Welcome to the Hope Unloved podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Teresa Kraft to the show. I'm so excited to have her here today. She is actually, she was actually one of my first guests, to be honest with you. She came on back in April of 2023, specifically April 28th of 2023. She was episode number eight. So I want to encourage you all to go back and listen to her first episode where there was a lot of beautiful testimony of her life shared. And we're going to continue with that journey today because there is an amazing journey that she's been on, even including these last three years, to come to where she is today, where there's something amazing that has been launched. So we will definitely cover that. But Teresa, before we get into that, could you just maybe share a little bit about yourself before we get started?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, so we live in Oregon. We just moved back here. We had lived here previously years ago, originally from Minnesota. I have a husband and two grown boys. They are in other states than we are right now. So that's a bit of a transition for especially me right now as a mom. And but they are doing really well and just happy to be in this place again where we really believe God has us here for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Well, would you be open to maybe just kind of, I don't know, just do a little recap of I know both of us were like, well, we don't really exactly remember what was shared on that last episode because I didn't go back to listen to it and you didn't go back to listen to it. But but maybe if you could just kind of give us a short recap of, I don't know, maybe let's cover like the last 10, 15 years of of what you've walked through and where you've been.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
And so let's see, about 15 years ago, actually about 20, it's 22 years ago, I count this. In 2004, God gave me a word. Holy Spirit said, It's time to go, it's okay to go. And we left Minnesota, and our boys were five and three and a half then. And we came to Oregon, to central Oregon, actually, on an adventure. And we were like, if we could go anywhere, where would we go? And so I had biked on the West Coast when I was in my 20s, and I knew how beautiful it was in the Pacific Northwest. And so we just started planning that out, and we were gone within you know months of deciding to do that. It happened so fast. And but I didn't have a job. I had been working full-time, and then when we got to Oregon, I started building a freelance business again. I'm a graphic designer, and my husband didn't have a job, so we came here without jobs and just trusted. And what we didn't know, we probably wouldn't have gone if we had known, honestly, just to be real. What we didn't know is what we were heading into was the beginning of a really long, long season of wilderness, you could call it, of just stripping away of our pride and what we thought we had to be and had to have, and all of that stuff, right? That I think as Americans, you know, we we want to build something and we push through and just the striving that we do and what we think we have to have, the bigger house, the better lot, the better car, whatever. And so that fell apart in 2008. So fast forward four years. In 2008, with the downturn in the market and everything, we had already started flipping a second house. And it was our first try, her first go at that, and we ended up losing everything. And it was such a surreal time in our lives, and I was also I was also getting a lot of weird things happening in my physical body too, where I felt like I was dying. And I remember one night I I had to hop in the the tub and fill it with hot water to warm my body up because it was like the temperature I felt so cold, and my temperature was like 93 or 94, which I don't I don't even know if it's possible. But I I warmed up and my husband had been in Canada working at that point, so I was home with both boys, and I was working already. Then I had new clients, and so I was doing everything, and I just felt really overwhelmed. We were walking through some, you know, just issues with for my kids at that time and and especially my youngest who is adopted. But we got through that time. We got we ended up losing both homes, the second, our home, our primary home, to a short sale after we rode the market down in two different communities, one where we were flipping the house and one where we were living. And so we were in our 40s and uh went back to renting. And so we moved to Northeast Oregon at that time, and we lived there four more years, and we were renting during that time, and I my work ended up drying up a bit, and then we moved back to Minnesota, and that kind of starts the period of time where we were uh working on a project God gave us during that time, started that in 2010, and then really jumped into more of that, launched the initial project in 2013, and then ended up being told by God after switching to a nonprofit, and then just not it wasn't working well. We had a a number of instances with two different developer teams where they were, I won't go into the detail, but they were they were using our site to post other clients stuff on there. One was another one was we had trouble with login that we never had after they were working on our our app. We were trying to start an app, and so lots of crazy things, and that's why it has taken so long to get to where we're launching now, finally. But it was a process that really took us through a lot of healing personally, and