Ep. 118 | Momcast: Mommin’ Through a Biblical Lens | ft. Casey Dicks, Kaci Young, Laurie Giebeig & Mary Beth Everett

Today we're excited to share another Momcast, this time hosted by Astin Kahnk featuring Casey Dicks, Kaci Young, Laurie Giebeig and Mary Beth Everett! Listen in as they dive into their calling as wives and mothers, talking through ways that they seek God's will for their families. Let's jump in!

If you have any questions about this podcast, or about The Orchard Community Church, we would love to hear from you! Visit our website at theorchardcc.org and fill out our contact form, or send us a message on Facebook (@IAmTheOrchard) or Instagram (@theorchard.cc). Until next time!

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:00

Sports are good, activities are good, fill in those times like where the fun times are good, but if it's taking away from your family time, your going to church on Sundays, that's not what's right.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

If your influence is not the strongest one, then social media will raise your kids for you, which is terrifying.

SPEAKER_07 0:19

Nowadays there's constant input. Once kids especially get social media, the algorithm can get a hold of them like that. If they don't have a firm foundation of who they are in Christ, that can get altered so quick.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Not just going through the motions and doing the right things, but really them doing it out of their posture of their heart, doing it, you know, because they want to please the Lord and they want to do the right thing. And how do you teach them that other than pointing them to Jesus and pointing them to Scripture constantly every day?

SPEAKER_04 0:56

Welcome to Let's Talk About That, the podcast where we deep dive into Sunday's message and explore your questions. I'm your host, Aston Kink, and I'm excited to share this journey with you. Whether you're a longtime member of the Orchard or a first-time visitor, Let's Talk About That is your space to explore, reflect, and connect. Join us as we navigate the intricacies of faith, spirituality, and daily life, seeking to understand how the wisdom shared on Sundays can be applied to our modern challenges. So grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable space, and let's dive in together. This is Let's Talk About That, where the conversation about Sunday's message never stops. Well, welcome back to Let's Talk About That, and I am so excited for this conversation because I have the Mom cast back with a new voice with us today. So I'll let her introduce herself. Hello.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Okay, hello. What is your name? I'm Laurie Guyvey, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to be here on this podcast. You're a mom. Yep. You're a mom here. I'm honored that Aston insisted that I come today. Yes. And I'm excited to talk to her just with the mic and headphones today. It'd be exciting. Exciting.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

All right, who's next to her? It's Casey.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Uh make sure you say your last name too because Casey. Oh yeah. Casey. There's two Casey. Casey Dix. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 2:24

Mary Beth Everett. Casey Young.

SPEAKER_04 2:27

Okay, so I have to admit something. Yesterday I was typing out all the notes, totally put all of y'all's maiden names. I had Laurie Williams, I had Casey Umstead, Mary Beth Milliken, and Casey uh Casey Cannon. I was like, what in the world? Because I've known you guys for that long. So I was like, uh, edit please. And put the Mary Days in. Your MIFO is Aston Sib Kank. Oh, I feel honored. Like, yeah, none of like none of y'all's names have changed. It's all. Did you still have all of your contacts with like the olden like the maiden names? Yes.

SPEAKER_07 2:57

It took Casey Dix being married for probably three to four years before I finally changed it.

SPEAKER_05 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 3:04

I don't think I'll ever change it because that's how I know you.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

I know you guys as your maiden names. I forgot yours changed too. So thanks, Laurie. Thanks. Well, Laurie, we are so glad you are here on the mom cast today. And um, yeah, so we're just gonna just jump right in. So kind of the conversation for today is just gonna be I have it titled Is Momin' Through a Biblical Perspective or a Biblical Lens. So um a couple weeks ago, we had a sermon series called To This, and we learned about Nehemiah and the burden God had put on his heart. And throughout the sermon series, we saw this burden turn into a calling for Nehemiah. So my question for you ladies is what are some things that burden or grieve you as a wife, a mom, or a woman?

SPEAKER_06 3:49

I think one of the biggest things that burden me and is just the pressure of trying to do everything at once and feeling like I'm still not doing any of it as well as I want to. And also just like watching my kids go through things that are hard. It's like you can guide them, you can pray for them, you can be there, but you can't live life for them.

