing.She currently lives in North Texas, serves in her local church alongside her husband, and she's had the privilege of speaking around the world in places like Johannesburg, Monaco, Geneva, Munich, Port-au-Prince, Nice and Florence. Although her past story is difficult, her current story leaks adventure.Not only has Mary been restored and restoried, but she longs to see the same for you. You no longer have to live haunted. I believe your new story starts today. Carl Bard wrote, “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.”Paul reminds us of this important truth: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). Living in retrospect is a bad idea. It's time to heal, be set free, and find the new story God has for you. Mary has experienced God turning her storm into a story, moving her from a bitter story into a bigger one. Won't you join her on the adventure?

Today's Oddcast - Talking Lamar - Holy Banana Scissors (Airdate 11/7/2025)   You haven't reached peak adulthood until you have at least one kitchen gadget sitting in your pantry collecting dust. Lamar's got a list of useless kitchen items you don't need to waste your money on The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children?? Things aren't looking good, but Erica Slaughter is on the case! For the first episode of Lexi month, Lexi and Anne dove in to the first 15 issues of the hit series "Something is Killing the Children" by James Tynion and Werther Dell'edera and--spoiler alert--they had a BLAST! Join the women of the Comics Collective as they talk all about horror and one of the coolest women in comics. Make sure you check out our Patreon for December voting! The Comics Collective | A Weekly Comic Book Podcast | Patreon

Let's be honest — if our politicians really wanted housing to be affordable, it would be by now. They've had decades to fix it. There have been inquiries, commissions, roundtables, and billions thrown at so-called "affordability schemes." And yet, what do we have? Record house prices, record rents, and a generation of young Aussies wondering if they'll ever own a home. Maybe — just maybe — that's not an accident. In today's Big Picture episode, Ken Raiss and I unpack why the housing affordability crisis isn't a policy failure... it's the system working exactly as designed. We'll explore why politicians can't afford for property prices to fall, how government policy quietly rewards property owners, and what that means for investors like you.   Takeaways  ·         Housing affordability remains a critical issue in Australia. ·         Government policies often prioritize property value stability over affordability. ·         Cultural perceptions link home ownership to success in Australia. ·         A significant percentage of politicians own property, influencing housing policies. ·         Consumer confidence is low despite some economic improvements. ·         Investors should focus on strategic property purchases. ·         Wealth advisory services can help investors navigate complex markets. ·         Economic uncertainty can create opportunities for savvy investors. ·         Long-term planning is essential for property investment success. ·         Education and preparation are key for investors to capitalize on market changes.     Chapters  02:07 - Why Politicians Can't Afford for Property Prices to Fall  04:59 - How Government Taxes Depend on Rising Property Values  06:50 - Banks, Confidence and the Economy Built on Housing  09:05 - Cultural Bias: Homeownership as the Core of Australia's Identity  12:11 - Why 94% of Politicians Own Property and Won't Change the Rules    Links and Resources:   Answer this week's trivia question here- www.PropertyTrivia.com.au ·         Win a hard copy of Michael Yardney's Guide to Investing Successfully ·         Everyone wins a copy of a fully updated property report – What's Ahead For Property For 2026 And Beyond.     Michael Yardney http://michaelyardney.com/   Get the team at Metropole Wealth Advisory to create a Strategic Wealth plan for your needs Click here and have a chat with us   Ken Raiss, Director of Metropole Wealth Advisory   Get a bundle of eBooks and Reports at www.PodcastBonus.com.au   Also, please subscribe to my other podcast, Demographics Decoded with Simon Kuestenmacher – just look for Demographics Decoded wherever you are listening to this podcast and subscribe so each week we can unveil the trends shaping your future. Or click here: https://demographicsdecoded.com.au/

Siham LahmineOwner & Cultural Curator, Morocco's First Local >> Woman-Owned Culinary & Luxury Heritage ToursMorocco Travel Organizerhttps://adventuretravelmarketing.com/guest/siham-lahmineSiham Lahmine is the mastermind behind Morocco Travel Organizer. Recognized for her talents in luxury bespoke travel experiences, she creates fully immersive tours showcasing Morocco's highlights, cultural richness, and culinary delights. As a local expert, she leaves no stone unturned when it comes to exploring the country's uniqueness.Siham Lamine is a leading Moroccan cuisine expert with over 10 years of experience leading culinary adventures across Morocco and Fes. She has a deep knowledge and understanding of the country's culinary heritage and traditions, allowing you to experience them through her in-depth and immersive tours. Additionally, Ms. Lahmine brings travelers on a historic food journey across the Medina's souks. Finally, she has hosted renowned Chef Ainsley Harriot known for his BBC cooking game shows Can't Cook, Won't Cook, and Ready, Steady, Cook among other famous names.summaryIn this episode, Jason Elkins speaks with Siham Lahmine, a cultural curator and owner of Morocco Travel Organizer. They discuss the unique challenges faced by women in the Moroccan tourism industry, the cultural significance of food in Moroccan society, and Siham's personal journey from a passion for food to establishing her own culinary tourism business. The conversation delves into the importance of community, family influence, and the stories behind Moroccan cuisine, as well as the realities of working in tourism and advice for aspiring professionals.takeawaysSiham is the owner of Morocco Travel Organizer, focusing on culinary and luxury heritage tours.Women in Morocco face unique challenges in the tourism industry, often dominated by men.Culinary experiences are a way to share Moroccan culture and heritage.Food is a central part of Moroccan identity and community bonding.Siham's passion for food was influenced by her family, especially her mother and grandmother.Travelers appreciate learning about food stories and cultural rituals during tours.Traditional Moroccan dishes require time and effort to prepare, reflecting love and care.Siham emphasizes the importance of personality over formal tourism education in the industry.The role of women in tourism is evolving, but cultural expectations still pose challenges.Siham encourages aspiring tourism professionals to experience the industry before committing to it. Learn more about Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Marketing and join our private community to get episode updates, special access to our guests, and exclusive adventure travel offers on our website.

Reddit rSlash Storytime r prorevenge where PE teacher kept making fun of me because I was not athletic and I made him vomit from exhaustion in front of the whole class Revenge against the couple who stole out spot on vacation Taught my housemates a lesson after they kept blatantly disrespecting me and our shared space I came back in a 3-piece suit Entitled rich lady I called a bad driver's company Horror movie level revenge on cheating Ex The kitten I adopted out of spite. Won't move your car? Enjoy the hour wait. And a car accident. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we create nerdy games to challenge, perplex and amuse based on the Bible, pop-culture and nerdy deep cuts! Won't you play along with us?

Naomi has lost her husband and two sons in Moab so she decides to return to her homeland. However, she does not lose her daughter-in-law even after Naomi repeatedly encouraged Ruth to return to her mother's house. Ruth's reply was and still is so powerful. “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”Ruth exhibits the traits described in the Proverbs 31 woman. She gave Naomi space to grieve while she gleaned fields from early morning till evening. Her focus was on serving Naomi not herself. What a wonderful lesson for us all!Her character and work ethic received the attention of Boaz, the owner of the field and a relative of Naomi. Layer by layer, Naomi works through her grief and becomes a matchmaker. What a beautiful love story evolves out of heart-brokeness!Boaz's mom was Rahab, who had also, like Ruth, left pagan life to follow YHWH. He is drawn to this young woman who is an outsider, like himself, when he sees who she  gladly gleans for her mother-in-law.R uth refused to return to her parent's abode,U nbelievable work ethic, she carried the load-T rusted God wholeheartedly, she never feared,H umbly followed Namomi's instructions no matter how weird!Won't you journey with us back to the turbulent time of Judges as we recap the amazing book of Ruth! Let's strive to absorb the lessons that can be gleaned from this selfless servant-minded young widow!