I think that's where being back on today is where you know, my message that, and I asked Holy Spirit this morning, like, what do you want me to share? And it's really about the transition out of all of that time that we're walking out of that. And I've seen it in dreams too, where we're literally walking out of a forest, and it's just this dark forest, kind of like a wizard of oz. You know, you're walking out of the forest, you're heading towards down the golden path. That's what it sort of feels like. We're not fully there, but in the dream, I saw we walked out of there and we walked up to Jesus in the dream, and he was showing us the vista, what's ahead. And it's such a victory, uh, a picture of victory that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and and and Holy Spirit really highlighting Psalm 23 this morning for me too. That was such an anchoring scripture for us when we were raising our kids. We used to pray that every night. And so it, you know, prayer and God's word and his both his logos, written word, and his rhema, spoken word have been so important and so critical for me. I wouldn't be here, I don't believe, today if if I hadn't met Jesus and heard Holy Spirit's voice and and then that just the healing process that he's had me on in the last thir 30 years, really, since since I was saved. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it is it is such a process, like that word. It's a process, it's a process out of the dark forest, it's a process of healing, it's a it's a process. And I think you know, I can I can I can want things to speed up a little bit. And being like we know each other well, like we know each other really well, so we we really know each other's you know, stories and journeys, especially these last gosh, it's been like six years since I met you, I believe. And you know, as as we wait and maybe things you look around in the forest and it's like, where's the exit? I can't find the exit. Right. Would you speak maybe a little
to that? Because, you know, just even this last year, you know, there has been a lot of people that I've talked to that, you know, it's like, well, I don't understand what's happening, you know. Like, would you speak to that person who's like, I just don't understand what's happening? Like, how do I find my way out? You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, how do we do this?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, and it does feel like that. Like, you know, I can picture, like, if you're in a closet as a kid, you're walking in your sleep. I used to do that, and you get you walk into a closet and the door's shut, you can't get out, sort of thing. Just yeah, it feels never-ending. And I think too being, I know you and I both talk about a lot of things that Holy Spirit is speaking to us always. And so being someone who has heard his voice for almost 30 years now, you'd think I would have a way out quicker, but I remember asking guy why why is it taking so long? And he told me he literally said, There is no rushing. And I think because yeah, yeah, and and I think because along the way, he's not really looking for the projects that we do, he's not looking for the the the platforms that we gain. He's not, you know, trying to make us, you know, this or that. He's just loving the unfolding, you know, like the blossoming of a flower. The that you talk about this a lot, the changing from the caterpillar to the butterfly. It's the process that we're in that is the the whole point. And it's it's really it's to know him deeper. And that's how we do it is because he loves, I I just feel as and he's having me write about my process and my healing process too, as he's shown me things and I've discovered things that I didn't even remember. And as I do that, I really feel Holy Spirit smiling over me at times that it's just he's so he's like God is such a good dad that he is like uh you know, we trip and fall as toddlers, right? And and he's like, get back up, you can do it. And it's just exactly his gentle voice has been so amazing because I I didn't I didn't grow up with that gentle voice, but yet I'm learning that gentle voice. And it's just so uh it's so beautiful. And to people out there who are still in that valley, uh just don't quit, keep going, but don't do it alone. You're not alone, he sees you, and that's really one of my biggest messages that he has has for me to share with other people is that he uh sees us, he uh walks with us, and uh he has really amazing things, uh Jeremiah 29, 11. Um for he knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans for a future and hope. And so he has that, he has really exciting things for us, but you know, he's not gonna, he's not going to do that at the wrong time. He's going to probably heal you along the way, and and it's really like a permission you give him, a surrender to him. Can I do this with you? Can we go deeper? Are you willing? And then when you say yes, I'm willing, sometimes you don't even feel ready. You just are surprised. You're surprised at his goodness, and you're also surprised at the depth that he will take you because I didn't remember a lot of the things that he's shown me. And then I always knew I would write, but I never it was one of the first things I wanted to be. So, like he's taking us full circle sometimes too right now. I feel like that's part of this process, is when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a poet and an artist. And I feel like in my last last decades that I will get to fulfill that was a dream from him that he gave me as a