SPEAKER_05 4:11

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:12

So to me, that's that's what burdens me as a mom because I want to fix everything for them or not not let them go through the hard things at first because I know what the outcome might be, and I don't want them to go through the struggle.

SPEAKER_05 4:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:25

I just want to protect them and save them. But in reality, it's better for them to go through things and experience those things for themselves.

SPEAKER_04 4:33

Like your mama bear just wants to take over, but like, no, I gotta let them spread their wings and figure it out. Yeah. And your boys are older than mine, so I can't even believe. Because like right now, I can still control the outcome of that. But now you're in that next season of life where it's like, okay, you have to kind of yeah, figure it out and learn. Yeah. That would be hard.

SPEAKER_07 4:50

I can remember one of the first times that it like marked me because in the moment I realized what this would mean for the future in parenting. And it's really it's something I feel like most people go through, and it's really not that big of a deal. But in the moment it felt massive because of how badly it hurt my oldest. And we had a kitten die tragically and unex unexpectedly. He was only six, he was five or six. Okay, and I mean, just like he was completely broken over it. And I remember having the thought of there is nothing I can do to take this away or to make it better. We just have to sit in it, and I have to be here with him. And like I said, it seems so silly because it's a pet dying and it was a kitten. We'd only had it for you know a month. It was not that long. But I remember thinking that this is the first time in his life that I can't take it away and I can't make it better. And it made me think ahead to the fact that there's gonna be lots of times in his life, and there's gonna be lots of times that I probably can take it away. But the best thing for me would to not take it away, yeah. To let him live through that and still support him through that and be there with him through that. But I don't know. Yeah. That's what I thought of whenever you were talking about that is that you know, our kids are gonna have to go through stuff as just part of life and we want to take it away. And a lot of times the best, most loving thing for us to do would to be to not take it away.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 6:36

I saw something somewhere too where somebody said, You can't, either you can't or you shouldn't take away your kids' testimony. That's good. Or prov I can't remember how it was worded, but it was something like that. Like they they're gonna have their own testimony. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Mary, Beth and I are sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yeah, we're raising future men and husbands and fathers and future moms and wives. And yeah, that's hard. That's hard. I think piggybacking off of what Casey said about not taking away or not being able to help some of those things and letting some of those things naturally happen, and what Meredith said, is my something that's burdensome for me, and I've really been thinking about it a lot lately, is the heart condition of my children and, you know, obedience for, you know, just to obey mom and dad because that's what they do, and you know, the fear of mom and dad, which a fear of mom and dad is is good to a certain point, just like the fear of the Lord, but the their heart, not just going through the motions and doing the right things, but really them doing it out of their pusher of their heart, yeah. Doing it, you know, because they want to please the Lord and they want to do the right thing. And, you know, being able to teach them that. How do you teach them that other than pointing them to Jesus and pointing them to scripture constantly every day in all situations? But and you know, I know as a teenager, I was, I did what I supposed to, yeah, and I, you know, I was I was a pretty good teenager, but I can't say that my heart was right. And yeah, you know, that I've just really been thinking about that. I'm like, I don't want them just to go through the motions and do what I asked them to do because, you know, they're scared of punishment, but because I want them to have, you know, I want their heart to be you know, postured towards obedience because ultimately that's that is going to reflect their relationship with Jesus. And it doesn't matter if they do what I tell them to do, if their heart is not. Yeah, that's so good. And I know that's a growing process. Yeah. I mean, because it still is for all of us, you know what I mean? But that's been, you know, it's like, yeah, they may do what I asked them to be too, and they may almost kind of like what we're we're talking about in um in Chip's message yesterday. Performance. Yeah. But I just it I just want to make sure that it's their heart is tender and you know, in the right way. I don't know. It's just something I've been thinking about lately. No, that's really good. Yeah, anything, Laurie?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, I think for me as a mom, you look at these kids and you think about who they're gonna grow up to be. And to me, their character is one of the most important things. So true. Aside from having a relationship with the Lord, we want them to have good character. And the only thing that will build that is them having to face hard things. Yeah. So every time they are faced with a challenge, my instinct is make it go away, yeah, make it better. Yeah. But if I do that, if I prevent them from facing those trials, they'll have no character. And so that's that's the hardest thing for me, like Casey said, Yeah. Is the uncomfortable truth that they are going to face hard things and trials. And I just have to remind myself every single time to let them. Yeah. Because I just wanna fix fix it.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Yeah. Yeah. There was something thinking about what Mary Beth said about sitting in it. There was a season where we were going through some really, really hard things, and I was really sad. And I heard from a friend to even like allow your child into that like hard season. And I remember there was one day I was sitting there just overwhelmed with emotion, and Jax looked at me and he's like, Are you okay, mommy? And I said, Mommy's not okay, but I could really use a hug. But like letting him into that season of like, wow, like I can comfort someone, I can sit with someone in that. I think it's just again, you're, you know, having that heart posture, that that tender heart of like, all right, what do I do in this situation? But also, you know, showing your kids that I have to sit in some really crummy things too. But like, but Jesus can help you in those is so, so good. I love it. So, what are some ways as a wife and a mom, you are intentionally leading your family in a counter-cultural way? So it kind of hits a little bit on like Chip talking yesterday about how, you know, there's certain ways of the world that, you know, they want us to be put into a cookie cutter. So, how do you live outside of that cookie cutter life that the world perceives as like the right way to do things?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

