SPEAKER_00 0:08

We are here with Daisy, and you know, um, I don't even know how to introduce you because you've got such an incredible, like, range of things that that you've done. You're like the cool teacher, your assistant principal. I see that you went to Pensacola, you graduated there. But what I admired about you when I was first getting to know you is that while you were doing everything else, you were continuing to go to school to get your master's degree. You did that. Fabulous. And pretty soon you're gonna be speaking to a group of women. Just I don't know what you're gonna talk about, but just inspiring other women to follow Christ. Like, I love that.

SPEAKER_04 1:01

Yeah. No, God is so good in just the ways he has led me, like leading me to my master's. I was thinking about it this morning. Like, I didn't see myself being in leadership, but I kind of did. I was like, I'm gonna wait until someone else sees it, and that's what made me pursue it. Someone else suggested it. And uh I had always dreamed of being able to speak in front of people. And I learned very early on that the Lord had given me a gift to be able to teach. And so I'm just excited that the Lord has just brought it along my path. I didn't have to strive for it or work for it, I feel. I felt like God just went, here you go. Which is such a huge blessing.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

So I wanted to start our podcast a little bit differently today to start with a game, uh Hilo Buffalo. And basically it's sharing our highs and lows and just something interesting uh about the week. Um, do you want to begin?

SPEAKER_03 1:59

I can start. So it's fair, it's fair season here in Pima County. So I went to the Pima County Fair on Tuesday, and that was super fun. Um I my husband, Christian, he's gonna leave on Monday until September. So we got to spend time together as a family. And um, so that was definitely a high. That was super fun. A low would probably have been um, I don't know. I had a pretty good week, actually. I can't think of any lows. Um, something crazy or a fun fact. I took my four-year-old to get her first pedicure yesterday, so that was super funny. She was talking about getting red all day long, and then she opened up the book of all the colors and goes, sparkles. I love that. So she 100% went with gold sparkles, and that was a fun little treat that we got to do yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

That that would be fun. Yeah. Is that when she picked up the phone and started texting me all these little things? She does that.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

That was yeah, she's she sent all those emojis to y'all, and I was like, Oh my gosh, I love she. I told telling Pascal, she's trying to send you a voice memo and she's like singing to you. And I was like, I love give me back my phone.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Love it. That's great. So for me, I'm I'm actually not gonna begin with my high, I'm gonna end with it. So for my low, I I realized I can't do this without you. Oh. I I really can't. I I tried to do a podcast recording last week, and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. That the soundboard just would not power on for some reason. I was sitting down with someone, just messing with the equipment, couldn't get it to work. And when I finally did get it to power on, I used batteries, which is what we're working on with right now. So hopefully it continues to work. Okay, I turn it on, we start the recording, we get into it. 30 minutes into it, I look down. Oh, the time isn't moving. No, I forgot to hit record.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

I am the record keeper. It's my responsibility. It's the only responsibility I have. Stop it.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

So, yeah, I just don't want to do this without you.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Well, good. Because I like doing it with you.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

So something interesting is um I used to bicycle a lot as a kid. So I I was born with uh epilepsy, and having a bicycle helped me redefine who I was. It's like I felt like the outcast, like I was always struggling, like I was a broken kid. But I had a bicycle where I set goals, achieve those goals, so it helped me redefine how I saw myself and helped shape who I was as an adult. I say that because uh for the past year I've been serving with a nonprofit in Tucson called El Grupo, which seeks to empower youth through bicycles. Uh, they work with a lot of the at-risk populations. So their goal is just simply what I went through come alongside kids and help them believe in themselves, help them set goals, keep those goals, and just helping them encourage to I don't know, find themselves through this act of riding a bicycle, right? And the reason I I share that interesting fact is um when I was little there was a bicycle I always wanted, I could never afford. It was a Merlin titanium, it was Greg Lamont's bike. I coveted this bike as a 13, 14, 15 year old. So I cut it out of a magazine, put it on my my bed so I could because that was one of my big goals. I want to someday own this bike. Oh wow. I'm overselling it. I realize that.