little girl. And I I believe I'll be doing that. And he's already had me start. I knew I would write like 20 years ago plus, but I I had to walk through other things first before I could really write because I think I would have written it out of the wrong voice. I would have, I wasn't, I wasn't as forgiving 20 years ago. I wasn't aware of a lot of things. And just a lot of things have to happen in the right time. And my prayer lately a lot is Lord, place me in the right place at the right time, and and and show me who my tribe, my people are, because it's not necessarily the people you've walked with in the last decade. Right. And that's and that's part of the transition too, is to be able to let go. And God has moved us around a lot. And it was it was exciting when we were younger, it's harder now. It's a lot, a lot harder as I'm so I turn 65 next month, and I I don't want to pack up and move again. I don't want to do those things, and it's like a lot more exhausting. But you know, this this is a full circle time for us. I don't fully know why and all the reasons why he has us here right now, but I always knew we would be back, and so I'm just watching what unfolds and I'm being obedient. And when he just speaks, he gives clues. He's given me some clues since we've been back here, and I don't have the answers to how that will pan out. So I'm not, I've learned finally to not get ahead. And I I and I pray that too, that I Lord, don't let me get ahead of you again because I try to make things happen for years. Because, well, if he's promised it and he's told me I can have it, I know I can, and I it would get the timing off, and then we would end up it would cost us a lot. And and not that you know, we we do need to count the costs when we say yes to God because there are costs, and I I understand that now at a different level than I ever did before. And I'm still learning that and and it's funny, one time Oh, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say, you know, for those of us who, you know, definitely visionaries and you know, we hear a lot from the Lord and we we're given a lot of ideas and the timing thing. I I just want to like celebrate, you know, you're you know, in your mid-sixties and you're still walking this out. I think one of my favorite things to say is like you're not retiring, you're refiring. And he's given you a mission, right? He's given you a vision, and you have continued on to see it fulfilled because you're being obedient to the call, even though the world would say, Hey, time to retire.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right. Well, and the the world would say, You're foolish for doing some of the things that we've tried to do and have done. And and really, you know, like we launched once and and then you know, it just so many things happened, and it was piling on one thing after another after another, and we were just falling apart. But he he led us to a place where we could, he said it had to be earthed again, birthed again. And I don't fully understand all of the reasons there, but I have have, you know, I could guess, but uh, you know, it's okay to let things go and and just start fresh and start new, but you're never too old to do that. I in fact, I remember a good friend of mine and I, when we turned 40, we were like, wow, we feel like we're just babies, we feel like we're just beginning. And now that I'm 65, I I literally feel like, and I was thinking about this, and my husband and I will have been married 30 years next year, and I've been a Christian 30 years this year. And I was thinking about 30, and I was reminded, I feel like it was from God that He was reminding me Jesus started ministry at 30. Yes, and so and and it was three years, and it was super like anointed, obviously, and but it happened so fast, and I feel like most of our process is the long part that leads up to ministry, and it's not that way for everybody, but based on what I walked through as a child and young adult, I just had a lot of dark places to walk out of and heal from. And honestly, there are still things that are to be healed in those places and probably will be my process for all of my life that it just works its way out in God's timing and it has to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And different, like, and and there's different ways that he goes about it too. It's it's fascinating to me. And I I just want to capture too, like you and I have talked a lot about how, you know, before we even met each other, it was like, I feel like my middle name should have been tenacious. And you're like, I'm tenacious too. And it's like, you know, I I think that is a quality that, you know, I just love seeing that in people, that whether it's maybe a little bit dormant and it just needs to kind of get fired up a little bit. I know that we all have that tenacity in us. I think sometimes, you know, where where I want to go with this is, you know, you mentioned like some of the things that had happened, you know, over these last couple decades. And when you have people either around you that are not like helping you keep going, or maybe you have people that are kind of like squelching what it is that you're called to do, how would you compare that maybe in this current
season? Like, do you have people that are cheering you on more than maybe you did before, or maybe like you know, flip it from did you have more people then now? Like, what did it look like to have you know, what does it look like for you to keep going? Is it just an inner tenacity? Like what does this look like for you?