Today's Oddcast - Bridger Loves "The Savior" (Airdate 11/3/2025)   What do you do when your pet is anxiously attached? Sheri and Kevin have been working on their dog Bridger's separation anxiety training because he's overly attached to Kevin.   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

274. Holy Spirit Stories and Fruit and Ways to Identify His Guidance in Our Lives with Margaret Feinberg   Exodus 31:3 NIV "and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—"   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Cover: Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, so will you share some insight into what you've been learning about the Holy Spirit from your most recent research for your latest book, entitled The God You Need to Know? If someone listening has trouble identifying the Spirit's role and God's direction or Jesus' voice in their life, how would you encourage them to grow in attention and recognition of His voice and leading? Do you have any stories to give as illustrations for the Spirit still mightily being at work in the world and in people's lives today?   Margaret Feinberg, one of America's most beloved Bible teachers, speaks at churches and conferences and hosts the popular podcast The Joycast. Her books and Bible studies, including Taste and See, Fight Back with Joy, More Power to You, and The God You Need to Know have sold more than one million copies and received critical acclaim and national media coverage from the Associated Press, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and more. She was named by Christianity Today as one of fifty women most shaping culture and the church today. Margaret savors life with her husband, Leif, and their superpup, Zoom.   Margaret's Most Recent Work: The God You Need To Know Book and Bible Study   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Dream Seller Travel, Megan Rokey   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: 150 Brain Science and Spiritual Abundance with Ken Baugh Special Patreon Re-Release Theology and Discipleship with Ken Baugh 259 God Speaks to His Kids . . . Here's How with Chris Allen Fruitful with Laura Dugger   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: (0:09 - 2:18) 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.   Do you love to travel?   If so, then let me introduce you to today's sponsor, DreamCellar Travel, a Christian-owned and operated travel agency. Check them out on Facebook or online at DreamCellarTravel.com. Today we get to learn from one of the most joyful human beings I've ever encountered.   My guest for today is Margaret Feinberg, and she's an author and researcher and podcaster and speaker. Most recently, her research project turned into a book where she was researching all about the Holy Spirit and His work in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and still His work that's present and active in our lives and around our world today. So, her stories of His specific presence at work in our lives are so moving, and she also pairs that with practical ways that we can more clearly hear from the Holy Spirit and identify His voice in our lives.   We also chat about the true definition of the word weird, which I actually want to elaborate on now because in the moment I couldn't find the definition that was so powerful. So, weird is defined as unearthly or uncanny, extraordinary, involving or suggesting the supernatural, and completely fantastic. Sometimes we think the Holy Spirit may be inviting us into something that seems weird, but He's redefined weird for us, and I just pray that all of us after this conversation will accept the invitation with gladness from Holy Spirit in our lives to join in whatever adventure He has planned for each one of us today.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Margaret.   Margaret Feinberg: (2:18 - 2:24) What a delight to be with you today. It's absolute joy, and you look fantastic, by the way.   Laura Dugger: (2:24 - 2:45) You're so kind. I can tell that joy is one of your markers already, and that makes me think you just have such a rich spiritual heritage in general. So, we don't typically start here, but can you go back and share your parents' story of coming to faith in Jesus Christ?   Margaret Feinberg: (2:46 - 5:22) Absolutely. I share this in the book, The God You Need to Know, in Bible study, but it's pretty beautiful. They actually came to know Jesus back in the 1970s during the Jesus movement, and my father was raised Jewish, and my mom was not really raised much in the church, and so, they got married, and separately on the same weekend, they came to know Christ. My father, back in the 1960s, he was actually a surfboard manufacturer.   He helped build longboards the very first time that longboards were cool, and these customers kept coming into his little store and telling him about Jesus, and eventually he grew so frustrated that one weekend he went out turkey hunting, and he was sitting in turkey blind, had tons of time around him, and decided to sit down and read the entire New Testament over the course of that weekend, and he read it, and he thought, “Wow, Jesus came to earth.”   He lived, he died, and he was resurrected that we can have eternal life for free, and he thought, in his Jewish brain, that is a good deal, and so, he just believed in Christ, and meanwhile, my mom is at home and has her own encounter. She's finishing reading a book by the name of The Great Late Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, which was actually the best-selling book of the decade back in the 1970s, and at the end of that book, it had an invitation to come to know Christ, and so, both of them come to know Christ separately on the same weekend. They come home on that Sunday, and they're a little awkward about it because it sounds weird. They don't really want to tell each other, and then finally start to spell out, and there's such joy that they both came to know Christ because the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives. What's amazing is that they had been trying to have kids for the first eight years of their marriage and hadn't been able to conceive, and within a month of them coming to know Jesus, I was conceived. So, you just see the work of the Holy Spirit all over that, and that He is leading people to Christ. He is on the move, and sometimes it doesn't involve any of us doing anything, and that's a freedom marker for us. It's not our job to run around and try to save everybody. Holy Spirit is already at work, and when we have the opportunities to be part of that, it is a privilege and a joy. Trust in a God who is so good and so loving and so kind that He will find people through reading books and hiding out in a turkey blind hunting turkeys all weekend.   Laura Dugger: (5:23 - 5:45) That gives me goosebumps even to hear the timing of that and you being conceived. Then you also had a unique childhood. At that time, not as many people were homeschooled, and your story was fascinating. So, what was homeschooling and spiritual discipleship like for you in the growing up years?   Margaret Feinberg: (5:46 - 8:18) Yeah, so, in those early years, my mom and dad had that mom-and-pop kind of surf shop down in Cocoa Beach, Florida. For all you surfing nerds, Ron Jon loaned my dad the money to marry my mom. I mean, so, we're talking deep surfing roots, still friends to this day, and so, they would work, and a lot of you are entrepreneurs and are listening, and you get this, but they would often work seven days a week, 14 hours a day, just trying to keep this little store open with their employee. It just was. It's just a rough business, retail, and so, the only way that they could get away was they would leave the store in the hands of a manager. They decided to buy a really small, inexpensive boat, and we would go sail from the coast of Florida into the Caribbean. So, as we did that, what do we do for school. I remember for third grade, we actually went for an entire year, and so, it was homeschooling. Now, this is like early 80s, and you have to think like it's not exactly fact-checked, reputable, like you send your work in like once or twice a year. So, I'm living on this boat, super remote, not even around a ton of kids, pretty isolated, and I figured out that if I did all my schoolwork in one day that I could play the other six, and so, that was my year of third grade. Fortunately, things turned out okay, but I learned so much more just meeting people from all over the world, surfing or swimming.   I learned how to, at eight years old, shoot my first lobster because we had to survive off the ocean. So, it was an incredible experience. Then after that, ended up going into public school in the later years once we got to like probably fifth, sixth, a lot more steady than those early years. But you know, the thing that I always saw in my mom was I would wake up, and she would usually be on the couch or on the deck of the boat, and she would be reading her Bible, and there was something about that. It wasn't spoken.   It wasn't like you must do this, but I watched it, and I saw it, and now all these years later, that's what I do. So, for all those mamas and papas who are listening and watching, I just want to encourage you - like how you live, those little things, the kids and the grandkids and the great-grandkids, they watch, they see, and it matters, and so, thank you. Those of you who are engaging in those things. It pays dividends for decades and generations to come.   Laura Dugger: (8:20 - 8:28) That's incredible, and then can you share about your own faith journey? You saw that modeled. When did it become personal to you?   Margaret Feinberg: (8:29 - 11:44) Yeah, you know, even as a young kid, I was aware of God and Jesus and Holy Spirit, and just the Lord was very tender to make Himself real to me when I was young. When I went away to college, and this is just normal behavior, you know, there is that kind of making faith your own, figuring it out, and so, my freshman year of college, I partied like a rock star. I got the bees, the beer, the boys, and the Ben and Jerry, like I, you know, I just all the things, and I remember at the end of that year, I had this sense that God was saying to me like, you are my child. I have called you by name.   You are mine. Come back to me, and I read about this in The God You Need to Know, but one of those was a turning point I went to. It was actually a Methodist conference on Holy Spirit, and while I was there, I had an unusual experience, but in it, you know, I'm watching, I'm listening to all these lectures.   I'm in the conference. I'm attending all these things, and at one point, I had a thought pop into my mind that was not my own, and the thought was go to the prayer room and look underneath the tablecloth. I was like, okay, that's weird, but it was like go to the prayer room and look underneath the tablecloth. So, I'm like, you know what? At the end of the day, like what do I have to lose?   I mean the worst thing that happens is I wander into our prayer room. Okay, we'll take the risk, and I remember going in there, and I'm kind of like there's some people praying (a couple). I'm trying to like I don't want to be weird like I know it's a conference on the Holy Spirit, but still I'm like I am not going to be weird about it. So, I'm like trying to peek underneath a tablecloth, and there's nothing there, and there's all these tables around the room. So, I'm kind of like making my way across, and I'm seeing like one lady like eyeing me like what is happening. So, I peek under another one. Anyway, I go table after table, nothing after nothing until I reach the very last table. I pick up the tablecloth, and there is a Bible, and I look, and it's full of like notes and photographs. So, I pull it out, and there's a name on the front, and so, I just kind of said, “You know, excuse me in the prayer room like does anybody know this person, and most people were like no, and one lady says you know what I do know her, and she had to leave the conference early, and I actually have her phone number.” So, all of a sudden I'm on the phone calling this lady and saying “Hey, I just found your Bible on the phone.”    She says, “You have no idea. That Bible is full of decades of prayers and notes and photos that can't be replaced. I have been sitting here praying that someone would find my Bible.” So, I'm just in awe like Holy Spirit, I didn't even know - like wow like this is not just a mental learning.   This is a real experience, and so, I told a couple people at the conference about it. One said' “You know what, actually, if you're driving up that direction, I've been praying to get a ride up that direction.” So, I was able to drop off this ministry worker, return this Bible to this precious woman, and that really became one of the markers in my life. Oh my goodness Holy Spirit is real. He is on the move. He is leading and guiding us, and this is such an exciting thrilling adventure to be on.   Laura Dugger: (11:45 - 12:12) Wow, and it absolutely is. You are an incredible storyteller. It's so powerful the way that you wrote some stories in your books, the way that you're sharing it now. God has really gifted you with that, and that's part of your purpose in life being that storyteller. So, how did you begin to uncover the purpose that God had for you in life?   Margaret Feinberg: (12:12 - 15:09) That's such a great question, so, I'm going to answer that a couple different folds. Can I do that? So, the first answer is all of our purpose is the same. It is to love God, love others, and delight in Him forever.   That is the purpose of all of our lives, and so, that is the answer. At the same time, a lot of what I think you're saying is purpose is a little bit about vocation. Is that right?   And so, we need to recognize that as believers that this idea that somehow our vocation or what we do is our purpose and is supposed to give us meaning and value to God has really only been around for the last 50 to 75 years and largely established in the American culture. But for thousands of years, that has never been the case. And so, what that does is that for a lot of us, when we don't kind of understand that it puts a heavier weight on the job. The vocation that we do to carry all of this burden of purpose, fulfillment, meaning, ordained by God.   