SPEAKER_03 6:16

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

But I I was never able to buy this bike. It was just way out of my price range, and when I became an adult, other things happened. So this past Saturday, and this is my high, this past Saturday, I was at an event at El Grupo, and when I was walking away from the event, the CEO grabbed me and said, Hey Pascal, real quick, I know that you've been doing a lot of work for us just as a volunteer, and everyone appreciates everything that you do. I just want to let you know that you are appreciated. So we got this bike for you. Here it is. It was that bike.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Stop.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

No, it was a Merlin titanium.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

Look at God. God, that's what I'm thinking. God is so cool. Yeah. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

And yeah, it's used. Yeah, it's 30 years old. But if I could have any bicycle in the entire world, it would be that one.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

And it was just handed to me just as a thank you. I was I was brought to tears. I still can't believe it.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

So uh I'm there just kind of serving my God by loving others. And he gives me a gift too.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah. And something so intimate and so special, you know, that you knew about.

SPEAKER_04 7:51

Yeah, that's amazing.

unknown 7:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Okay. So that's my interesting thing.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

What? That's not even the high?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

That is the high.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

So the low, the interesting, the high.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Perfect.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

There we go.

SPEAKER_04 8:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Nice. Nice. Daisy.

SPEAKER_04 8:05

Um, I'll start with my low. I think I just struggle with having low energy, but then I look at all the things I do and I go, oh, yeah, this is why. This is why I don't have enough energy. And I see where the Lord's kind of um transitioning me to, you know, the life choices that I'm making and, you know, stepping away from the classroom and straight into the school office instead. Um, I can see where God's definitely doing that and doing that on purpose. Uh my high would be I got a new vacuum. Oh, I've hit that adulting stage where a new appliance is the greatest thing of all time. I have cats. And so the cat litter just gets on my nerves, but then I don't feel like sweeping it because then it does get it all up, but this vacuum gets it all up. So walking on a clean floor in my house that I didn't have to slave over is such a high in my life. That's a big thing. It's a very big thing. Uh-huh. It is. Uh, and then an interesting uh fact is I enjoy line dancing. Oh, fine. I have found that it really helps my brain connect with my body. Like being an educator, we study a lot about, you know, what helps kids learn, what helps adults learn. And it's that connection between brain and body and being able to do something. And we went line dancing on Wednesday night and there was a song, and I'm like, I'm I'm just gonna jump in because I am not coordinated at all. So I've been slowly learning, but I was able to jump in, pick up on the dance really quick, and I was like, Oh, this is so exciting.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

That's so fun.

SPEAKER_04 9:33

So I I would say it would be my interesting fact.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah, line dancing. Yeah, very good.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

I love it. I did not know that about it. Yeah, that's pretty cool. So we we've been talking about God a lot already in this podcast, right? And um, you know, me and Alyssa, we've worked with each other on different podcasts before we even started this. And when I sat down and thought about what I really wanted to do with this, I thought about our identity in in Christ. And I came up with a lot of things about who we are in Christ as as believers. We are new creation, we are freed from sin, we are no longer lost, we are redeemed, we are born again, made new, righteous, forgiven, beloved. We are chosen before the creation of the earth, we were chosen, right? That is huge. And um so as I was thinking about the uh all that, like what did we call this thing, and we came up with um made for Christ because I I'm thinking about something John Piper said, which is God is more God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. And when we live a life where we're just uh clinging on to him for for everything, when we're trusting in him, when we're trying to walk with him, when we're like walking in that relationship with him. Life doesn't get easier. Um often the opposite, right? But there's a peace that dwells within us a satisfaction even that we're living a life of purpose and we're glorifying him in that I feel like we are made for Christ. Yeah, right. And what's the guidebook that we have for living that life? The Bible. You know, this the I see that you brought yours with you. And um it it's not just a collection of 66 old books, right? It's not a collection of of fairy tales. It is so much more than just oral histories or poetry or prophecy. It's the greatest adventure of all time, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:25