SPEAKER_00Well, the the scripture as you were talking that comes to mind is God uses the foolish to confound the wise, something like that. I love that one, yeah. I know, I know. So I've I've I think I said this before, maybe I feel like I've been that foolish person where even though I was hearing from the Lord, I wasn't, I wasn't, I was, I think I was trying to measure up to be and and I grew up with needing to perform and be be a good girl and all of that kind of stuff, perfectionism, things like that. And I I think just getting past in and and I've I've in the different churches that we've been in, we've had great experiences, we've had not so great experiences. It's all like there's no perfect people, right? And so I think where Where we've had a lot of people coming around us were sometimes when you have those like exciting initial ideas and you're you're newly, you know, in a ministry or you're starting out, and then you know, it seems like, for example, when we launched our first project in 2013, I remember going to our pastor at the time because we got on this, it was like a hit list or something. It was a website that talked about some different people in in the body of Christ that were doing ministry that these people were calling out and in a negative way, really negative way. And we didn't have a separate link or a button for our name, but we were mentioned in the body copy. And I was like, What? What? What like like we're all supposed to be brothers and sisters, uh-huh? And and then and and my pastor, our pastor at the time had great advice. He said, you know, don't respond, just don't say anything. It's just let it go, forgive them and move on. And then another example, I had, and this was on social media, I had commented something and it was political, which is a hotbed. And someone ended up telling me I didn't know God. And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I mean, I mean, I don't know everything. Of course I, but I I feel like I know him a little bit. But um, what and I asked God, what how should I respond? I feel like I need to, you know, I'm forgiving him right now, Lord, but I feel like I need to bless him and just you know say peace and grace. And God said, Don't don't respond to him about that you know me, that you how much you know me. Like, don't try to prove that you know me. But he just said to me to say that I know God knows me. And I just read something recently where it talked about our salvation and how it's all it's it's so much about God knowing us, and it's about him loving us, and then we get to meet him and learn about him and know him, yeah. And that's your whole process again, back to process. It's your sanctification process from when you say yes to God, and you know, your spirit is made perfect, but your soul begins this process where sometimes I don't look like I need support. Back to your question, other times, because I've practiced a lot growing up, I practiced this like looking good on the outside, and and so people don't always think that you need support, and I think that's part of why you you may not always receive support, but I I don't really feel like we've had a had our tribe in a long time, and I I feel like because it's been transitioning for a long time, and I feel like he's been in the cave time that we've been in, especially me, in these last I would say seven to ten years. I I have struggled a lot with lack of sleep. I sometimes have fallen asleep at seven in the morning. I luckily I I work with clients that I can work at 3 a.m. if I'm if I'm awake. And you know, I can do that, and it it works. But God's been just revealing different parts of me that didn't have any voice. And it's just been a time where I needed to, not that I didn't need support, but because it was so real and raw, it was like just walking with Holy Spirit through all of this and occasionally reaching out to ministry people that I worked with. But so I had ministry people that I could work with, and that was support if I needed it. I have a husband who's like the most supportive person in the world. I have that, but I mean, sometimes you disagree and you know you don't get along either, but real life, right? It hasn't right, it hasn't been a big group of people, and I feel like he's highlighting something new in that regard, but I also think he's going to be surprising. Uh surprising me, surprising us, surprising you, you know, like we are transitioning into a just a different time in in the church. I feel he's talking a lot about being sensitive in the spirit to me. He's always been sensitive with me because he knows I'm so sensitive and so gentle with me. But I feel that he's he's talked to me just recently in the last couple of weeks about the sensitivity in the church and getting rid of sarcasm and just like the the roots that are behind some different things that we even see in the church because because we all do hide sin from time to time, or not, I won't say all of us. I know I I have polished the exterior on my way to church at times when I was really hurting inside. And I always think at church, I always look and I think about the person who, you know, barely got there, and they may, I mean, extreme, but may have been not feeling like they could go on and and even suicidal at times. You know, if they're sitting in church, like what kind of message do we need to be giving them? And Holy Spirit is the only one that knows that. And so, you know, just like in everything we