I mean, that becomes like a heavy burden for a single job or vocation to carry that it was never meant to. Right? And so, again, back to what is our purpose? It is loving God, loving others, and delighting. And that never changes no matter whether you are raising littles, whether you are whatever the title on your business card, if you still have those, or identification on social, whatever it is. But that never changes.   And so, I think that we have to step back and recognize that. Now, I do understand that I am in a role in which my job provides spiritual meaning. And that is delightful.   And I am super grateful for that. But in that, my spiritual meaning is still not about what books I write or podcasts or any of that nonsense. It's all about how I'm living in my community and real one-to-one relationships that are done privately and never published on social media.   That is the real life. And so, I just want to encourage everyone out there to think that that job is the thing. The job is never the thing.   Now, don't let that distract you because what do you do when you're retired? What do you do if you can't do that job? But if you are in a vocation, if you are in a role, that to understand, yes, God can use that, and to invite Holy Spirit into that space, but to make sure that we don't find our identity in that.   Because that's a short runway. That's going to end at one point. And to really ground ourselves into the eternal and what does not have an end and what will sustain us from our first breath until our last.   Laura Dugger: (15:10 - 16:38) Wow, I love how you put all of that. And so, I'm going to share a story, so, bear with me because you may not be aware, but back in 2013, our lives first crossed paths. So, back then, we were pregnant with our first child.   And my husband, Mark, and I went with my parents to the American Association of Christian Counselors conference in Nashville. And you were one of those keynote speakers at the Opera Land Hotel. And I was just mesmerized by every word you shared.   And so, I see why people write about you, and they say you're one of America's most beloved Bible teachers, because you were so endearing from the first word spoken. But at the time, you were battling cancer. And yet you were still willing to generously and joyfully share about the goodness of the Lord and the ways that we encounter Him in nature through olives and bees and so on.   But the one other thing that has stuck with me for over a decade is when you encourage the audience of probably thousands of people in attendance, that if we don't know what to be thankful for today, be thankful for nose hairs. So, do you remember that?   Margaret Feinberg: (16:39 - 19:24) I do. Yeah, that defined gratitude in the little things and in the heart. I do.   And the reason I said that, because without context, that sounds really, really strange. But whenever anybody who's out there and is walking through any medical, whether that's mental health or physical challenges, one of the difficulties is in the medical world, they don't tell you everything that's coming. And so, there are all these hidden surprises, and you can read about it, and you can WebMD it, and you can read online, and all of them are just going to say you're going to die tomorrow.   We already know that. We know we shouldn't Google these things, right? But no matter what you're walking through, there are things that people just don't tell you.   And so, I knew that going through chemotherapy, I would lose my hair. And sure enough, in 10 days, it was all falling out. Nobody told me that that included all my hair, including my nose hairs.   And so, what I had to learn the hard way is when you don't have nose hairs, like kind of what holds anything that's liquid in your nose, it just falls out. And so, my encouragement was to everybody, you don't have anything to give thanks to God for today. Give thanks for your nose hairs.   And just a light way of saying, you know, even when you're walking through the darkness, and I know some of your listeners and your viewers are, you are in dark seasons. And if that is you, I just want to say, I get you. I get it.   I have battled cancer. I have battled autoimmune. I have battled being sick for years.   I have battled being embezzled. I have battled surviving a destructive pastor. I know suffering and pain.   But even when we're in the darkness, we are a people who poke holes in the darkness until it bleeds light. And that's who we are. And gratitude is just one of those tools that helps us do that.   So, I just want to encourage you today, like whatever it takes for you. And there is something in this concept of joy. And I don't quite understand.   I can't quite wrap my head around it. But joy is something that you can give away even when you don't have it. And in the process of giving away joy when you don't have it, somehow our capacity for joy expands.   It's a strange equation in God's economy. It does not add up. It does not make sense.   But whether it's, you know, climbing in an MRI machine and saying, man, has anybody praised God from this square inch today? Whether it's showing up and giving just a simple gift to someone else, whether it's writing the note, whether it's encouraging someone else, even in our own pain. When we do that, our capacity for joy just grows bigger and bigger.   Laura Dugger: (19:25 - 21:58) And now a brief message from our sponsor. Do you have a bucket list of travel destinations? Or maybe you have a special event coming up like a big anniversary, a honeymoon, or even just that first trip to Europe?   If so, you need to call DreamCellar Travel. 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That's worth saying again, in most cases, there is absolutely no service fee for this work.   Instead of booking online and being the one to deal with your airline schedule changes or the sudden change in country entry requirements, or the hotel that looks beautiful but is really under construction, call a professional. Let them deal with the problems that arise while traveling so you can just enjoy the trip. DreamCellar Travel has been planning dream trips since 2005 to amazing destinations such as Alaska, Italy, Hawaii, Canada, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, South Africa, Iceland, and more.   Where do you dream of going? You can reach out to the DreamCellar Travel at 309-696-5890 or check them out online at DreamCellarTravel.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.   You just lived this so well, and I know joy is a fruit of the spirit. Will you share some insight into what you've been learning about the Holy Spirit, especially from all your research from your latest book? As you mentioned, it's entitled The God You Need to Know.   Margaret Feinberg: (21:59 - 25:44) Yeah, I'm super excited about this book and Bible study. I've had a lot of questions about the Holy Spirit since I was a little girl. I remember reading the Bible and thinking, Jesus, He's so real.   He's so human. That I can recognize, and I get the picture of God on the throne, all powerful and sovereign. But when I think about the Holy Spirit, I'd be like, I'm struggling here a little bit.   And growing up in Southern Baptist and Methodist and Episcopal and non-denominational and charismatic, I got little pieces of Holy Spirit, but I just kind of struggled. And I think one of the reasons I struggled is that often, maybe like you, when I ask questions about Holy Spirit, I was like, “Well, you need to go read the book of Acts and read Acts 2.” And that's that beautiful moment of Pentecost where the spirit comes in and it's like a violent wind and tongues of fire.   They descend and people start speaking in other languages and other people hear they're declaring the glories of God. And then all of a sudden 3,000 people get saved. I think that is awesome.   But that doesn't look like my every day. So, I'm not quite sure. And so, for the last few years, I've been struggling to write this book.   And when I really came alive was with a scholar by the name of Jack Levison, and he focused in on the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. And all of a sudden that changed everything for me. Because what happens is if we jump to Acts, and particularly Acts 2 to understand Holy Spirit, it would be like showing up on your wedding day and being like, this is who you're marrying.   And you're like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't know this person. Like we haven't courted. We haven't dated.”   I don't, what, what, what? And yet that's often what we do as believers when we're directing people. And so, I took a deep dive into Holy Spirit throughout the Old Testament, looking at Genesis where Holy Spirit hovers over the waters, the chaos, the darkness, looking at how Holy Spirit hovers over our lives and how that's consistent with God, as in the book of Deuteronomy, as well as Jesus in the New Testament, that hovering like a, like a hen, I wanted to gather the children.   And you start to see this through it. You start to look in the lives of Bezalel, who was the first person who was filled with Holy Spirit, to do what to make and to make those, you know, the tabernacle and to lead an entire guild of artisans. We see the life of the Spirit in Daniel, where all of a sudden Nebuchadnezzar on multiple occasions is saying the Spirit of God is in him.   We have somebody who is literally running around like a wild animal at certain points in his life, who is still recognizing the power of Holy Spirit. I think it's the word in Hebrew is Ketria. We start seeing it in the life of Ezekiel, where the Holy Spirit is lifting him up, giving him new perspectives.   And what's cool is that once you start to recognize the rule of Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, you arrive at Acts 2 and you go, of course, it would happen this way. And suddenly for those of us who for maybe we've been hesitant about Holy Spirit, or maybe we've had maybe a lack of teaching or maybe some teaching that was a little bit abusive and was used to manipulate. Like all of a sudden we can back up from that and be like, oh, Holy Spirit, this is you from the beginning of time.   This is so normal. This isn't weird. This is just part of just being a follower of Jesus.   And so, one of the things that I love about this book is it takes the weird out, takes the scary out. It's so just biblically based, especially in the Old Testament. And I think some of your listeners and viewers will be surprised like, whoa, I didn't know that was, what?   That's where? And that's really fun and exciting.   Laura Dugger: (25:45 - 26:14) Absolutely. I think it did bring to light so many things from the Old Testament, like I said, especially. And I think you were even able to share some of your own stories, and that's why we're so often called to remember.   I think when we preserve and document those and share those stories, we can reflect back and remember God nudging us like he did with you, putting a thought in your mind that was not your own. That increases our faith in others, I think, as well.   Margaret Feinberg: (26:14 - 28:25) I think it really, really does. I think that one of the things we have to remember when Holy Spirit, so, in Psalm 139, we know that God knows he made us in the womb. And so, to recognize that all of us are made differently, and my hunches are some listeners right now who are thinking, man, yeah, I know people who talk a lot about Holy Spirit, but that's just not me.   I don't really see or enact or feel Holy Spirit. And so, first of all to you, I want to say I don't feel Holy Spirit either. I've been to a ton of churches and conferences, and the person on the stage will say, man, do you feel the Holy Spirit here?   And I'll be like, nope, nope, not at all. So, I'm not a feeler. But what I can do in those moments is I can acknowledge with my head, Holy Spirit is here, because we know that as part of the Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, Holy Spirit is here.   And then secondly, to recognize that like Psalm, you know, that describes that He knew us in the womb, that we are all different. We know today that there's a neurodiversity, right? So, some people learn audio, some people visual, some people like myself, ADD, ADHD.   And God knows that, like the Creator did not make a mistake. And so, wouldn't it make sense that the Holy Spirit, who knows us as the spirit of a living God, would interact with us in different ways? I have an e-newsletter, and I've surveyed, you know, thousands of people, how they recognize the spirit, and it's just so diverse.   Some are like me, a thought pops back in my head that is not my own, that causes me to love God, love others, serve others, take risks in godly good ways. For other people, they do feel it. Some people have like a warmth in their body.   Some people kind of just feel like this, this just comfort or peace, like liquid love that envelops them. Some people recognize God and the Holy Spirit through nature. And so, I listen to this, and I think, doesn't that make sense that God and Holy Spirit would know us so well that He would know how to communicate with us?   And so, that when we start gathering with other believers and say, “Hey, how is Holy Spirit working in your life?” It starts to get this excitement of recognizing it and celebrating it and making it normal and not weird.   Laura Dugger: (28:28 - 28:48) And I think let's even take that one step further. So, if somebody is listening and they currently have trouble identifying the spirit's role or God's direction or Jesus's voice in their life, how would you encourage them with even first steps to grow in attention and recognition of His voice and leading?   Margaret Feinberg: (28:49 - 34:09) Goodness, that's such a great question. Something that's really changed my life in the last few months is my friend, Drake. He's a Young Life leader here.   And he said, Margaret, when I'm training people how to recognize Holy Spirit, he says, “I and the kids get a journal and write one question down for Holy Spirit each day. The question could be about purpose, identity, Holy Spirit, what's on your heart, Holy Spirit, who do I serve today? And write that one question down.”   That's it. That's all we're doing. And then throughout the day, return to that one question in prayer again and again.   And then pay attention to conversations that suddenly you have, Bible passages that flutter through your mind, the sermon that's given, conversations with other believers. Like just pay attention. And it's amazing.   