Um I've heard it described as the greatest love story of all time. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah. There was uh an author that I used to follow a lot, um Chuck Missler. So he wrote this about the Bible, which I think kind of uh goes along with that. And okay, he said we're going to reach far beyond the earth's prehistory, beyond the myths of legend and folklore, to discover the greatest drama of all of literature, will encounter the greatest evils, betrayals, revenges, deceptions, and the ultimate Prince of Darkness. We'll also encounter the greatest good, the highest achievements, the greatest courage, sacrifice, in fact, the ultimate sacrifice, the kinsman, redeemer of all mankind. We'll find ourselves in a courtship between the sovereign God and his rebellious offspring. There's the love story that you were talking about, right? So we'll explore the ultimate ironies of all literature, hidden surprises on every page in the Bible. We'll experience the rise of great empires as well as their falls through dream dreams and visions and secret encrypted messages, right? We'll discover written letters to great leaders from extraterrestrial sources outlining their careers and achievements far in advance, right? Giving us instructions on how to proceed and how to live, really. So we should stand in awe of all of that, right? Now, doesn't this sound like stories you would want to hear?

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Absolutely. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yeah. So you have a podcast.

SPEAKER_04 14:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Um, Untold Stories of the Bible. Tell me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_04 14:30

So it started out with uh ladies at church being, after I spoke at a different conference, they had asked, you know, when are you gonna start a Bible study? I'm like, I'm you know, not really a Bible study type. I don't know how to run a Bible study, but I'm like, I could do a podcast because I can do it from home. And I had always in college, over and over again, people would be like, turn to the New Testament, turn to this, turn to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And I would try to guess where are they gonna make us turn? Matthew, Mark, you know, and then we turn there. I'm like, okay, these are great stories. I love this, but there's so much in scripture that we don't know about, that we don't hear from the pulpit. And the more you read it and you see it, there's so many strange stories. There's so many twists and turns. And my prayer for the podcast is that it would spark people's curiosity. Right. That they would want to dive in deeper and to see the Lord through it all.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

We had a little bit of a technical difficulty. We're back now. Hopefully we can cut. Okay, so Daisy. Where are you from? How did you grow up?

SPEAKER_04 15:35

So I am from Tucson, Arizona. Um and born and raised here. Uh, grew up here, my parents grew up here, my grandparents grew up here, so third generation Tucson. Um, I was homeschooled growing up and we went to church when I was one year old. I had a sister who had passed away and she was born 13 months after me. Um, and that's kind of what sparked my parents going to church. And so I grew up in a conservative little Baptist church. I got to know the Lord at a very young age. Um, I remember being in my bed the night before my mom's birthday and realizing I needed God. And I remember praying and, you know, asking the Lord to be a part of my life, something along those lines, because that's how I was raised. That's my birthday. Six. Six, okay. Yeah. And I remember the next day telling my mom, and you know, my relatives are like, you got to tell people. And I did. And growing up, I, you know, got to know the Lord more through Sunday school. And when I was a teenager, I started reading the Bible. But the thing about my walk was I was very hypocritical. I was very by the book, whatever rules the church set, the pastor set, that's what I'm gonna follow. And it was very much work, kind of work-based. You know, they would explain it as, oh, it's just fruit. But I'm like, there's no scripture that says your skirt has to be this long. And you know, it was that kind of very, very legalistic. And I went to college. The college I went to, you know, had that same vibe, if you will. And so eventually during that journey, that's when, you know, I got exposed to other almost belief systems of Christianity. Like we we started listening to worship music with drums in it.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

And like, and that was a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 17:26

And just my relationship with the Lord grew more to know him. And that kept happening during my early 20s. And when COVID hit, I really was questioning like, why do I go to church where I go to church? What, you know, what it where do I see myself going? And I I knew eventually down the road the Lord would move me. And COVID was that time that he did. And I began growing even more in the next church I went to and more in my relationship with him. So throughout my 20s, um, the Lord just was showing me him personally, that he's a personal God. And it's not about appeasing everyone and earning God's love.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Okay, so how did he show you he was a personal God?