do, and everything I do, I want to be led by Holy Spirit. I want to not take him for granted. That's one of the first messages, prophetic messages I got from God when I first was saved, and Holy Spirit was putting songs in the radio and drawing me in, and I gave my life to him. A couple of the first prophetic dreams I had where I I when I woke up, I heard this message don't take it for granted. I can make it come or I can make it go. And it was Holy Spirit's voice saying, I am, I am with you, I am leading you, I am here, I see you, I will walk with you, I'm I'm in you, and I will lead you to Jesus. That's my job, and I will, I will like it. Started with Holy Spirit for me, and then I gave my life to the Lord. And so the power of Holy Spirit is so significant, and he yet he's so sensitive, he's so gentle, and we can grieve him, right? And so it's just, I think there's a lot of brokenness out there, and as it comes into the body of Christ, whether it's outside the church walls or in the church walls, because I feel my call is outside the church walls more than inside now. You know, we've we've served inside the walls, but I feel more it's like who are your neighbors? Who are and that it should have been that way before too, but like even more so now. Who do you want me to serve, Lord? And where should I go? Yeah. Um, right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so good. Well, I know you've you've been developing something to help serve people, and I feel like we really need to be sure to cover that. Tell us about this journey of this idea that the Lord gave you the last time you came on on episode eight, we couldn't even talk about it yet. Yeah, and I think it was your cover because I knew I knew about it, and I've been keeping my mouth shut for a long time. Yeah. So we didn't talk about it today. So tell us about this journey. Tell us how did this come to even like what how did the vision come to pass? Tell tell us everything.
Yeah, yeah. Well, and I think people who did know us in the past just knew of the the tearing down of what we had that we were building. And so this the name of this project that I've mentioned probably here already, the name of it is relight. And we we couldn't spell it like it sounds. So normally you'd spell that R-E-L-I-G-H-T, but that was already taken. And so we needed a domain. And so we thought, well, what would be a fun way to spell that? So we are it's pronounced relight, but hey, it it works if it's pronounced re-re lit. You can use it as a noun or a verb, right? And it's spelled R-E-L-I-H-T, and the URL, the website, web app is relight, r-e-li-h t dot com. And we also have an app. And so that's what we were trying to do all of these years was to have the web app and the mobile app. So we have both now. They pair together, they work together as one, and it's really a way for you to have, and this my heart was that God would be able to speak through people and get have a way for them to share that with others, and that's kind of it's it started originally with our other project as a place to store your notes, like a place to journal, instead of having all these papers sticking out of your Bible. So it it's a real thing, right? It grew from that, and then it became a sharing with groups and you know, doing some of that with the other project that we tore down. So this is really a rebranding in a way of that, and it's it's much better than it was than it ever was in every way, I believe. I believe this is the this is the launch that God had intended, and the first project was the practice. It was very, it was a very look at it that way. Yeah, yeah, it was a very expensive practice, I will say, but because developers are not cheap, but God has gotten us through that. And so yeah, we have just launched in 2026, and we actually actually had it out there in in the spring, but we had a few kinks to work out, and so we've been working those out meanwhile. So we're officially launching right now, and it is free for the next for June, July, and August. It will be free to sign up. So tell your friends if you're listening to this, please share, share, share, and go to our Facebook is easy to find. Just search for Relight, R-E-L-I-H-T. And our you'll you'll notice where we talk about journaling and doing God notes and stuff like that. And our color is purple for royalty. And so I know there are other relights that you'd find when you search, but that's what we look like. And so, in a nutshell, what it is is it's a place for a few things. One thing you can do is journaling if you just simply want to journal. And that's where a lot of the a lot of the process for me with Holy Spirit has been just I want to say enhanced, but just really like expanded because I journal. And because when he would we he would give me things a lot of times during the night, I would sometimes write them on paper. It's dark, I'm writing scribbling them down, and then rewrite them in the morning. But then this is a place where you can write notes and journal. So, first of all, it's for everyone, it's for anyone who wants to journal. And then beyond that, so I I say it sometimes is like it's like when you're when you're learning to swim, and you first you're if you're afraid to do it, you stick your toe in the water, and then you stick your your ankle deep and knee deep, and you know, you keep getting in deeper until you dive in. So Relight is like that. And God gave us the tagline is equipping leaders for the kingdom