And then the next day or that night, jot down whatever happens. The next day, change the question or keep the same question. And just start changing the posture of your life to pay attention to that one question.   And I think you're going to start to see and encounter some things. It may not happen quickly. It may take a few weeks or even months, but it will happen.   I think I was thinking about this just this morning. I haven't shared this with anybody. But in some ways, like people are like, I don't recognize Holy Spirit.   It's kind of like my friends who are birders. Okay. Some people super into birding.   And I know there are birds. I mean, occasionally I'll see a bird out the window, but birders have a whole different mentality. They slow down.   They pay attention. And they have some tools like binoculars to be able to look and to see. And it's the same thing about paying attention to Holy Spirit.   We've got to slow down, pay attention. And maybe the tool is just asking Holy Spirit one question a day. But suddenly you'll start to see and recognize.   Can I give you a fun story? Please. Okay.   So, just at Easter came around and I was probably a couple weeks before and they're having this crazy good sale at Target on some new releases. So, I'm at the Target website early in the morning before they sell out. And I saw a purse and I bought myself a few things.   But I saw a purse and I immediately thought of my friend Janella. And so, I was just like, I'm just going to buy this for her. Now, let me be clear.   I've never bought a purse for her before. I don't really carry around a ton of purses. I'm a Apple pay, like keep it light.   Like it's just not my thing. But put it in the cart, send it to her. So, I get a text from her about a week or two later.   And she goes, how did you know? Did I tell you about my Easter meltdown? And I said, no, I didn't know.   And she tells me, and I had known this, that her mother had passed away last year. What I didn't know is every single year, since she was a little girl for Easter, her mom would buy her a dress and a purse. And this was the first Easter without her mom.   And she could justify financially buying the dress, but not the purse. And all of a sudden this purse, which wasn't a normal purse. She's like, this is an Easter purse.   I was like, I don't know that, but okay. Arrived. And she said, I just, I just cried because I knew that the Lord saw me.   He heard me. You know, he was with me, part of his kingdom. And so, she says, but here's the thing.   The purse matched my dress perfectly. And you start to see that happen. And I didn't hear a voice from God say, go buy your friend a purse.   I was just like, “Hey, I've been praying every day, a single thing from Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, will you order my steps?” And then you see something that you couldn't orchestrate on your own in 500 years happen.   And you go, that is the work of Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit in the New Testament, it's parakletos. It means advocate.   It can be translated comforter, advisor, barrister. For those of you watch too many British shows like I do, you know, the legal counsel. But if I were to kind of break that down from just biblical words, here's how we know it's the Holy Spirit.   Number one, Holy Spirit will remind you: God loves you. God sees you. God hears you.   And you're part of His kingdom. And what happened in that story was both of us experienced that. God loves, He sees, He hears, and we're part of His kingdom.   And so, that is the thrilling part about life in the Spirit. It's not so I feel good or I have little things that happen. It's about being part of God's kingdom on this earth, living out the life that Christ describes and designed for us.   And so, we cannot do that apart from Holy Spirit. And also, you may notice I haven't been using the term the Holy Spirit because we wouldn't say I talked to the God today. I talked to Jesus.   And Holy Spirit is a person; a person you can have a relationship with. And just as you can have a relationship with Christ and talk to Christ, you can do the same with Holy Spirit who is, again, paracletes, your advisor, your comforter, your helper. Why would you not tap into that?   Why would you want to spend a life missing out on the fullness of that?   Laura Dugger: (34:10 - 36:48) Oh, that's good, and I'll have to try and apply that and refer to Holy Spirit rather than I even did it there, the Holy Spirit. I'm thinking in the book of John, I love the amplified version where it says, “one of the things to describe Holy Spirit is standby.” And I've thought of that so many times because I love looking up definitions and seeing exactly what that means.   And it's just the immediacy of the help available. And that's been a way that I've experienced Him in my life especially the short prayers of help, please help now. Or if I need direction, a lot of times it comes in parenting for me, like, I'm not sure which way to go.   Can you give me discernment right now? And He's immediately available. So, I would say my own personal experience, it's a lot of what you've mentioned, definitely through reading the Bible that I feel like He speaks so much.   You're like, well, bring the words off the page. Journaling is such a practical way. And I'll link to our friend Chris Allen's episode just about hearing from God and training our kids on how they can do the same.   Just those thoughts that they're not always from us, but we're processing thoughts that are given to us. But one other thing, so, this is inspired from your book. You mentioned about dreams and just asking Holy Spirit to speak to you through dreams.   So, in our life currently, one of our daughters is going through some health issues and we were launched into having to do this FODMAP diet. And it's not that big of a deal, but I had never heard of it before. And it limits and restricts quite a few things.   So, the immediate need of that seemed a little bit overwhelming. We're kind of in a busy season and completely revamping everything our family eats all day. I've been preoccupied and kind of consumed with that.   So, twice this week, because in my quiet time I felt like God just kept saying, bring it to me, come to me with this, ask me the questions. And so, I've been journaling and I feel like He's been responding with Scripture. But the last two nights in a row, I've woken up with a recipe in mind for our family.   And that has never happened before. But you are the one who challenged us just to say, just ask. And that was probably, probably started asking over a month ago.   So, thank you.   Margaret Feinberg: (36:49 - 40:32) Wow. I love it. And you know what?   That makes me want to ask. Does that make sense? Like there's this excitement and there's this joy.   When you share about how Holy Spirit is working in your life, I'm like, I want that too. And that's just, yeah, I think that so often we forget who is with us.   The person, the person of Holy Spirit is with us. We don't have to keep all this striving and straining. And man, I got a life hack this on my own.   You know, there is this availability of the power and the presence of the person of Holy Spirit, the spirit of the living God. One thing I want to note on the Trinity, just so that I don't, I don't want anybody to think, oh, she's just cutting out one part of the Trinity. No.   Trinity is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A couple of things on that. Number one, often, and part of the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, a little bit more in looking at this in the Old Testament, is when we see things in groupings of three, we tend to think that the third one listed tends to be lesser than or third place.   Right. And yet Father, Son and Spirit are equal. And what we see throughout the Bible is we have to remember that where there is one, all are present.   And so, like in creation, we see God take the lead. But, you know, Holy Spirit is mentioned in Genesis 1 to Jesus using the reference of we is there. And so, we start to see that the word, I think it's the word perichoresis is this term that describes the Trinity in a dance.   And so, at different parts of Scripture, we'll see one member of the Trinity take the lead, but the others are always present, whether it's, you know, Jesus taking the lead in the Gospels. But we see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. We see God saying, this is my son and whom I am pleased.   Well, please listen to Him. And so, to recognize that, but also to recognize, again, like this, this reality that Holy Spirit is in us and with us. Like, wow, that starts to change everything.   So, all of a sudden, and you say, “It's no big deal changing the way your family eats. Can I just say that is an enormous deal. The time that it takes to prepare the food, the thinking, the thought space, the bad recipes, it is so big.”   So, you can try to minimize that. But I'm just going to say, “First of all, I'm glad there's a way forward, but I'm sorry, because that is massive. And it's a lot.”   And Holy Spirit wants to meet us there. Remember Genesis 1:2, “In the beginning, God created the heavenly earth and the earth was formless and void.” Tohu wavohu in the Hebrew.   “And the spirit was hovering over.” That word is merechefet. And it means to hover, to brood like a mama eagle.   One rabbi translated it as to flutter. And what is the spirit fluttering? Remember in the Bible, sorry to go to teaching mode, but whenever someone is introduced in scripture, the introduction is the most important.   We see that in the life of Saul. He literally is hiding in baggage and can't find his own donkeys. And it plays out that way, right?   So, how is Holy Spirit introduced? Could have entered any place and comes on the scene hovering over the chaos, the uncertainty, and the unknown. And so, here you are in that place of uncertainty and unknown, a little chaotic.   And what is Holy Spirit? Here's a recipe.    Doing what? Reminding you, you are loved by God. You are seen by God.   You are heard by God. And you are part of this kingdom. Man, when we start to share these stories, it just, oh, it creates this hunger to experience and know the spirit more.   Laura Dugger: (40:32 - 42:02) It does, and it's so humbling, just his loving kindness.    I want to make sure that you're up to date with our latest news. We have a new website.   You can visit thesavvysauce.com and see all of the latest updates. You may remember Francie Heinrichson from episode 132, where we talked about pursuing our God-given dreams. She is the amazing businesswoman who has carefully designed a brand-new website for Savvy Sauce Charities.   And we are thrilled with the final product. So, I hope you check it out. There you're going to find all of our podcasts, now with show notes and transcriptions listed, a scrapbook of various previous guests, and an easy place to join our email list to receive monthly encouragement and questions to ask your loved ones, so that you can have your own practical chats for intentional living.   You will also be able to access our donation button or our mailing address for sending checks that are tax deductible, so that you can support the work of Savvy Sauce Charities and help us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. So, make sure you visit thesavvysauce.com.    Are there any other stories that come to mind to think of Holy Spirit being alive and moving and working in people's lives today?   Margaret Feinberg: (42:03 - 46:15) Oh, I'll give you one that I just found. You know what's so funny? Again, when you start to use the prayer prompts, when you start to do these just like a burger, all of a sudden you're like, oh my goodness, I didn't know how many birds there were.   So, went over to our friend's house. It was somebody at church. We actually, they weren't our friends at that point.   We noticed that when they came to our church, the son is on the spectrum. And so, in Sunday school class would often just stare at the wall in the corner by himself, not interact a whole lot, and their daughter. And so, my husband said, hey, let's bring a meal over to them.   And they invited us to stay for dinner. And so, the son comes in and he's probably maybe nine years old, wrapped up in a blanket, like a little burrito. And he won't make any eye contact with us.   You know, the mom's like, say, “Hello to Margaret.” Won't interact. Kind of woombas around, disappears, comes through a few times.   Finish eating. We go out in the living room. And the mom starts telling the story that she was exhausted as a mom.   She was completely burnt out. And she just said, “You know what? I'm going to the reservoir and I'm going to go paddle boarding.”   Just take a few minutes for myself. So, she goes out. She's paddle boarding.   All of a sudden she sees like a piece of paper on the surface of the water. She looks down and she goes, what is that? So, she picks it up.   Turns out to be a QR code to the zoo. Now, she doesn't know if it's used trash or what, but she's like, I'm going to keep this. She paddles some more, sees another piece of paper.   It's another QR code to the zoo. She's like, maybe they blew away from the, I don't, so, she grabs it. And she prays and she says, Lord, now you know that we're a family of four.   So, if we're really supposed to go to the zoo, we need four of these. Keeps paddle boarding. Finds two more.   And so, she comes home and says, “Guys, we're going to try to go to the zoo. I don't even know if these work.” But next day goes to the zoo, scans them.   Boop, boop, boop, boop. They all work. So, they go to the zoo.   So, they're walking through. And all of a sudden, the son comes upon a display of red pandas. And he just stops in his tracks.   And he stares and he watches. And the rest of the family, you know, the sister and the dad want to go on and they do. But he just says, “Mom, can we stay here?”   And so, he stays there for several hours just staring in this strange connection. He's never had, Mom had never seen anything like this with the red pandas. And so, she's telling me this story.   And suddenly I look around their living room and I realize there is panda paraphernalia everywhere. She looks at her son and says, “Honey, why don't you go put on your panda outfit?” Disappears, comes back in the panda outfit.   