SPEAKER_04 18:10

In just the little ways, in the little details of the fact that, you know, I would mess up and I used to be so hard on myself about it. And I would beat myself up to the point where I eventually ended up like, okay, God, you convicted me of this. I'm ready to move on. Like just in those little ways, in the forgiveness and his just that almost I don't want to say as a feeling, but as a feeling of like freedom. Yeah, a different mindset, a different way of thinking. And just through his word and prayer and life circumstances over and over again.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

So and you getting that bicycle is pretty personal. Hearing hearing stories like that, I'm sure, helps yeah lean into that personal relationship.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

So you came to him fairly young, six years old, grew up with him through your teen years. Did you ever struggle in that?

SPEAKER_04 19:12

Like I were you homeschooled the whole time, or did you go I was I went to public school for kinder, and my mom took me out and homeschooled me for first through fourth grade. And then in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade, I went to our church's Christian school. And then it wasn't affordable for our whole family to go, and tax credit credit wasn't what it is today. Right. And so my parents pulled us back out and put us in um public high school online. So yeah, I have a little bit of everything. Yeah. As far as my schooling.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

I was just wondering, like, I went to public school. So they aren't like the other kids weren't very accommodating to religious belief systems, right? Yeah. So I didn't know if that was your experience or not.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Yeah, no, I definitely grew up with the same mindset. You know, it's all about Christ, all about Christ. My first exposures were much later on. Much later on in my 20s. So I think that's where I more struggled and what I believe. And, you know, I go through seasons of doubt and seasons of what am I doing? Like, why am I striving in this way? And God is so good to come back and remind me this is why. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

For me. Again, the personal thing. Absolutely. So you didn't rebel at all when you were in college or you Pascal said something about Pensacola.

SPEAKER_04 20:39

Yeah. My senior year, I definitely had the most infractures, demerits as I ever did. I was just trying to stay underneath the guideline. Uh-huh. Um, I didn't really go through my rebellious stage until my early 20s. Okay. Right when I had my my first teaching job. Uh, that's when I started to have like my wild teenage years. And then it just, I'm a late bloomer. Like it just it takes me a while to get to those stages. So I would say probably my my 20s would be around that time that I was like, oh, I'll rebel a little here and there.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

That's great because that prefrontal cortex is almost all the way put together. So that's a great time to rebel.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

What is it? 25 is when we're done cooking or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Exactly. Yeah. So very little damage done. So that's great.

unknown 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

So tell me about the early teaching years then. Like, was it public school? Was it private school?

SPEAKER_04 21:38

Private school. So I have worked at the same place my whole teaching career, which is nine years. Um, I actually fell in love with the school that I work at when I was in college. I had one of my former teachers was working at the school, and she was going to move classrooms. And she asked her former students to come by and help her pack up. So I did. And I I had already plans to go to another Christian school, observe another teacher. And she was like, Well, if if you want, you can come here. And I'm like, Okay, I'll I'll let you know. I go to the practicum class where they introduce what the rules are. And they're like, Nope, you're elementary, you can't go observe a kindergarten class that I had planned to. Oh. And I was like, Oh, fine. So I went and observed that teacher. That was my former fifth grade teacher. And I fell in love with the school. And so when I was applying my senior year, I was like, this is my dream school. This is where I want to go. I had other job offers and other schools trying to get me to come and teach for them. And I was like, nope, I want to go teach at this school. I'm not going to give it up. And God provided. I mean, I didn't sign a contract until late July. So it definitely helped out.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Sorry. So your original plan was this kindergarten observation. And then they're like, no, that's not in the guidelines. You have to go somewhere else. Another way that God personally redirected you. Yep. Amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

So my question was going to be: why this goal? What caused you to fall in love with it?

SPEAKER_04 23:09

I loved how they loved the Lord and how that was in everything. And the curriculum was focused on the Lord and just the environment, the culture of the school was so evident and so clear that they loved God, they pursued God. And it wasn't about religion. It was about having a relationship with the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 23:34

And that's where I grew even more because I was 23 when I had my first class. So I look back and I'm like, I was such a baby. Um, and a baby in my faith, too. And I just watched the Lord grow me through um the relationships that I had with the other teachers and how they just spoke wisdom into me and the administration did. And it just was amazing to see what the Lord did.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

Why would you define yourself at 23? Why would you define your relationship with the Lord as a baby when when you were six you accepted him?