So we've had some recent big changes in our family that have gone against cultural norms and and really normal for us since our kids have been in school. We just started homeschooling and okay. We've done this for multiple reasons, but it's it's been something that was on my heart, my husband Caleb's heart. And there was there was a day I came to church, it was very heavy on my heart. I actually spoke to Casey about it.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

And Pastor Eddie spoke that morning, and his message was on your quivers, your little arrows that you're sharpening and sending out into the world. And that whole sermon, I was dialed in. I love it. I love it. It's uninterrupted. He he spoke to me that I love it. And that that was confirmation, that was clarity, but it also is perspective that I try to keep because it's easy to feel pressure and influence about, you know, kids this age have cell phones, kids this age do this and that. And you're, you know, you get it from your kids, you're getting it from everyone else. And people say, Don't put your kids in a bubble, you're sheltering them from the world. And I don't look at it that way. I look at it that I'm sharpening quivers. There's actually a really good quote that I saved. It says, We homeschool not so our kids are insulated from the world. We homeschool to make sure the concrete has been hardened before we put heavy loads on it. Oh, that's good. And that chill from MA Franklin X. I have no idea who that is, but I think it applies to more than just homeschool. It applies to all of those other milestones that come with your kids growing up. You know, it's not that you're trying to shelter them and hide them from the realities of the world, but you are trying to make sure that the foundation's been set before you put the weight of the world on their shoulders. So I love that.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

That's exciting for you guys. So, how has it been? You're well for how long have you been doing this for and how has it been going?

SPEAKER_00 13:34

So we started in February. Okay. And I will also just say I have no background in education. So you don't have to. And I I'm not to over-spiritualize it, but I do feel like God has given me some sort of He's equipped 100%.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

He will call the equipped.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

He equipped you. Yeah. I love that, Laurie. That's so cool. Um, only through him could I be able to do this. But even things like I I feel like prior to this, you have a long day at work. You've got so much to do. Patience is thin. Like, even the patience I've had, I'm like, this is not from me. This is from the Lord because my own flesh would not be able to do this. So even though life is a lot busier or fuller than it was before, I feel so much more at peace. That's so awesome. Uh, I feel like I'm I'm doing what I've been called to do. I love that. It's a callback to calling versus career.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

Yeah, yeah. I love it. So that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

That's so exciting. All right, and what about you ladies? Okay, so piggybacking off of Laurie homeschooling, this is our second year of homeschooling. Okay. Um, and we the boys, of course, went to public and then private school. And then I felt a couple years ago, I just kept feeling like, you know, the Lord was leading us to homeschool. But of course, you know, we have a lot of educators that are family or friends, or, you know, and it's just very I was gonna interject as Casey's friend that I love it.