And all of a sudden, he's looking at us. He's talking to us. He's engaging us.   He goes over to his parents and paws them like a panda. And all of a sudden is snuggling with them. And she says that one encounter at the zoo changed their relationship with their son.   She says there are days that my son will get completely overwhelmed and start having a meltdown. And she'll use panda language and go up to him and say, “Well, you know that pandas eat 13 hours a day. Maybe you need a snack.”   And it is provided this connection and this new language for them as a family that they never had before. All because she went paddle boarding at the reservoir and pieces of paper started floating on the surface of the water. Friends, this is the work and power and presence of Holy Spirit.   Reminding us we are loved by God. We are seen by God. We are heard by God.   And we are part of this kingdom. And for your listeners, that may be strange stories of paper. And that may seem really odd.   But, man, I read a book that talks about Jesus saying, “Hey, go check out the fish.” And all of a sudden a coin to pay taxes comes out of his mouth. I read a book that declares that, you know, he is the alpha and the omega.   He is the beginning and the end. He knows where we are. He knows what we need.   And He wants to intercept. And sometimes that shows up like recipes in your brain in the morning.   Laura Dugger: (46:16 - 47:27) Amen, sister. And you can keep sharing as many stories as you want. But one more.   As I was reading your book, it was actually over Easter weekend. And at that time we had some tornadoes that were passing through the Midwest where we live. And in the middle of the night, we're all up.   We're in the basement. And once the sirens ceased, we got our girls back to bed. And we came and I just wondered, we came back to bed and I thought, is this just going to be for a few moments?   Is it going to happen again? Are we going to be up all night and need to take cover? So, with those concerns on my mind, I crawled back into bed.   And, you know, cortisol is kind of rushing through. So, I picked up your book to read. And my eyes fell to the words you quoted from part of Isaiah 31:5.   So, I specifically fell to this where it says, “He will shield it and deliver it. He will pass over it and will rescue it.” And I fell asleep well knowing that I could receive comfort from Holy Spirit, that the storm had passed for the night and God was shielding our family from it.   And indeed He did. They ceased.   Margaret Feinberg: (47:28 - 47:42) Isn't that incredible? I mean, we talk about I mean, just that's the word of God and the power of Holy Spirit, like speaking right in that moment in that exact situation. That is awesome.   Absolutely awesome. I love it.   Laura Dugger: (47:43 - 48:17) So, I love just Holy Spirit is even working through the words on your pages. I want you to be encouraged. I know you've prayed over this resource, but it's so incredible.   Somebody once said that books are little missionaries. And it's so true throughout the world. You have no idea who's cuddled up in bed reading these words and getting to encounter him.   So, thank you for all of your work for this. But Margaret, do you have any other practical tips that you want to impart to us so that each of us can cultivate the fruit of spirit in our lives?   Margaret Feinberg: (48:18 - 50:39) Yeah, I would say, you know, if you're if you're new to this and this idea, you know, pick up a copy of The Gods You Need to Know. There's also a Bible study. I am passionate about doing this in community.   The Holy Spirit, we often in the Americana church, think of our little personal private relationship with Jesus. And that's not church history. That's not the work of God.   Since the beginning of time, it has always been through relationships and community and recognizing that each of us has something to bring to the table in relationship with God and each other and gifts and talents and insights. I am in my questions. I think I referred to this later or earlier about, you know, I surveyed a bunch of people in my newsletter just about, hey, so, how do you recognize Holy Spirit?   One lady responded and she said, “Well, I recognize Holy Spirit because whenever I'm lost, I ask Holy Spirit for directions, and I just know where to go.” And she goes and it happens over and over in, you know, neighborhoods when I'm driving, when I'm going places. And I thought, okay, so, first I'll just be honest. My first thought was that's weird. I haven't heard that before.   And we assign anything weird that we aren't familiar with. And then I thought a little longer. I thought, man, I want her on my team.   I want her on my team because I get lost all the time. And I think that at times, sometimes we encounter people who encounter the Spirit differently than us. Remember that neurodiversity, but to recognize living in relationship, hearing how Holy Spirit works in different, sharing those stories.   There's something contagious and powerful in it. So, I would say definitely pursue Holy Spirit in relationship with others. Get together with others.   Start talking about this. Start praying together. Holy Spirit, we want to know you.   You know, it's okay to say, Holy Spirit, in the past, I've seen really unhealthy things. Or nobody's really taught me about you. But I trust that as the Spirit of the living God that you want to reveal yourself.   Just start praying, Holy Spirit, I want all of you. See what happens over the course of a week or two of praying that.   And what you become aware of. What Bible passages flutter through your mind. What conversations you suddenly stumble upon.   What answers to things you've been plagued with suddenly come. I trust God that if you ask and you honestly pursue, God will show up and show off.   Laura Dugger: (50:41 - 51:45) I completely agree. And now I'm curious to look up. I feel like the Lord has kind of put on my mind the word weird this year a few times.   Because truly, when you think of what he did, even in the Old Testament, think of Noah, just like, okay, I'm obeying. I'm putting nails in this wood for never seeing rain. It's weird what we're called to sometimes.   And I think that's what can make me hesitate for obedience sometimes. Like, that feels weird. Or I don't want people to think I'm weird.   So, I'm going to look up the definition of weird. I'd love to read it to you. Okay, so, I just looked up the definition of weird.   And it says, suggesting something supernatural or uncanny. And I think we should reframe the word weird. And when we're invited into something weird by supernatural God of the universe, that's an incredible invitation, like you say, to adventure.   So, I hope we can embrace the weird.   Margaret Feinberg: (51:47 - 54:41) And to recognize that feeling of, I don't want to do this. This feels strange. That is universal.   That is not you. That is not unique. And for all of our listeners and viewers, I have it.   Everybody has it. When we're trying to discern, you know, if something is prompted by the Holy Spirit, number one, is this, does this align with scripture? And does it align with the character of God?   Does it increase my dependence on God? Which means it's probably going to go against my natural instinct, which unfortunately is pretty self-word rather than outward. Does it cause me to love God and love others more?   And so, of course, Holy Spirit is going to be working in this expansive ground to pull us away from our self-word direction outward. And that is always going to be stretching and feel strange. And sometimes we're not going to see the outcome.   And we've got to become comfortable with that. We are not responsible for the outcome. We are responsible for obedience.   Some time ago, I swim a lot. And I just felt just in my gut, like, talk to the person in the lane next to you. And so, I go out swimming, and he's next to me, and I'm like, okay.   And so, I started this conversation with this elderly gentleman. And I'll just be honest. It was more like a non-versation.   I mean, we talked about sports ball teams and the weather and nothing. I really cared. Nothing deep.   Nothing meaningful. And on one hand, maybe I misheard. Okay.   But no harm, no foul. I mean, I showed kindness to a stranger. Loved others.   Like, there's no, like, okay. You know, on the other hand, I will never know what might have happened. Maybe he felt left alone.   Maybe he felt seen. But the outcome doesn't matter. And so, there are going to be times that we step out, and we see it, and we encounter it, and it's so exciting.   And there's going to be other times that we go to that thing, and we go, Lord, I didn't even know what that was. But maybe that was about quick obedience. You know, almost like building a muscle, getting stronger to say, you did it then.   I'm going to keep challenging. I'm going to give you opportunities to do this again and again. Because I want you on the front lines of, you know, eyes are searching to and fro for people who are, you know, obedient, quick to respond, that Holy Spirit wants to use.   And so, know that not seeing a result, totally normal. Keep going. Keep going.   Because you will see responses sometimes. And it is awesome. And in part of that, it's almost like building a muscle that I think God is so gracious and so loving kind that he will show you, like, quick outcomes sometimes when you respond to that little impulse to keep you going.   But there are going to be times you're not going to see them, but he's still at work. Because, again, you may be one of 17 people in a long chain where the fruit or the outcome as part of God's kingdom is still coming. And after a while, it's fine to be number 4, 7, 9.   You don't always have to be number 17.   Laura Dugger: (54:42 - 55:06) That's so good. That is such the biblical principle of being faithful with little. And then sometimes He allows us to be faithful with much.   And, Margaret, this is not your only resource that you've written for all of us to enjoy. Can you share some of your other resources and what's available or what you've learned that we may learn if we pick up a copy?   Margaret Feinberg: (55:06 - 56:31) Yeah. You know, I've definitely the most passive. I just gave four years of my life to this book and Bible study.   I do a ridiculous amount of research, so, I'm very, very slow. So, top would be The God You Need to Know book and Bible study. But I think another one, and you referenced it earlier, is a book called Fight Back with Joy, and it's also a Bible study.   And it just takes a look. You know, it tells a little bit about my cancer story, but it's really about anybody who's battling anything. You know, sometimes in life we pick the battles, and sometimes the battles pick us.   And sometimes that's in your marriage, maybe a custody battle. It may be a health issue. It may be a financial calamity.   It may be the loss of a business. There's just so much in a strange relationship with a kid that you love so much. And in that darkness, you know, it's so easy to sink.   And this book and study is just, it shows that more than whimsy, joy is the weapon we use to fight life's battles. And gives just tons of practical tactics on how to enact that and what that looks like, and how, most importantly, how to rally around others in a healthy, beautiful way when they are in the midst of that. I think one of the failures of the church today is to really equip and train believers of every size and form of how to love others well in the midst of their pain.   What to say, what not to say, how to give, how to support. And this book and resource really does that well.   Laura Dugger: (56:32 - 56:43) Oh, so grateful for all of those. We'll make sure and add a link in the show notes. And if we want to connect or follow you after today's conversation, where would you like to direct us online?   Margaret Feinberg: (56:44 - 57:09) You can find me at my website at Margaret Feinberg. I do my most loving of my people, I'll just be honest, through my e-newsletter. I mean, I sit down, I pray over, I pour my heart and my life into that.   It's quiet. Nobody ever sees it. I am also on socials, on Instagram, at Facebook, at MA Feinberg, at Margaret Feinberg.   But I would love to connect with you. And if anybody wants to email, my email is hello@margaretfeinberg.com.   Laura Dugger: (57:09 - 57:26) Love it. Thank you for sharing all of that. And you may be aware that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or discernment.   And so, as my final question for you today, Margaret, what is your savvy sauce?   Margaret Feinberg: (57:27 - 58:05) My savvy sauce is waking up every day and asking the Holy Spirit one question. When I don't know what to pray, I just say, “Holy Spirit, order my steps.” And if you will do this, you will do this for just 15 days.   I have a belief. It may just change the course of your life. The great part, it takes less than 30 seconds.   This is not doing heavy lifting. This is not time consuming, man. If you're raising those littles and you are overwhelmed, if you're running a business and you are overwhelmed, something very simple like this can change everything.   Laura Dugger: (58:06 - 58:10) So good. And you are so obviously connected to the vine, to the Lord. And I just want you to receive this, the fruit of the spirit.   I have experienced every single one in this conversation from engaging with you today. You are loving, joy, peace, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. And all wrapped into one.   So, praise the Lord for the way He made you. You are an absolute delight. I have enjoyed this so much.   Thank you for being my guest.   Margaret Feinberg: (58:10 - 58:11) What a privilege and joy. Grateful for you.   Laura Dugger: (58:11 - 1:02:30) 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's 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, 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're ready to get started.    First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.    You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.    We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.    And finally, be encouraged. 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.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.    