SPEAKER_04 24:05

Yeah, I think it I look at it as from the time I was six until about twenty-four, twenty-five as being my Pharisee years. Okay. Where I was all about the rules and following the rules, and that's how I was gonna appease God. That's how I was gonna glorify God. And then after that, after 25 to now is no, it's about following the Lord in relationship with Him, in communion with Him. I was baptized at eight and again at 28 because I was a new believer and did what I was told. Right. And then at 28, I did what I was told by God.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:44

Following His Word.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

That's a totally different relationship.

SPEAKER_03 24:48

Absolutely. And I think it's so important that the the tenure of when you declare believing in God doesn't matter when really it's the intimacy and intentionality that really defines a relationship. And I you're the first person I've ever spoken to that was so transparent and vulnerable with that because I feel like um legalistic Christians, you know, they say, you know, this is when you accept Christ. And um if you have him in your life for this many years and you're a mature Christian and you're responsible for other people. But if you don't have a mature relationship, then how can you be responsible for other people? That's so dangerous. But so I really appreciate that vulnerability and that that intimacy that you offered right now because it's so important to recognize the intentional relationship, not just checking boxes or doing what people are telling you to do to appease God. That's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:55

It it takes a weight off of me. Yeah, it's harder because it wasn't meant ever to be put on me.

SPEAKER_03 26:00

It's harder to have to check all the boxes and take everything off because that's perfection. And we're not called to be perfect because we can't be perfect. But um, I just personally I really appreciate that. So thank you for sharing that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yep. Thank you for sharing that. Um, so what is this new relationship that you're in like? So call it a love story. It is a love story, it is a relationship, it's it is so much easier. But what is it like living it out, walking it out? Like people out there might be listening to this. It's like, how can you have a relationship with God?

SPEAKER_04 26:40

It's a wanting to be in the word, not a I have to. It's I I want to be here, I want to hear, I want to know more, I want to run to God. Like the biggest growth I've had lately is my prayer life. You know, it used to be just pray at a meal and you know, yeah, I prayed about it and I just thought about it instead of going to God. And I even find myself now doing, okay, do I do this, God? Do do I do this? Do I do that? It just is so different. It again takes a weight off. I see more growth in myself emotionally and physically, being able to just depend on God. God, you're gonna walk me through this. God, you're gonna give me peace that passes all understanding. And you're gonna put people in my life who are gonna call out things that we'll work on, you and me, God. And, you know, there'll be growth from that. So it just every day getting into the word, having a community too that loves the Lord. Yeah. And who will say, Well, this is a biblical principle. You should be following this. And I'm going, Oh, I'm not following that. I should. Oh, okay, God, I'll take that. Um, and just being able to have that community too, that also love the Lord and are also in the word and like-minded people. That's so helpful.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Well, since I asked Daisy that question, how do you define having a relationship with Christ?

SPEAKER_03 28:14

Um, you know, I would totally echo what you said, Daisy. And for me, so I also came to know the Lord right when I was about six years old. And it was because they got a dollar, you know. But then my my dad was a pastor, so I was like in the church all the time. Um, but I definitely rebelled a lot more and a lot earlier. But um the uh it's so it was a slow burn for me, you know. Um I have a lot of of church hurt from the church that we we pastored as a family. And um I because of where I work, I think really reconciled my relationship with the church and with the Lord. And having mentors around me and having people who like everyday verbiage is like, oh, how can I pray for you? Or this is what the Bible says, or um, being able to call someone and get good wisdom and good counsel. Uh I definitely think that the people that the Lord puts in your life is also a reflection of the relationship that he has with us. And of course, the more you pray and meditate, the more clear his voice gets. And so when you can understand and hear truly what he's saying in a way that only you can hear and understand that, like that's pretty amazing and pretty remarkable too. So I guess that's I would define my relationship with the Lord, how I would see him putting people in my life to help build and point me towards him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

I love that answer.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

Are you gonna answer it?