SPEAKER_07 15:18

I remember you kind of wrestling with the idea of homeschooling before you even went the private school route. Okay. Like you, you, it had been on your heart for a while before you were like, okay, I know this is what we need to do. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

And then we're like, oh, well, the private school, that'll be a happy medium. You know, that'll be a compromise. Yes, a compromise. So I remember specifically, we're kind of getting off topic here a little bit, but I remember specifically I was sitting in the Chick-fil-A line. I had just listened to, well, I had just read some scripture that it was in Deuteronomy. You're talking about teach your children diligently when they what is it, sleep, stand, walk, you know, whatever. And anyway, I had just read that scripture, and then I was sitting in the Chick-fil-A line waiting on my food, and I was listening to a message, and he quoted that scripture. And he said, you know, if there's something that you have been wrestling with or you want to do but haven't done, and but you feel like you're being called to do it and you haven't done it, then you need to just take the step and do it. Okay. And I literally feel like I audibly heard the Lord saying, You're not being obedient to me if I'm not doing this. Like I literally was just like clear as day, like, of course not that happened again.

SPEAKER_08 16:41

Right. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

So I came home and um I told Brady, and Brady, we, you know, we had kind of chatted about it, obviously, off and on. And anyway, so he was like, I mean, are you sure? Like, are you sure we're gonna do this? Like, cause then that would, you know, I would not be working at the time. We were like, how are we gonna figure this out? Anyway, long story short, he had listened to some things that had prompted him to like, okay, let's go forward. Like we both so you both were being worked on like at the same time, okay. Very cool. Yes. And and once I told him, he had kind of listened to some things and okay, and just had been wrestling with it as well. And he's like, you know, I think this might be yeah, we can at least just try it. You know, this might be the route.

SPEAKER_05 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

So we did it, and I'm not gonna lie to you. I still I 1000% know that that is what the Lord has called us to do as a family.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

1,000% know that. And and I feel like, you know, I can't read the future, obviously, but I feel like like it's not like um, well, maybe we'll put them in school in high school. You know, this is what I think that we'll do throughout. Things may change, of course, but I I still do struggle with with the thing inside my head. And I work PRN for I have my real estate license and I dabble in that. And I work as a physical therapy assistant at PRN. So a couple hours a week. Yeah. Nothing big. But I still do struggle mentally with the fact of like, oh, well, if I worked more, we could have more money to do this and go on more vacations and have more and reach our goals quicker and all that. I still do struggle with that, you know? But then the Lord reins me back in and this is what I've called you to right now. This is what I've called you to. All that other stuff doesn't matter. I was actually reading some scripture this morning, and it's like, you know, whenever you live for materialistic things, something about, I don't know, I'll have to find the, I'll have to find the scripture, but you lay your treasures up for heaven. You know, you're not doing what God's called you to do. If you're living for that, you're gonna miss the life, the spiritual life has called you to.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Yes. Anyway, that's kind of my biggest, our our biggest as a family counterculture with them. And it's still, it's, I mean, it's very, very countercultural. Yeah. And then more and more people are doing it.

SPEAKER_05 19:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

And you know, like every family is called to something different, you know, and and just like they've just like Chip has said before, you know, if God's called you to be a plumber, being a preacher is a step down. So every family is different. I know Mary Beth's kids are in public school in Florida virtual school, and Casey's kids are in private school. And, you know, so not every family is called to that. And not every family is able to do that, even if they wanted to. And that's just that's what we felt called to do. Yeah. But everybody's called to something different. Yeah. And you, you definitely don't want to do it if you're, you know, God's not called you.

SPEAKER_07 19:36

For sure. No, I love that.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

Yeah, you're so right.