And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Dr Clark continues the series Have This Mind on the book of Philippians. In this episode, he discusses Paul's introduction to his letter: chapter 1, verses 1 - 11.  This episode of the Heidelcast is sponsored by the Heidelberg Reformation Association. You love the Heidelcast and the Heidelblog. You share it with friends, with members of your church, and others but have you stopped to think what would happen if it all disappeared? The truth is that we depend on your support. If you don't make the coffer clink, the HRA will simply sink. Won't you help us keep it going? The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All your gifts are tax deductible. Use the donate link on this page or mail a check to Heidelberg Reformation Association, 1637 E Valley Parkway #391, Escondido CA 92027. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! Browse the Heidelshop! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Academic) Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Today's Oddcast - Talking Lamar - Lamar's Greatest Hits (Airdate 10/31/2025)   We're in Chicago for the Radio Hall of Fame induction, so here's a compilation of some of Lamar's greatest moments from when he regularly called into the Bob & Sheri Show.   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Today's Oddcast - Do Not Enter (She Did Anyway) (Airdate 10/27/2025)   Sheri's always loved exploring abandoned buildings. While wandering through these derelict spaces, Sheri reflects on what might've been for the people who brought life to these places before they were abandoned.   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Special Patreon Release: Teaching our Children about Finances with Markie Castle   1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV) "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."   *Transcription Below*   Markie Castle is a wife of 41 years, mother of 3 and is blessed with 7 grandchildren. After teaching at ICC for 20 years, she retired to help take care of all those blessings! Her husband Bob and she have been living in Peoria and attending Bethany Baptist Church for 24 years.  She has been coaching on finances and families for over 30 years.   Questions and Topics We Discuss: What is one key to managing our personal relationship with finances? What have been the most unexpected benefits of coaching your sons on wise financial stewardship? How did you teach your children to allocate percentages their money?   Thank You to Our Sponsors: WinShape Marriage   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: (0:10 - 1:20) 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.   I'm thrilled to introduce you to our sponsor, WinShape Marriage. Their weekend marriage retreats will strengthen your marriage while you enjoy the gorgeous setting, delicious food, and quality time with your spouse. To find out more, visit them online at winshapemarriage.org/savvy.   I first met Markie Castle through a local mom's group that was gathering at a church, and she was the speaker.   I was drawn to her sense of humor, her storytelling, and her wise practices. Her practical applications that she's going to explain near the end of this episode are practices that my husband Mark and I plan to implement beginning today. I'm so excited to share all of that with each of us listening now.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Markie.   Markie Castle: (1:21 - 1:22) It's a pleasure to be here.   Laura Dugger: (1:22 - 1:34) Well, will you just start us off by sharing more about your family and, specifically, the parenting piece that you say you got right by intentionally focusing on it?   Markie Castle: (1:35 - 4:13) I'd love to. I am incredibly blessed to be married to my husband, Bob, and we had three children that blessed us with wonderful wives and grandchildren. My husband and I started our marriage with him in school and me on a beginning teaching salary.   Today's dollars, it would be worth about $38,000. The two of us were living on $38,000 a year with him in school at the U of I and paying significant tuition. We were paying the tuition as well as supporting ourselves on that salary.   We were blessed to have a son three years later and then another son two years after that. My husband was holding a two-year-old and a two-week-old in his cap and gown. I remember showing our three sons' pictures of us saying, don't do this.   We supported ourselves entirely. We also did not see that we were in dire straits. We made my salary work by living in small apartments.   With one landlord, we made an agreement with him that we would do extra work around the property for a deduction in rent. We just made it work. We never saw any of this as a negative.   We also did not see that putting purchases on a credit card that we could not pay off at the end of the month as an option. We were happy where we were at and we loved it. My husband got a job and we moved out of the area.   We were at the time in Champaign-Urbana area. We moved to the Peoria area. We had a third son, which gave us three children in four years.   We still saw the need to keep our budget under control. Our meals were determined by what was on sale, what we had coupons for. Clothes were only bought on sale or from consignment shops.   Again, we never saw credit card debt as an option. If we didn't have the money, we didn't buy it. We wanted to raise our children to have a respect for money and to have an awareness of contentment.   We also wanted to have them experience the joy of having money to give away. This is what helped us. This is how we felt and we wanted to share that with our sons.   Laura Dugger: (4:14 - 4:37) I love that and I can just imagine all of the character building that comes out of really seeking to be wise stewards of what the Lord's entrusted to you. I'm wondering if you had some guiding scriptures on this topic of finances that really gave you insight into godly wisdom rather than the worldly kind.   Markie Castle: (4:38 - 9:05) As we know, besides love, money is written more in the Bible than anything else. It is so wise to go to the Bible for this. Luke 14:28 is such a good verse for a base.   It says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” This is stating that we should budget our money and plan before we build a tower or buy a car or even buy a new blouse that you may want.   Another verse, 1Timothy 6:6-10 speaks to another extremely important part of leading a God-centered life, being content. It states, “But godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”   It reminds us of where our minds should be. We have heard many talks on finances, budgeting, etc. Very little time, if any, is spent on being content.   Even in the Christian financial counseling speakers, they do not spend time on this. Not only is it scriptural, it is something that makes budgeting and spending so much easier. If you are content, you don't feel that need to spend and let alone overspend.   It just makes budgeting so much easier. Matthew 6:24 is very blunt to the point. It says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”   It's not just what you have in your bank account. It's are we serving the Lord or are we serving money by needing a bigger house or whatever. Serving money over God can mean so many things. It can mean making secret purchases that you are hiding from your spouse.   I had a friend who used to have her sister buy her shoes that she wanted. And then she would bring them into the house without her husband knowing. But she had her sister buy it so her husband didn't see it on the credit card.   Or it can mean buying a brand-new car you can't afford and you go into debt for it. There is scripture that addresses this also in Romans 13:8 states, “Owe no one anything except to love each other.” And Proverbs 22:7 states, “The borrower is the slave of the lender.”   This is not to say a person should never have a loan. We needed a loan for our house. It was a smart move because we would have just paid rent forever.   But we needed a house and at the time we didn't have money for a house. Especially since my husband just got out of school. But when we were going looking at houses, the realtor said, “But you can afford this.”   And it was a much bigger house than we needed. And we said, “No, we don't need this.” “Yes, but you can get this.”   “Yes, I know, but this one's just fine.” We bought a house that we were able to pay off quickly. And we were very happy with it.   Laura Dugger: (9:07 - 9:30) I love hearing how you've applied scripture to your own lives, because really the ones that you shared, those are so practical and actionable. And we didn't even scratch the surface of all, like you said, that the Bible has to speak about money. But if you kind of had to boil it down, what would you say is one key to managing our personal relationship with finances?   Markie Castle: (9:30 - 13:58) I truly, truly believe that being content is truly key. It's so easy to become frustrated and discouraged with what you have. And many, many people watch HGTV.   And I personally love it. There are times that I cannot watch HGTV because I start wanting this or wanting that. When I watch it, it makes me start thinking if I only had a bigger kitchen or buying new furniture would transform this room.   All of these things can distract us into thinking about all the things I don't have, rather than seeing the things I do have. It can be a very dark road. But there's ways of overcoming that too.   I love for people to write down things that you do have, especially the important things like your family, your friends, your church community. Those are the things that are far more important than a bigger kitchen. I know for me, our house, when I moved into our house, I didn't even see our house when we purchased it because we thought we'd only be here three to four years max.   So, I figured three to four years, I don't need to see a house. I wanted it in a certain area and I needed four bedrooms for all of us. And that was about it.   Well, I knew I'd be here three to four years. And I think we're coming up to 25 years in August of being here. God had other plans for us.   And that was it. The kitchen is not what I would have chosen. It's rather small.   And do you know when I get most frustrated is when our family is over and we have 20 people and they're all in the kitchen. And I've got all these grandkids running around getting in the way. And I get frustrated over the smaller kitchen.   Think about it. I have my family here making memories. It's wonderful.   I'll take a small kitchen with all my family before I take a big kitchen without them. It was interesting. I taught at ICC.   And I walked into class one time and all the students were talking about how little they had, how poor they were. And I just listened to them for a while. And they were saying they didn't have any money.   And I said, “I don't mean to brag, but I am really, really wealthy.” And they looked and they said, “Really?” And I said, “Yeah, really wealthy.”   And he said, “Must be nice.” I said, “Yeah, it really is.” I said, “Do you realize that my husband and I, we have two cars?”   And they kind of looked at me and they said, “Yeah.” I said, “No, no, no, no. Do you understand that when I walk into my house, I have heat in the winter?   And, and air conditioning in the summer.” And they kind of looked at me and go, “Yeah.” And I said, “And I can go to this faucet and I can turn this handle and fresh water comes out.”   They all looked and said, “Yeah.” And I said, “That is how wealthy I am.” And they all kind of looked and they said, “We get it.”   And we are very wealthy in this country. We are very wealthy. See, having what you have could be seen as extremely wealthy in many countries.   Even when it's their norm. But with war-torn countries, it's even worse. It's just all about perspective.   Laura Dugger: (13:58 - 14:10) Well, I think you're highlighting the keys to contentment. It's all about perspective and also gratitude. How would you define stewardship?   Markie Castle: (14:11 - 14:19) I would just say it's taking great care of what God has given us and using it for his glory.   Laura Dugger: (14:19 - 14:27) Well, and what has been the most unexpected benefit of coaching your sons on wise financial stewardship?   Markie Castle: (14:28 - 17:52) That is such a great question. I would say the independence that they had as teenagers and adults. It was incredible to see how they were independent with money and other ways because of it.   Each son also married women who were financially aware. We never really talked about that. When our children got married, we had one stipulation that they married a believer for us to bless the marriage.   But it was amazing that they all married women who were financially conservative. We have never had any trouble or issues with any of our children with money. I know that some people will say, you never lend relatives money, you give it to them because you know you'll never get it back.   Well, we have lent our kids money for certain predicaments when they first started off and they started paying us back immediately. There's a lot of talk about whether you should let your children move back into your house. Now, I know people have said, “Nope, once my kids are gone, they're gone.”   And I don't think that's very loving. I think that anybody is allowed back, you know, if they need to come back and live with us, even if it's somebody in our church family, they would be welcomed. All three of our boys at some point came back to live with us for a while for different reasons.   And we actually charged them rent. And they were very good with that. In fact, they liked it because then they weren't freeloading.   Now, they didn't know it at the time, but we took their rent and put it away and kept it separately. And then when they moved out, they had a nice little sum there that they could use for a down payment for their house or for moving costs or whatever. I think it's important to watch your children grow, to give them.   And these are the things that we have seen that we didn't expect. All of our boys are very financially secure. And they only have mortgage debt, which they are all paying off quicker than what was scheduled.   And this is just a mindset. They are not suffering because they don't have the new car. In fact, our one son and his wife, they bought our old van 10 years ago, and they still have it.   