of God. And he gave us that, gosh, like five years ago, probably. And so what we're what we're doing, it's a place where you can be equipped. If you want to share, you can. So you can just journal privately. Every time you write a note, it starts out and defaults to private. So it's a private journal post. Next, you can you can take your posts and you could either have a personal account or you could also have a ministry account or a church account or a leader account. And so you could have different accounts, but if you had one account, you could take some of those notes and then decide, oh, I want to share that. So whether you do it in one account or two accounts, you could share a post and you can share it in two different ways. There's closed groups and there's public groups. And so if you feel safer sharing to a small group of people, you could share it to one or two people. And it could just be a little small group that you share your revelations with. And that's really what it's about sharing what God gives us, whether it's a revelation you receive when you're reading your Bible in the Word, and you're sitting with God, and He really starts to speak to you, or if it's an inner, inner voice that you hear, a voice in your spirit, you're in your your heart's telling you something, and you know, or if you hear an audible voice too. I think that's that's fairly rare, but that's possible. But so you can share with a close group, and then you also can share if you want to go to the public, you can share to the public, and there's different ways, and we go through that. And I'll be I'll be posting tips and how-tos and things like that on the Facebook page, and I will be beginning to post on Instagram now. I'm not really a fan of posting publicly, but I'm gonna I'm gonna start doing that. And but the the place to start if people are are wanting to use it is just to start doing a simple journal post and seeing how it works in order to share to a closed group or to share to a public group, you have to create a group for that, and that there's a tab on in there for that. It's called the groups tab. And so one of the things in the future that we'll do once we get a lot of people in there who are sharing, and we call them leaders. It's it's we call the people that use Relight leaders and followers, but you can be both. So you can start out as a follower, you can start out journaling, and then become a leader when you start sharing to other people. I call that learning to lead, and that's that's the equipping process that I believe God wanted us to provide for people. And also, while it is free for the next few months, there will be a fee at some point, probably starting September 1st. And and the reason for that, too, is because development costs are very expensive, and also because we believe that God has many plans for the future for ReLight and for the the our company name is Isaiah 601. And part of that, as I've mentioned, is he's having me write my story, which culminates from having journaled. So I'm I'm an advocate for journaling, first of all, but I'm also an advocate for sharing your story because and reflecting with God. And this is a tool for it's not, it's the thing that really sets us apart from other tools right now is that we don't have the two-way chat. We have its leader to follower. If you're sharing with someone, you're sharing the stuff that God gave you to share, and then you let it go, you give it to your people who are following you, and they in their app, so they can receive that on the app, the app will always remain free. So if you if you don't want to create notes, journal, share notes, that's okay. You can just get the app. If you sign up on either web app or mobile app, you you get both. So you have an account on both, and you can always do both. So, but if you're just doing using the app, you can view, you can search for a leader's name and follow them, and then you get their notes that they share in the feed. And so when you're reading through your feed, it's like an Instagram feed. Maybe, maybe well, it definitely doesn't have as many bells and whistles as Instagram feeds, but it has a way for you to copy a note, and when you do that in the feed, it copies it into your library on the app. And so you can go into your library later on. And it's like if you buy a book, you put it on your shelf and you have a library, right? Or if you have a book in Kindle, you have it online, and so whatever someone that you're following shares, if you copy it and it's in your library, then you can read it later, and you can take your phone into your secret space, into your, you know, your closet where you spend your quiet time with God, you know, your room where it's quiet and away, your away space, and you can pull out that those notes, and then you can add affirmations of your own. So comments can be added to those copied library notes that you have. So even if you don't have Relay with the purpose of journaling, you can just follow some someone down the road when there is a cost to join. Even if you just sign up on the app, there's no cost there. You can follow people, copy their notes, and then in your library, you can basically add your journal notes to their comment. And no one else sees those. It's your library, it's your personal library.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Oh my gosh, so much goodness. You know, it's how how long of a journey has it been since you've like in the birthing.