SPEAKER_07 19:39

Okay, so I'll go next. Mine is a little different. It is, I feel like, for sure, countercultural to today's society. And that is, I feel like something that I've noticed that I've been burdened with. And ever since we've done that series, I've been like using that language. Yeah. Something I feel like that has burdened me for a while or grieved me is how busy families are. Yes, girl. And it, it honestly, like this seems silly to say this, but it breaks my heart to see sometimes because we're 100% in charge of our own schedule. Yeah. For the most part. I understand people have careers, people have jobs. You're not in charge of your job schedule. Yeah. You know, most people are not. But you are in charge of how you fill your extra time. Yeah. And so I would say something that intentionally we do as a family that is countercultural is we try to live as slow a life as possible. Okay. Ooh, I like slow. Slow. I do. And naturally I've I've learned naturally I'm built that way. And so maybe that is also why I lean that way and why it burdens me because I know what happens to me if I get too busy. Yeah. And I don't want that to pour out into my household. Yeah. And so we're just really intentional with our downtime. A lot of people would consider us homebodies.

SPEAKER_04 21:04

That's okay. I'm okay with embrace to being a homebodies.

SPEAKER_07 21:07

We, my husband and I both are homebodies. Our kids are homebodies. We like to be home and rest and recharge at home. There is a pull. There is a pull. I can feel it in myself, even a natural homebody, but especially in society, to fill your schedule slam packed with good things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:33

Good fun things, family time things. So I'm a homebody by nature. I know not everybody is that way. And so I know that if even myself, who prefers to be home a lot of the time feels pulled to go and do and let's go do this thing and this looks fun and the kids would love this. And I know if I'm feeling pulled that way, then people who aren't natural homebodies are pulled that way naturally. And It just I feel like the pressure is on when you have kids to make their life beautiful and fun and exciting and let's go do this experience, like, which is are all good and great things. And I think you should go do those things with your kids. But I also think as the parent, you need to protect your time with them. Yeah. Protect protect their like they need they need to be bored. They're downtime. It's okay for them to be able to do that. It's okay for them to be bored. It's okay for them to be bored. It's okay for them not to experience all the things that are available. Because we live in a day and time where there's so much available to fill their time, to be a fun experience, to be a cool thing to go do. And they're kids. If you're like, do you want to go do this? Yeah, I want to go do that. And can we do this? And can we do that? And can we, what, you know, all the things. And then they expect it. And I don't know. I'm like I'm rambling a lot right now.

SPEAKER_04 23:04

What I was going to say was I feel like as moms, we see, you know, we have a love-hate relationship with social media. You see all of those families that post those things. Yes. So fun. I'm not doing the trips with my kids. I'm not doing this. But I think for us, it's a great reminder to take a step back and be like, okay, what do my kids see all the time? Right. They see us out in the backyard having fun. They see us down, like your kids down at the pond going fishing with dad. They have that quality time. But I feel like it's moms. It's like kind of sort of keeping up with the Joneses. You want to do all the things. Right. And so you have this pressure and pull, or these kids hear about it. And not to say those things are bad. Right. But I think it is good too for our kids. Like, okay, you know, when we get to do those things, it's, you know, once in a while and it's fun. And it's fun.

SPEAKER_07 23:51

But I'm not going to expect every single weekend for us to go do something fun. Yes. Or I don't know. Or just anytime we have we don't have anything going on, we're going to fill it with something to go do. Even if it's just, I mean, as much as I love my friends over here, even if it's just like going over to a friend's house for dinner. Yeah. Sometimes that's great. Sometimes this is our only night this week as a family. And we need to protect that. We need to be home together. Even if we're just chilling. Like even if kids learning to be content with that. The kids are learning to be content with we don't have anything to go do today. Yeah. And that's okay. Yeah. I know I was like kicking myself because I, for a couple years now, I've been wanting to take my kids to go strawberry picking because it looks so fun. And the pictures look fun. And the twins love strawberries. Like they would eat all of them by the time we got home. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. There came, there was one Saturday where it was open because there was a couple where they were closed because of the weather. And I was like, dang it, we could have gone today, or you know, whatever. Well, it was their last day, and we could have gone, but I was like, we need the day. We need to stay home. We need the day home.

SPEAKER_05 25:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Are you telling me I miss strawberry picking? You did, it's over.

SPEAKER_07 25:06

Dang it.