They're at 195,000 miles on the car. Now, I think she wears this like a badge of honor. She's going to make it to 200,000.   They have been putting money away for a new car. They have enough money to buy a new car, but they're going to wait until they need it. And when they need it, they're going to be able to go in and say, here is the money for the car.   I don't need a loan. Those are the things that kind of surprised me.   Laura Dugger: (17:53 - 17:58) I think oftentimes there's a lot of joy when we have limits.   Markie Castle: (17:59 - 18:04) Exactly. I agree with you. It does give you joy to know that you have that freedom.   Laura Dugger: (18:06 - 18:22) Well, and we've spoken kind of about big picture, and I'd love to move in the funnel now down to actionable and practical. So, when you look back, how old were your children when you and Bob began training them on finances?   Markie Castle: (18:24 - 19:08) Truly, as soon as our children understood the meaning of money, we started. We started our oldest son when he was five years old by giving him allowance. The others started when they were four because they saw what was happening with the older child.   And I know a lot of people relate to this and they wanted to be a part of it. You know, your younger ones sometimes learn faster because of the older ones. It was important to start when they were wanting things at the stores, whether it was toys or candy at the checkout aisle, etc.   They needed an awareness that everything costs money and they couldn't have everything.   Laura Dugger: (19:09 - 19:32) Well, and I remember you coming to speak to our mom's group one time. And even if somebody is wondering, well, how do I keep this fair between children? You even had a solution for that because with your kids at the different ages, I remember you saying you started them with one dollar per year old they were per week.   So, the four-year-old only made four dollars for the five-year-old made five.   Markie Castle: (19:33 - 21:21) That's right. Well, and it's funny you say about the fairness. Even when our children, so we had three boys, they were all two years apart, so they were really involved with one another.   They were great friends. But I remember going to my husband's mom was watching our children when we ran to get something to do a few errands. And we came back with a pair of shoes that our oldest child needed.   And she looked at us and said she didn't get anything for the other boys. And I said, but they didn't need new shoes and they don't need anything. And she goes, but you can't bring something in for one child without bringing in something for the others.   And I reiterated, but they didn't need anything. And do you know what? Our boys, we never thought anything of that.   Our boys have never said, well, why didn't I get anything? And if they did, we'd say, “Well, you didn't need this or you didn't need that.” Our children never counted what the other ones have.   Now saying that when it came to the birthdays, we gave the same monetary value to all of them when it came to Christmas, when it came to things. But when it really came to that, one son needed a pair of shoes, but the others didn't. We didn't go out and get shoes for all of them.   And they just were raised with that. And to this day, they all know that it all comes out fairly in the end. You know, we don't bring home things just for one, the same child every time.   Does that make sense?   Laura Dugger: (21:21 - 21:32) Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate that perspective. I'm also curious, were there any other memorable phrases you and your husband taught your children?   Markie Castle: (21:33 - 26:37) You know, there were many. One of the things we had said to them was we can afford anything. But we can't afford everything.   So, we would impress upon them how fortunate we were to afford things. But we certainly can't afford everything. We had friends who would never purchase soda and we did the same thing.   But they really like to travel and the kids like to travel. And so, they wouldn't buy a soda in a restaurant or buy a snack at the mall because they wanted to travel. And they would ask their kids, you know, would you rather purchase a soda or snack now or enjoy the soda or snack in Europe?   And it made the kids think. OK, so again, this is all in what you choose. I was listening to someone at a talk and actually at a moment at our church that said, “You know, what could you save if you didn't get your daily latte from Starbucks?”   And I'm thinking, OK, and his point was at six dollars per drink. You could say. And I figured this out, two thousand one hundred and eighty-four dollars per year.   After two years, you could have enough money to go to Hawaii. Now, that's great. This particular person loves to travel and he doesn't like coffee.   So, to him, it was a no brainer. But if someone doesn't like to travel. But enjoys that daily vacation of going to Starbucks.   This may be the one they would choose. So, we're all different in what we like and what we want. But.   The important thing is, is that you're not adding this to a debt that you're paying 24 percent interest because that six dollar cup of coffee is actually going to cost you much more than the six dollars. Also, I was teaching a group of nearly married couples about finances and. Someone brought up that they can't afford a date night.   I mean, after babysitting, after dinner at the restaurant, etc. they can't afford that. And babysitting nowadays is ridiculously expensive. And another couple said that they have date nights every other week.   What they do is they trade off with another couple for babysitting and they pack a dinner and go on a picnic. So, basically, their date night costs them nothing. Not being able to afford an expensive dinner for a date night.   That puts you in a mindset that you're doing without. Instead, look at what you have. You know, taking a hike.   Visiting a museum on a free day. Getting a membership to places that you could then feel like you're going for free. Walking along the river.   All of these are wonderful ways to have a date night. My husband and I would have a date night in our home. We would feed the boys their favorite chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.   And we put them to bed. We would then, I would get out and have tablecloth and have candlelight. And we would have a quiet adult meal by candlelight.   It was a wonderful date night. And it cost us nothing. Now, where we were, we could not afford babysitting.   And we did not have people who could babysit. We didn't have a community that we could share babysitting. We did find that as the kids got older.   And we utilized that, which was wonderful. We used to share a Friday night with a family. This is when the kids were a little older.   And we would switch with them. Every other Friday night, we would switch kids. We would take their kids for one of the Fridays.   And then two weeks later, they would take our kids. And they took them overnight. So, we had, you know, Friday evening and Saturday morning.   And it cost us nothing. And the joy of that was when we took their kids, it was a blast. Because we always planned on doing extra special things.   Because it was like one big party. It worked very well. And we were able to have free babysitting just because we exchanged.   As opposed to paying for a babysitter.   Laura Dugger: (26:38 - 29:02) And I love the creativity. How you problem solved that to still go for your date night. Because that was a value.   And I think you're empowering all of us that these options are possible. And we do have a choice in this situation. And then also the reality that we're going to operate within the reality of trade-offs.   And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Friends, I'm excited to share with you today's sponsor, WinShape Marriage. Do you feel like you need a weekend away with your spouse?   And a chance to grow in your relationship together at the same time? WinShape Marriage is a fantastic ministry that provides weekend marriage retreats to help couples grow closer together in every season and stage of life. 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To find an experience that's right for you and your spouse, head to their website, winshapemarriage.org/savvy. That's W-I-N-S-H-A-P-E marriage dot org slash savvy, S-A-V-V-Y. Thanks for your sponsorship.   And as you and Bob continued to train your children with finances, how did you see this play out with each of their different personalities?   Markie Castle: (29:04 - 32:55) Although we raised our boys within the same manner, we were blessed with three totally different children. Totally. When it came to money, one was a saver, one was a spender, and one was a minimalist.   And although they all were different, they all needed the structure of financial awareness. So, our eldest wanted to save every dime that he was given. And you know what?   He's still that way. He wants to save, save, save, save, save. Our middle child would spend every dime that he would receive.   It would not be in his pocket for more than a couple of minutes. Then our youngest child didn't care about buying anything, which was very different from the saver. He was just a minimalist.   I don't need anything. It just doesn't matter. And he is still that way.   So, our spender needed to learn the importance of budgeting and saving. They all needed to learn it, but it was extremely important for him. And he did learn.   When he was about 10 or 11, he lost some money for not doing certain chores. And he looked at us and said, the only reason you had children was to make money. My husband and I were literally speechless.   We kind of just looked at him and we didn't know what to say. And then he just looked at us after a couple of moments and he said, that's the stupidest thing I've ever said. And yep, we all had a good laugh.   He did learn to budget and it was interesting. So, when he was in high school and starting to date, he took this girl that he wound up dating for several years. And he was going to go to the movies and he was a gentleman.   He was absolutely a gentleman. And they walked into the movies and he paid for the movies because that's what you do. And then as they were walking past the concession stand, he said, “Well, do you want popcorn?”   And she said, “Oh, that'd be nice.” And he said, “Okay, well, you're going to need to get it yourself. I'm not paying those prices.”   And she was kind of, ”Okay.” Now we needed to teach him a little bit more about dating with that. But it was like he paid for the movies.   He wasn't going to pay $10 for a box of popcorn. So, he had learned the value of money. When you can get into the movie for less money than a box of popcorn, there's something to be thought about that.   I am happy to say that while he did not marry her, but I'm happy to say that he did marry someone and he learned to budget. And she is all about budget, budget, budget. But that also means that they are able to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.   I think budget gets a really bad name because you think that means that you can't buy things if you budget. And I see it as the exact opposite. If I budget $50 for entertainment, for the month, for the week, for whatever, you can enjoy having that entertainment because that's money that is free and clear for you to use.   Laura Dugger: (32:56 - 33:14) Yeah, I'm with you on that too, because I do think that self-control that really is a fruit of the spirit, but that discipline and self-control leads to freedom eventually. And so, again, those limits provide joy and freedom, which is counterintuitive, but the Lord's economy.   Markie Castle: (33:14 - 33:34) That's right. But once you do it, you realize, and we have seen this happen, that they go, “Oh, I feel better about going to the movies because it's already been planned, which goes back to when you build a tower, you should plan that.”   Laura Dugger: (33:35 - 33:43) You've mentioned that you did offer an allowance. So, what were your allowance or commission guidelines?   Markie Castle: (33:44 - 35:58) So, there's many trains of thought with this. We felt that there were certain chores that needed to be done as part of the household. So, making your bed, setting the table, helping with dinner, cleaning up the dishes, sweeping the floor.   Obviously, our children were expected to do more as they got older. I would give them opportunities, though, to do over and beyond, and then they could make extra money. So, there were certain expectations on a daily basis, and that was part of being part of the household, being part of the family.   But to go over and beyond would give us the time. Now, I do know some people pay for everything that they do, and I understand where they're coming from with that, but then they may choose not to make their bed or choose not to set the table because they don't want the money, but then other people need the table to be set. So, that can cause issues, too.   We never, when it came to grades, I know that's something that's talked about, we never paid for certain grades in school. We did allow them, you know, at the time it was, well, if you get this many A's, you can get a pizza or something, you know, from Pizza Hut or something. We would do that, but we never paid for specific grades for our kids.   There was an expectation that they would do well, not for the money. But we would all go out and celebrate when they all had good report cards. So, I know that there's different trains of thought with that.   You know, there are some others who will put a price on certain chores and have the allowance reflect that money they made. Our boys received their allowance, but there were times that we charged them when we needed to do their chore, like pick up their clothes in the bathroom after they've been asked to do so. So, if we did something, we kind of charged them for it.   And that's when our son said, well, you just had children to make money.   Laura Dugger: (35:59 - 37:14) Guess what? We are no longer an audio only podcast. We now have video included as well.   If you want to view the conversation each week, make sure you watch our videos. We're on YouTube and you can access videos or find answers to any of your other questions about the podcast when you visit thesavvysauce.com.   