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Um now now you put me on the spot, so I have to think how the tables have turned. Right. So I think of a marriage, really, and um how we love our spouses. You know, um with my uh I tease her a lot because well, it's fun. But um it's like if what happens if I go a week without talking to work? That would not be good for the relationship.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

So I'm always trying to find ways that I can connect with her, whether it's okay, sitting down with her when she comes home from work and hearing the gossip or just being there for her when she's stressed out, or um like she has some medical issues that that she struggled with, just being there for her for that. It's like you're looking for those moments every day where you can just I see you, I love you, I'm there for you, I'm your partner. That defines not only a relationship, but like how better I need to be at my relationship with her, because I'm sure if you ask her, she'll tell you I need to be better.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Now what?

SPEAKER_00 31:40

But my my point in bringing that up is that it's something that we work on together, right? I'm extremely intentional with my relationship with my wife, right? So when it comes to our relationship with God, it's something that we do have to constantly cultivate and work on. I I think about um there's this analogy of of a boat where do we have any fishermen? No, no boat. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

So he's just gonna make it up now.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

If you're ever out on a boat in in a lake water, say, um when you do nothing, the currents just carry the boat along, right? But if you want to stay where you're at, like you've picked a wonderful fishing spot, you actually have to make an effort to stay in that same spot, otherwise you'll drift away. So in your relationship with God, you have to make an effort to be where you are in his presence. Otherwise, you can drift away, otherwise, you can go a week, two weeks, three weeks without opening the Bible, without meditating with him, without praying with him. And you you like if you aren't intentional, you can easily just say, Hey, what happened? Where is God? I don't see him around me anymore. Not realizing that you were the one that was guilty of just not working on that relationship. Right? So I find when I make that a priority in my life, when I choose to open the word every day, when I choose to meditate and pray, and just surround myself with good people like you, Alyssa. And um not only am I closer to him, but I feel more satisfied in that relationship, and he uses me to just like share his love with other people, and there's a satisfaction to being used by God and being a part of that movement of the Holy Spirit, purpose and fulfillment and and all that, but none of that would be there if I didn't cleave on to him, right? If I didn't hold on tight.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Yeah. And I think that with that too, um, when we are so invested in our relationship with the Lord, and you talked about the Holy Spirit using you for other people, we don't even realize it because we're so focused and so intentional about what's going on just between me and the Lord that I don't even realize how things are spilling off of me or splashing on other people because that's not my goal. My goal is not to influence other people. I mean, it is, but that's not my primary goal. My primary goal is just staying connected to the Lord. And then because of that, the the overflow or the aftershock is that it's affecting other people. Yeah. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 35:19

And that you you never know what other people are seeing. You never know. Until they share it and they're like, Oh, I could just see the Lord's peace on you. And I'm like, What?

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Yeah. Who? I know. I sometimes I have people that are like, oh, so and so is so um, you know, inspired by you, or they they love you so much. Or even every time, you know, I talk to you, Pascal, I'm like, dang, Pascal really loves me and I really love him, and like that is so great. And I don't recognize that, not because I'm oblivious to it, but because I'm so focused on the Lord that I'm not trying to muddy that, I guess. And you're exactly right, you'd have no idea how you other people see you or how you're influencing or affecting other people. And that's that's a scary responsibility too, because we could also be doing harm if we're not fully focused on the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

It's like one side of the spectrum or the other, there's not a there's no room in the middle for a lot of this.

SPEAKER_04 36:23

Yeah, there's that passage of scripture about like teachers and teachers are under harsher judgment. The student one time go, being a teacher's not hard. I'm like, don't you dare say that. Don't you dare, because I'm under harsher judgment. Yeah. The words that I say you're responsible have a huge effect. Yeah. And it is, it's terrifying. But with the Lord and his guidance and his wisdom, yeah, he works it all together for good. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Wonderful. Okay, so I feel like it's story time.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

Okay, let me get my teddy bear. Story time.

SPEAKER_04 36:56

I love it. Um, I know I was so excited about reading this last night, and it was a long night. I went to a softball game and we went out to dinner afterward. I think I got home about 10 or 11, which is late for me.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

Late for me too.