SPEAKER_04 25:07

Next year, Laurie. Next year. Next year.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

I missed it two years in a row. So that's all right. I'll head to Casey's produce.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

There you go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:16

I I was gonna say, I realize a lot of decisions aren't based off what's good and what's bad in that moment. Like sports are good, activities are good. Yeah. Fill in those times like where the fun times are good, but if it's taking away from your family time, your going to church on Sundays, like that's that's not what's right, if that makes makes sense. Yeah. Um, like you're filling that time with with activities to keep the kids from being bored, to keep you from being bored. But if it takes away from you being able to go to church on Sundays or you being able to sit down with your family at dinner and have that family time, like I feel like that's well, I was gonna say, like with you saying that, your kids will pick up, whether they realize it or you realize it, they will pick up on what you prioritize.

SPEAKER_07 26:01

Yeah. And whether that's what you say is most important or not, where your time is is what's most important. Yeah. What you prioritize, you are subconsciously telling them that that's the most important thing.

SPEAKER_04 26:16

No, I agree with you on that. Thinking about like through a counterculture lens, kind of like what you guys said, I feel like I always had to fill my schedule. But now Brandon's family was really good on Sundays, truly like resting, Sabbath rest, you don't do anything. Whereas for me, that's like a that's a work day for Mary Beth and I. So it's like, all right, keep doing things. But lately I've been not. I come home and I grab my babies and we watch a movie or we do something. And like I was in a group chat with these ladies last night, you know, the dishes can wait. Like I'm truly trying to like Sabbath rest. And again, that's counterculture because you think, oh, it's the last day of the week and we have to fill our schedule and we don't do anything. Like I maybe cook, maybe, or we grill, and that's it. You can find us like the Everett's at home, chilling, and I love it.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

A nap will be had on a Sunday afternoon, thousands of every single Sunday. This is the hard thing for me being home. Like, I might create the margin in our calendar to be home. And then what do I want to do? I'm gonna clean, I'm gonna run around like the Tasmanian devil, and I'm gonna clean. And then I'm also missing quality time with the family. And I'm like, why? It's gonna be dirty again tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Yeah, yeah. Or you feel guilty about not cleaning, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yes, like if I'm sitting home and resting, I'm like, it's hard for me too to know how to just just like I want my kids to be able to be content. I'm like, why can't I just sit here either?

SPEAKER_03 27:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

So I think it's we're all working on it.

SPEAKER_04 27:42

Well, we're a product of our environment, and so for me, it's like if my environment is, you know, dirty mess, it's what I want to do. But so true. On Saturdays, I want to get up and I want to clean. And that is the one day of the week where neither Brandon nor I are working. So it's like, let's do family things. And it goes back to mom guilt. You look at your kid and you're like, I need to be playing with you, but I have these dishes that have to get done.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

So how do you find the balance in them? Make memories and clean that house and do everything. It's like you know, yeah, nonstop pressure cycle. But I will, I can't remember who it was. I'm sorry, Pastor Eddie or Pastor Chip, but one of you uh said one time something that stuck with me, and it was if you have more on your to-do list than you can get done, God didn't give you all those things to do. It was something like it was something like that. I butchered it, but something to that extent. And so I do try to remember when I feel like I have more to do than I can get done. Maybe God didn't ask me to do all these things. That's good.

SPEAKER_04 28:41

Try to remember that. Yeah, no, that's good. All right, so kind of going back to what we talked about at the beginning with Nehemiah, kind of wanted to dig a little bit deeper into that book. So in Nehemiah 4, it talked about, you know, Nehemiah told the people to fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes. So I have a question for you, ladies. What would you say are some of the biggest spiritual threats facing your children or just children in general? And how can you, as their mom, fight for them through prayer and through nurturing?