SPEAKER_00I know someone asked us, how come it takes so long to create an app, Teresa? And I'm like, well, if you knew our process, yeah, yeah, if you if you knew the process that God took us on, it was not so much about creating the app because we have an excellent develop we we've had a number of excellent developers, but and just some bad eggs too. But we we started, we first started the first the the practice project, I'll call it, in 2010.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you believe in I do like I I just want to celebrate you. I want to celebrate, you know, continuing. I I think I love people who do that. I think that's that you're like my people. That's why I love hearing you on because I'm like, this is incredible. You know, there's there's so much depth to this, there's so much thought that's gone into this. It's not like a really new, and I'm not saying that apps that just kind of spring up are not a good thing, but I just believe that the things that, you know, like aging like fine line, like the best things, the the the things that have had, you know, this this fortitude, the longevity, the you know, the thought behind it, the obedience behind it, like this is incredible. So I want to say even that. And anybody who says, and anybody who says, why did it take so long? You can tell them the story. Yeah. Well, I think give them hope for things that take longer. Because I have things too. Like, goodness gracious, like the waiting process is really challenging. But you know, you look at the flip side now, you're on the other side, it's like, what would be some of the greatest, I don't know, lessons and wisdom that you've taken from these like 16 years in this process that you could show us in that who maybe is working on something, has been for maybe 40 years, 50 years. I've heard of people that have been working on things for a long time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And well, you know, I I really feel this is true. I've heard other other people say this for. Years too, but it it didn't feel good when I was when we were walking through it. Um, but that
if if the the resistance is hard, if the struggle is hard as you're going through something that God that God has given you to do, not everything we shouldn't be doing things we are not given to do. And I learned that along the way too. But when God speaks to you clearly about doing something and you are to do it, and you start out doing it, you can really come into some resistance from the enemy who doesn't want you to be successful at completing this project because it's what God wants. And so I don't think I had anyone around us that was coaching me on that what that process, that long process, could look like. I remember when we were way back when we were first married in our church, our first church that we joined when we were first married, when we left Minnesota, we had someone, it I didn't even know what a prophetic word was, but he spoke something over us that was so significant and so true that I think when God puts those sprinkles those people in your life, you really notice those things. And you talk about tenacity, that is so key. And God has given me that word eight like eight times, and a lot of times, I think seven of them were in Oregon when things were falling apart. And it would be like, you know, someone I worked with, even it wasn't necessarily anyone very spiritual, and so like God works through so many different ways, through so many different people, and he will bring, even if you don't feel like you have a good support group, like he's going to walk you through the process and provide people. If you need some people to encourage you, that happens all the time, and it's so fun. And and I know we've talked about it many times. It's like you can't make some of this stuff up, how God puts people in in front of you, and and you're such a connector with people, like you just connected me up with someone else the other day, and it's like I talked with her for an hour on the phone, and it was like, wow, we're like sisters, we're like me, we're made to meet right now, and that's what's so fun about when you continue through the process, and like because a lot of my process has been really difficult stuff that needed healing because I was being triggered, I was like rebelling, or you know, all the stuff, right? Because that process was a long process, it just it didn't look pretty along the way. And so people may fall away in that process, and that's okay. It's hard, but that's okay. And sometimes you just need to allow that process to happen and look and go, God, where do you want me to go? Like, where should I look for the next thing? And not that you're and you know, one of the things I was writing about was running because I learned to run as a as a young child, but and there needs to be grieving of that and healing of that, and there has been and there still will be more, but to stop running, but even though it moving around and going with the flow of Holy Spirit is not running, I'm talking about a dark sort of response and sinful response that I had early on, but but just when when God gives you a direction and it can come in so many different ways, just listen to it and and just the value that he wants us to see and the voice that he wants us to have. Don't let anyone tell you your voice isn't valuable because it is, it is, and and it may not be valuable to that person, and that's not your person then. So find your find your tribe, find the people, and I'm still in the process of right now because he's transitioning us so much. Who who are the people that you want me to to minister to? And it may be just people on the street, and that's that's cool with me. It may be people in a church, that's cool too. I'll go wherever God tells me to go. And when I say that, I know that I have to be willing to go across the country if he asks me to, and I did, and it was hard being across the country. I didn't have holidays with my children this last year. And but you you you do uh what needs to be done when God tells you to do something, and just don't don't quit when it gets hard because that's when you're making the most progress, is when it is difficult, and that's when you really, really feel God's closeness to, and you hear him speaking to you in whatever way he speaks to you, and it's so different for everybody, so don't compare yourself to other people's process because it's your process, and it's so special between you and Jesus and Father God and Holy Spirit, like the four of you, it's it's your process, and so be okay with being different and unique and special because that's who he's made us to be.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Oh my gosh, so much goodness. You know, I I really want to I want to share something that I I picked up as I was listening, if that's okay. So in the beginning, you said that one of your dreams as a child was to be a writer and an artist, right? Yeah, yeah. And you have been your entire life. Right? You're graphic artists, you you create things. Oh, that yeah. You create amazing things. The writing, like the reason that this app is actually here is because you've been writing your whole life and it's been a big part of your healing, getting revelations, keeping keeping note of things. And I think I just want to like if somebody's listening in today, I think sometimes when we hear like, and I've had clients that I work with or other people I've had on here, I think we sometimes just think that we're only a writer if we have something that's published. But and even like there's so many people who may never publish a book, but we know that you are gonna have a book coming in the near future, right? Right. So I just wanted to like capture that because everybody out there, this app is a really beautiful place for you to be a writer. Yeah, that's so true.