SPEAKER_04 37:07

And I was like, oh, I need to read this story. And I just love it so much. And it's it's about Jonathan, the first time Jonathan is mentioned in scripture. Saul is in the middle of a war campaign, and he is trying to fight off the Philistines. And the chapter before the chapter I'm going to talk about, he is making a sacrifice, and he's not supposed to. And Samuel comes right as he's making the sacrifice. And his excuse is, well, I was waiting for you, and you never came. Um, and then Samuel comes and calls him out and takes the kingdom from him. And the next chapter, it opens up with Jonathan being mentioned. And Jonathan is off with 600 men, and he wants to go and attack the Philistines. And they come to a point where there's two rocky crags where it's just sheer rock. Like I just went to the Grand Canyon a couple weekends ago, and I was like, guys, this reminds me of the story. And it just the just imagining climbing it is impossible and an impossible idea. But when Jonathan gets to these, he goes to his armor bearer and he looks at him and he says, if we can make it up those, the Lord's gonna deliver us. He's gonna give us the victory. And so they do, they climb up these rocks. And the reason they choose this area is probably because the Philistines aren't guarding that area. Who's gonna come up? Right. This isn't gonna happen. And so they get up there, they're able to attack. I forget all the details. It's in, I think, 1 Samuel 14, 15, somewhere around there. Um, but the whole camp ends up in confusion and they end up annihilating each other. And actually, before they even got up there, Jonathan said, you know, they're either gonna say this or they're gonna say this. If they say this, we're gonna lose. If they say this, God's gonna give it to us. And they said exactly what Jonathan had said that they were gonna get the victory. And they do. And it's a big celebration. And Saul is still stuck in his weirdness, his weird traditions. I think sometimes we have this choice of are we gonna follow God for what God says he wants us to do, or are we gonna take God's word and twist it and make it work for us? Saul's in that twisting phase, and Jonathan's in that, I'm gonna follow God no matter what phase. Because Saul tells the people, oh, you need to fast. You you can't eat anything. And Jonathan comes by, hadn't heard this command, and goes and eats the honey, and everyone's freaking out, you ate the honey, you can't eat the honey. This is bad. And he's like, What? We just fought off all these people. Like, of course I'm gonna eat. I'm tired. Um, and like that's the Bible's intro to Jonathan. And the reason I came across this story is I was getting ready for chapel and we're talking about brotherly affection. Who better to talk about brotherly affection than David and Jonathan? And so I just took the kids through the path of this is Jonathan's first mention. The next few chapters is David and Goliath, the famous story. And then their relationship keeps going. You know, Jonathan encouraged David. Jonathan helped David escape. But it gets even better, even past Mithibasheth, Jonathan's son, who is crippled, and David invites him to eat at his table for the rest of his life. It goes beyond that. When David's old and near the end of his reign and the end of his life, uh, there's a famine that comes on the land, and they require that David get up the rest of Saul's children. And there were still some who weren't related to Jonathan. He, of course, protected Mithibasheth. Um, but the end of the story is, and the the thing that just popped out at me is that David took intention to take back Jonathan and Saul's bones that had been left there, like probably what, 20, 30, 40 years prior. And he took the bones back and laid them in Saul's father's, you know, grave. Like he loved him that much that he would go through that intentional effort to even bring back his bones, just like Joseph required and asked that they bring back his bones to the promised land, fulfilling God's promises throughout scripture. And I just I love that story and just God's faithfulness and David being a man after God's own heart, followed in that same faithfulness even past death.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

So, what does that story mean for you? What does it tell you?

SPEAKER_04 41:51

I I think it's such a good example of God's undying love for us, and that no matter what, He is gonna bring it all full circle. You know, many of the forefathers in the Bible died believing the promise, and yet God fulfills that promise. And there's so many details and so many things that are just met there, and that he fulfills all of it and he doesn't miss a little detail.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

I think of all the um promises that are given to us in the old testament, and I'm trying to remember the number off the top of my head, but I'm gonna get it wrong. But there's something like over 300 promises in the Old Testament alone of Christ's coming. You know, that that that whole scene of the um triumphal entry. You know, that was the culmination of of so many promises and prophecies that the Pharisees missed. You know, they didn't realize what was happening when it was happening. Um and maybe that's a good example of the difference between the the legalism versus the relationship because they were so in their you know, our religion has to follow this these strict, rigid rules that they were so focused on the rules they missed the promise being fulfilled in their their relationship. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:26