SPEAKER_07 29:13

So I would say one of the biggest threats, I think, for maybe not super young kids, but as they grow into like a whole person is just a threat to their identity and who they really are. They have so much input from the outside world. I think now more than ever. Yeah. It's you know, when we were kids, it was just, you know, the people you saw on a daily basis at school, and then maybe like whatever show was on Nickelodeon or Disney in the afternoon. That was it. Other than that, not much, not much input from the outside world on top of our family and our close circle of people. Yeah. Nowadays, there's like constant input. They still have an algorithm that's getting pushed to the channel. Oh my gosh, yes. The algorithm, like once kids especially get social media, the algorithm can get a hold of them like that. Yeah like it can completely alter if they don't have a firm foundation of who they are in Christ, yeah, that can get altered so quick. Yeah. I mean, I've I've accidentally liked a video and completely changed my algorithm. Yeah. I've like watched one for too long and now I've seen like five dog videos after that, you know, and that's just from one instance. I mean, somebody's algorithm can change in an instant from something a friend sends them and now that's on their feed. But I don't know. I feel like now I'm rabbit trailing because my mind just immediately went to you know, just went like not just this kid's, you know, algorithm and what's feeding them, but now they're still getting that input from their friends who have their own algorithms and their own. So true, yeah. All these other ideas that are being fed to them.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Oh I don't know. Like my kids don't have social media, but they'll we'll let them watch certain things on YouTube, like fishing videos, or Owen's really into like parkour like backflips and stuff like that. So there's a few people that we allow them to watch, you know, their channels or do perfect. We love do perfect. We love even do perfect. Yes. And there's families that do hunting and fishing and all that, and and all that's good, but but still it's it's people, it's the the outside world who's having influence. And yeah, I've even the boys have even wanted to start their own YouTube channel, which they they have one, and they've posted a couple of videos. But stop. I love that. No, but then we stopped because and this is why we stopped. We stopped because they will look at their videos and they're like, oh, we have two likes. Oh, we have three likes. Comparison already. And so, and oh, oh my god, oh my gosh, mom, we have five likes. You know, and it's people that they know, it's their little friends, but but still I'm like, Yeah, yeah, we're not, we are not gonna, we are not gonna stop this.

SPEAKER_07 31:53

Yeah, well, because that even not only are they concerned with if people like it, but then that could also change their behavior because they say, Oh, well, they like this. Yes, or so now I'm gonna do more of this, or so true. I saw this video has a ton of likes and they're doing this thing. Literally their things for likes, or they're saying this thing, yeah, and that's that's not your identity identity, that's not authentic.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's shaping these kids and it's scary. Yeah. If your influence is not the strongest one, then yeah, social media will raise your kids for you, which is terrifying.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

Yeah, see, uh Jax is so little, we don't have any of that. But I'm always because I don't I want him to know who he is, so I always tell him, like, don't ever forget who you are and whose you are. And he's like, oh, Jesus, like a wanting to remind him of that, trying to do that, you know, at a little age, because he doesn't have you know all the all the things yet, but I can't even imagine, yeah, that constant, you know, like just pouring into them. And it's like, all right, how do you make sure that is like the right things pouring in? But again, having safeguards, having those kinds of things for you, having that discernment, Casey, of like, uh, nope, nope, we're not doing this for likes. You know, if that's what it turns to, then we're, you know, yeah, pulling the plug.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

It's amazing too. The just the little bit of rain we've given them with shows they watch, like the new one they love is Tuttle Twins. What is that? I haven't heard of that one. Oh, it's good. Jack's might be a little young for it, but you should look into it. It's teaching them economics and history. I love it. We love that show. I love it. But they repeat, there's certain lines they think are funny and they repeat it over and over again. And I'm thinking, look at how what they watch completely influences what they're thinking, what they're saying. Yeah. I mean, it's because it does us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Yeah, it does for us. So, how much more for them because they don't have the discernment that we have. That's why we have to be their discernment.

SPEAKER_06 33:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

No, that's so good. What about the rest of you at the table?

SPEAKER_06 33:57

You know, talking about the identity in our children, it makes me think of the podcast that Pastor Eddie did. I want to say it was last week. He talked about him and Miss Beth cleaning out their attic and how he found a box of trophies. Okay. And it just like we put so much time into our kids' sports, like taking them to sports, and and they put we put pressure on them and they put pressure on themselves to to do good, to be first, to get this to win the trophy, to to be able to show these things. But in the end, like they're just gonna go in a box and go in the top of the closet. So we're not ever going to remember that we had these trophies. It's not about like winning first, it's about like your identity in Christ. Yes. And and what that's taught you, whether you won or whether you lost, it's what how it shaped you as a person.

SPEAKER_04 34:47

Yeah. That's so I I think it's like to a even just like grades, school, we put so much pressure on, you know, our kids, you know, making sure they study, doing all these things. But it's like, like you said at the end, like it's it's about Jesus. So yes, obviously we want you to do well in school. We want you to have that drive to do well. But at the end of the day, if you don't make straight A's and you make B's and you're trying your best, like that's all, you know, that's all we asked for.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Yeah. Yeah. I saw a clip of an interview with Tim Tebow. Somebody was asking him about all of his accomplishments, you know, with football and stuff. And he said, you know, all of it doesn't matter. He said, if I would have put, if I can put that much hard work and emphasis on sports and being successful in football and all those things, how much more, how much more could I have done for the kingdom of God? Oh, that's cool. If I would have put that much effort into spiritual things and things for the kingdom. Like, look what could have been. Yeah. Like how much fruit could have come from that. Yeah. Yeah. You know.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yeah. I'm gonna piggyback off. Yeah, yeah. Another Tim quote, Tim Keller. It made me think of Tim Keller. Gosh, I do too. But he said something about all human endeavors are eventually forgotten, making our efforts appear meaningless, and they really actually only matter forever if they're forgot. So if we're not doing it for the Lord, then it's gonna be forgotten.

SPEAKER_05 36:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

No one's gonna remember. I mean, our great-great-great-grandchildren will probably never know who we are or anything about us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:19

But like, yeah, leaving that legacy of like, yeah, like Was that too deep? No, no, no, no, no, no. That was good. That was good. You know, even for us too, of like, we put, you know, so much pressure on ourselves. But at the end of the day, as long as I show my kid who Jesus is, and you see Jesus in the way that I do things, like that's what that matters. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

So I'm just gonna, this is what I was reading this morning. And this, this is that what you said, Laurie, it reminds me of what I read this morning, which I was like, the Lord was really speaking to me. And I was like, oh my gosh, he's trying to tell me something. But it's John 12, 25, and it's whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any if anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. And in my commentary, it says to pursue the worldly life with a material materialistic philosophy will cause a person to miss what God wants him or her to have in the spiritual realm. The natural outflow of a spiritual life is serving and following Christ. So good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Yeah. Yeah. You need to read that daily. I feel like you could read that every morning. Tattoo it on my forward. Constant reminder. Tattoo it on my forehead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:41

Tattoo it in reverse so that I can read it in the mirror. Because it doesn't matter. None of it doesn't. None of it matters.

SPEAKER_04 37:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

You know?

SPEAKER_04 37:48

Yeah. Uh well, ladies, this was a great conversation. Do you have anything else you want to add before we sign off? No Easter's coming up. You guys ready? I'm ready. You ready? Yeah. Ready or not? No, not ready.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

That's okay. Type B Mom over here. I'll be ready on Saturday night. There you go. Sainsies.

SPEAKER_04 38:07

There you go. Well, if you're listening and yeah, you don't have any Easter weekend plans. The Orchard is having 10 services across our location. So Live Oak will kick off. There's a night service at 7 p.m. Lake City will have a Saturday night service at 5 p.m. And then on Sunday, we'll have eight services across our Lake City, Live Oak, and Brantford locations. So I would encourage you to be here on Easter weekend. The good news, Jesus is still alive and he's on the throne, and we just can't wait to celebrate with you. So we will see you guys next week. Have a great week. Thanks for joining us for this episode of Let's Talk About That. We hope it encouraged and challenged you as we continue to grow on this journey of faith and embrace community together. If you have more questions, thoughts, or feedback, we want to hear from you. Be sure to reach out to us through our social media or visit our website to stay connected. If you found today's discussion meaningful, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review. Until next time, we hope this episode inspired you and will keep Sunday's message at the front of your mind. See you next week.