SPEAKER_00It is, and it's great for authors who are beginning to write a book if you just and it helps you if you can just start to document some of what that is and just write. Yeah, just right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I remember I gave that word to a client a couple years ago because there was just some maybe a little bit of perfectionism that was coming for her, and I said, just write, right? And it's kind of a double meaning, like just write, just write. It's just right, and it's just right. It's so good. Yeah, that's so good. This has been so good, Teresa. Thank you so much. If you could just share again, what is the best way for people to get in touch with you if they have questions? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So if you go to the relight website, so again, R-E-L-I-H-T.com. Don't put a www in there because that takes you to some unsecure space right now. We haven't worked that out yet. So go to relight.com and then there is a connect link at the bottom in the footnote area.
So it's it would be if you're looking for the URL, it's r-e-l-h t.com forward slash connect. Okay, and then you can put information in there and hit send, and it it will come to my inbox. So it's a way to email me, and then you can find me on Facebook. And I say me, it's actually my husband and I, but I'm doing the the communicating part, he's the support that's always there, and but you can connect with us there and you can ask questions there, and I will try to respond within 24 hours, 48 for sure. But be patient with us. And if you can like like our page and share it with other people, we really want to get as many people in for free as we can, but we just can't be free forever. We need to pay the bills too, but we hope that you find it and and love it, and we'd love to hear how you're using it and all sorts of other things.
SPEAKER_01Beautiful. Thank you so much. Well, I'll be sure to add contact information in the show notes. And before we wrap up today, I just would love for you to share, you know, just briefly of if you have a word of encouragement, a word of wisdom. You've you've obviously given us a lot here today that has encouraged many and given a lot of hope to many. Do you have anything else that you'd like to say to the one that's listening in today?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, you know, it it ties everything together for me when I see how God is having me share my story and also launch something like Relate, which is all about writing your story, journaling, and that. And I feel like that is it's it's if he'll do it for me, he'll do it for anyone. But it's just to ask him, sit with him, believe. And if you haven't given your life to Jesus, do that today. He is so amazing, he loves you so much, he's standing at the door knocking. And once he you allow him in, and most of your listeners are probably already in that in that place, but and probably in that journey too, where they're walking through that process or coming out of that process, or maybe even just entering that process. Just know that your your story matters, and your voice matters, and you matter. And it's not about, like you said, it's not about, oh, I have to publish a book, I have to do this, I have to create an app, I have to have a ministry, I have to do this, I have to do that. No, it's not, it's just I have I have to be intimate with God. I really need that intimacy, and he'll he'll show me what to do, and he'll do the rest with me. And that's just so beautiful, but just to keep going down that path, that process, and and don't ever, ever quit and just believe that God will get you to that that hope and that future that he promises, he declares it. It is written in his word, he knows the plans for you, and they're to prosper you and not harm you, to give you hope and a future. In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01Yes, amen. Thank you, Teresa. Oh my gosh. Well, I'm gonna close with our hope unlocked anchoring verse. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, so by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 15, 13. So thank you so much for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. Probably are gonna have to have you back another time. So thank you again for being on today. I will be back with another episode next week. Thanks, Teresa. Thank you.