Um bad example, but I mean No, I think that's a perfect example because how many times have I personally gone through God's word and missed things because I was checking it off the list? I was reading my chapter a day. Yeah. Instead of looking at the words and looking at, oh, look at the details. Look at how God is doing this intentionally. Like even the wording of the Old Testament and the New Testament, all of it, is so intentional. And yeah, I feel so many people are too intimidated by the Old Testament because it's so weird. But I'm like, look at all these beautiful pictures. Pictures. Look at God's goodness. Look at His grace. Like prophecy used to freak me out. But now that I'm getting into it more, and even with my kids at church, it's the same message over and over again. I'm gonna come save you. Yeah. I love you. I want you to know who I am. I don't want to be a secret from you.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

That's what I was just thinking. Is how do we relate this um the story about David and Jonathan to us in Jesus? Where's the the correlation or the the invisible string that ties it together? Do you have any insight of that?

SPEAKER_04 44:39

There's so many things. Um, you know, God wants a relationship with us. I think he too puts people in our lives at just the right time. You'd see that with David and Jonathan. David is just a young boy who was a shepherd and now called to calm the evil spirit that is in Saul. Um and Jonathan just his heart is knit to David. Scripture talks about how he just, I think he saw him and saw him as a son and took him on and said, Here, let me teach you how to follow God and how God pursues us. And he gives us all that opportunity to know him and to accept him, or to not. You know, we we don't have to either.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

Yeah, that that reminds me, going back to the relationship question and the mentors that God puts in our life and um the people who might be older, might not be older, but have a more uh mature relationship with the Lord and how the responsibility of seeing someone younger and just being drawn to them or like he said, knitted together to show, to give an option. This this is what it looks like to follow the Lord. Yeah, choose or don't choose, but if you do choose, I will walk with you the whole way. It's sweet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

If that's the only thing that anyone gets out of this podcast recording, I think that's fabulous.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

It's just so sweet, you know. Like, yeah, there's war and like he's there's like all this stuff, but like when you get down to the relationship piece of it, it's it is so sweet. Like I there's I can't think of a different way to describe that. Yeah, and it's everlasting.

SPEAKER_04 46:25

Yeah, it's not because sometimes there are mentors that come into your life and leave your life, but the words spoken from God don't return void. You know that that never diminishes, you know. Even if a relationship isn't what it was, what was said for the Lord does grow in a person's heart, it does last forever, even though that was a seasonal relationship.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

And that's a legacy to you. You're you're planting seeds.

SPEAKER_04 46:57

Absolutely. And you never know when the harvest is gonna come. But there's always a harvest too.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Well, thank you, Daisy. Um I think that thank you for sharing that story. Um, thank you for sharing your testimony and and just being here today. Um, I gained a lot from this conversation with you.

SPEAKER_04 47:20

Yeah, no, thank you for having me. I've really enjoyed doing this and getting to know you guys more and just seeing your relationship with the Lord and how he's working through those podcasts too, and your own lives. Yeah, thank you. All for the glory of God. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

So if you want to plug your podcast.

SPEAKER_04 47:38

Yes, it is called Um Untold Stories of the Bible. It's on Apple Podcasts. My main platform is Spotify. It's somehow on YouTube. Can't guarantee YouTube's always up to date. I don't like YouTube. Um it doesn't always cooperate with me, but I'm working on getting it on more platforms as well.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

Um to be honest, I think YouTube is still figuring out their podcast platform.

SPEAKER_04 48:00

Okay, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Because they they change things like month to month every time I look at it. Works slightly different.

SPEAKER_04 48:06

Yeah. No, I even try to look it up on YouTube and I'm like, I can't find it. And they're like, you need a more unique name. I'm like, but I have no problem on Apple Podcasts, I have no problem on Spotify. Um, but I definitely am not a tech person, so I'm I'm learning as I go. Like, if you watch my podcast, you'll notice sometimes my phone will flop and I'll just keep going. I figured it out's characteristic.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 48:29

So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

Thank you, Daisy.