With our family, our daughters currently are nine, eight, six, and four. And so, they have the understanding of give, save, spend. But just this summer, our sweet and very generous neighbor, Jillian, James and Jillian, have hired our oldest two, Sayla and Shiloh, to water their plants while they're traveling. And so, this is their first paid job opportunity.   And so, my plan with my husband is to train our girls with this podcast. And there's a question I want to ask you next that I believe will even guide us with our conversation and how to train them. So, when your children were earning money or making this allowance, even from a young age, how did you teach them to split their money?   Markie Castle: (37:16 - 42:21) So, we set up our allowance that they were given one-dollar times their age, which you had alluded to early on. So, each week, a five-year-old would get five dollars a week, which sounds like a lot, right? Or a ten-year-old would get ten dollars.   And that sounds awesome, right? But it was broken down. So, we first would take ten percent which goes to charity.   We wanted to teach the children about tithing. And that was the first. The next, we had ten percent that was taken for taxes.   And we used that for family fun night, which made those nights special to them. Now, what they learned from having their taxes taken, when they went to get their first job, like when they were 16 or 17, and our oldest son got a job at the Zoli's when it was there. And he was not in shock when he was given his paycheck and taxes were taken out.   He understood that. All his other friends were complaining about them taking it. But our children knew there were taxes, and taxes went for the good of the community.   We also took ten percent for retirement. And that was just good habits to form. We kept it.   We kept account of how much it was. And when they got out of college, we gave them their retirement. Wow.   Now in their 30s, they have a financial guy and he is shocked at how set our children are for the future. Then 20 percent went to college. Once again, this was kind of a mindset.   Now, if you don't think your children are going to go to college, I would still recommend at least going to community college or a trade or whatever. We saved this and gave it to them to put towards their expenses when they went to college. So, we literally gave them their money and said, this is what you have saved over all these years.   Now you have 50 percent left. So, 25 percent went to savings. And they had to put this in a separate category, and they needed to buy something with it that was $25 or more.   We wanted them to learn how to save up for that special whatever they wanted. They could spend that on whatever. So, that would make for a five-year-old, fifty cents went to church, fifty cents for taxes, fifty cents for retirement, a dollar for college, a dollar twenty-five for savings.   And what they got at the end, they got a dollar twenty-five for the week, which is a good amount for a five-year-old. But let me just say, when I say so they can spend it, if you're the parent, it is okay to say no to what they are purchasing. Our middle son at a point, now he was older, but he wanted to get 10 piercings in one ear.   We didn't think this was a wise decision, not all at the same time. He respectfully stated that he was old enough that he didn't need our permission and that he could pay for it. Now, mind you, he was living with us at the time, but he said he didn't need our permission.   And he said it respectfully. We did tell him no, and that as long as he was living with us, reaping the benefits of our house, utilities, food, vacations, he still needs to abide by our parental decisions. And you know what?   It wasn't an issue. He said, okay. And when he was on his own, you know what?   He had become wiser over those couple of years and he didn't do it. So, it's okay to say no to some things. And saying that, doing this allowance, it makes going places so much nicer.   I never said no to my kids. And it was funny because when we talk about moms' groups or whatever, I said, “Oh, I never tell my children no. They can have, you know, what they asked me for things, I never tell them no.”   And they go, “Really?” And I said, “Yeah.” I'd say, “Do you have the money for it?”   Oh, okay. And then it wasn't me saying no. They needed to make that decision.   This sounds so negative and it truly is not. Our boys took great pride in paying for their own things. I mean, they used discernment in their choices.   And they took great care of those toys that they bought. There was a sense of ownership and responsibility to it. This was not negative.   It was truly positive and taught them much more than just about money.   Laura Dugger: (42:22 - 42:41) Well, and it's such a great real-world experience. I've never heard someone teach like this before, where you broke it down so specifically. But really, it reflected how they would handle money as adults.   And so, I think it's brilliant. And I'm wondering if you have any other practical recommendations that we haven't covered yet.   Markie Castle: (42:43 - 45:07) I would give a few. So, in their allowance, I put the cash in clear containers labeled so that they could see what they had. When they were older, we moved it to paper because I wanted them to be taught about how banks work.   Another couple of things. We never had issues going through candy aisles or going to events. We would pay for the tickets.   If they wanted to buy a snack like at Six Flags or something, they could. But they'd have to use their own money. Now, we're not cruel.   We would buy lunch for them. But if they wanted that $10 soft pretzel, they needed to buy it. Another thing, if they received money for a birthday gift, we felt that that was all theirs to spend.   Because to me, that gift, you know, if they were given a toy, we wouldn't split that toy up and give 10% to charity. So, they could keep all the money and go and buy what they wanted. One other thing, and some people may find this controversial, but I would suggest getting a credit card for your children as soon as you can while they are living with you.   And then you can give them the guidance that they need. Our son learned from an early age that you only charge items that you know you will be able to pay off at the end of the month. A debit card is good too, that they need to have that money in there.   But we liked setting the habit of paying off the credit card every month. A debit card would say, you can't slide this card unless you have that money in the bank. Either way, I would highly recommend you get your children something so you can give them the guidance of how to use it.   We knew people who wouldn't allow their children to date until they were 18. And my thought was, I don't want to give my children the go ahead to date when they go off to college. I wanted to be able to guide them.   So, we said, when you're 16, you can date. And then we were able to guide them and teach them along the way.   Laura Dugger: (45:08 - 45:14) That's so good. And can you think of anything else that you want to make sure we don't overlook today?   Markie Castle: (45:15 - 45:51) After counseling and mentoring many couples who have asked us for help, I realized that financial difficulties and marriage issues go hand in hand. That puts a stress in a marriage that comes out in other ways. If someone is having financial issues, you need to get help.   I would also say to teach your children so they are raised with a God-honoring respect for money. 1 Timothy 6:10 doesn't state that money is the root of all evil. It states that “the love of money is the root of all evil.”   Laura Dugger: (45:52 - 45:59) Well, I love all of the practical tips you've shared. And do you have any other favorite stories that come to mind?   Markie Castle: (46:00 - 48:23) One that is particularly close to me is we had very, very close friends who actually my husband worked under him for many years. But we were very close. And in fact, we moved together and with my husband's job and very close.   He was an exec, a cat, very high up. And making more money was the most important thing. Climbing that corporate ladder.   And suddenly he just realized how unhappy he was. He also put his children at bay because he worked so much. He needed to have the better cars, the better house, the better everything.   And one evening, there's a knock at the door. We weren't expecting him. And they were just standing there.   And he just said, “Can we talk?” And he came in and he looked at us and said, “When is enough??” And he had tears in his eyes.   And he knew that money was driving him at the cost of his marriage, although they were still together, but at the cost of the relationship with his children. And he said, “When is enough? And we talked to him.   We again shared the gospel, which we had shared before. And when you have Christ in your life, for me, that's enough. That's all I need is Christ.   He turned his life over to the Lord. He became a believer. He quit his job, which he had planned on.   And financially, he was great. And what he does now, he does a lot of mission work. He goes to different places that have been hit by a tornado.   And he's with the group that goes all over taking care of other people. And he is far, far wealthier than he ever was.   Laura Dugger: (48:24 - 48:48) Wow, Markie, that is so powerful. And what an incredible story to start to close our time together with. But I still have one final question for you, because our podcast is called The Savvy Sauce, because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or discernment.   And so, this is my final question for you today. What is your savvy sauce?   Markie Castle: (48:49 - 49:28) I would say beware of giving your children everything they want. And everything you think they need. Wanting is a great lesson to learn.   And as we've been told in the Bible, patience is a virtue. Having children earning their own money and spending it teaches them independence and develops them to be adults who are secure with the choices they have learned to make. This is far more than just teaching them about money.   Much more is developed within them.   Laura Dugger: (49:28 - 50:00) That is so good. And truly, Markie, this conversation, I can't wait to share it with all of our girls, with Isla and Kessler, too, being even just six and four. I think you have so many helpful practical takeaways.   And you're such a gifted teacher. So, it's been a joy to learn from you during this time. So, thank you, not only for applying scriptures to the way you interact with finances, but thank you for also sharing those applications with us today.   And thank you for being my guest.   Markie Castle: (50:01 - 50:10) Laura, it's truly been my pleasure. I appreciate you and I appreciate how God-centered you are and with this podcast.   Laura Dugger: (50:11 - 53:29) Wow, thank you so much. That encouragement means a lot. 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's 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, 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're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. 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.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Dr Clark continues the series Have This Mind on the book of Philippians. In this episode, he concludes his introduction of the book.  This episode of the Heidelcast is sponsored by the Heidelberg Reformation Association. You love the Heidelcast and the Heidelblog. You share it with friends, with members of your church, and others but have you stopped to think what would happen if it all disappeared? The truth is that we depend on your support. If you don't make the coffer clink, the HRA will simply sink. Won't you help us keep it going? The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All your gifts are tax deductible. Use the donate link on this page or mail a check to Heidelberg Reformation Association, 1637 E Valley Parkway #391, Escondido CA 92027. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! Browse the Heidelshop! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Academic) Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Today's Oddcast - Talking Lamar - You HAVE To Watch This! (Airdate 10/24/2025)   Lamar loves watching TV just as much as he loves going to the movies! Here's his list of the TV shows he'll be watching this Fall.   The Bob & Sheri Oddcast: Everything We Don’t, Can’t, Won’t, and Definitely Shouldn’t Do on the Show!

Help MuggleCast grow! Join us as our patron at Patreon.com/mugglecast, and receive a slew of great benefits instantly, including more than 60 hours of bonus episodes, 30 hours of chapter readings, and much, much more! Listeners can browse our official merch at MuggleCastMerch.com and pick up overstock items from years past at MuggleMillennial.Etsy.com, now more affordable than ever! This week, join us as we witness Albus Dumbledore welcoming himself into the Dursley's perfect kept home. It's the depants-ing we've been waiting for! Plus, we look at why Dumbledore decided to take care of the Kreacher business in front of the Dursleys, if Albus had any right criticizing the parenting of Dudley, and more. Welcome back to the show, Meg! Chapter-by-Chapter continues with Half-Blood Prince Chapter 3: Will and Won't The MuggleCast Pensieve segment, highlighting our last discussion of this chapter on MuggleCast #380, features a Kreacher possibility. Harry's back! And he's ever more undignified than ever. From flower beds to pigstys, is our hero losing his cool factor? What's the beef between Albus Dumbledore and Rufus Scrimgeour that the Prophet is eluding to? It may have been hinted at already. Do we approve of the Ministry's guidebook for protecting oneself during the current era? Why didn't Harry believe Dumbledore was going to show? Does this has to do with Dumbledore's treatment of Harry in the last book? Why are the Dursleys awake and cleaning at 11pm? Dumbledore goes hard against the Dursleys. Finally! But why did it take this long for them to meet, and for Albus to depants them? MVP: What is the most effective guideline from the Ministry? Lynx Line: If Dumbledore could've left a Yelp review for the Dursleys, what would it say? Participate in our weekly trivia segment by answering this week's Quizzitch question at MuggleCast.com/Quizzitch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices