Breaking Free from Shame, Lies, and the Stories Stealing Your Peace with Heather Sanchez

What if the loudest story in your mind isn’t the truth? In this powerful episode, performance coach Heather Sanchez unpacks how hidden belief systems fuel perfectionism, shame, and silence—and how renewing the mind with God’s truth brings freedom. We explore the difference between feelings and truth, why waiting to feel forgiven keeps us stuck, and how lies like “I’m not enough” and “no one cares” lose their power when their origin is exposed. Heather shares practical tools for identifying automatic thoughts, setting healthy boundaries, testing thoughts against Scripture, and restoring peace after guilt and failure. You’ll also hear her heart for everyday evangelism through Wild Fruit Co., and how letting go of control opens the door to identity in Christ, healing, and a calmer, braver mind.

Heather's contact info:

Websites - www.thisonewildlifeco.com & wildfruitco.com

Email - thisonewildlifeco@gmail.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlock Podcast. I'm your host, Kristen Kurtz, and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching. I help and empower wild-hearted and adventurous women of faith feeling caged and stuck, unlock their true purpose and potential, break free from limitations, and thrive with confidence, courage, and hope. If you're curious to learn more about coaching with me, head to NewWinkscoaching.net and be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further. Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode. So tune in and let's unlock hope together. Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristin Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Heather Sanchez to the show. I'm so excited to have her here today. We've just gotten to know each other a little bit better before we get started. And I'm just thankful for the connection actually through a beautiful space called Feu, Fellowship of Extraordinary Women. We're both part of that. Um, head up by Kimberly Joy, who actually has been on my podcast before as well. But Heather, before we get into your story, would you just be open to sharing a little bit more about yourself with us?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you, Kristen, so much for having me. I'm so honored to be in this conversation with you. Get to know you better as well. So thank you for that.

Heather’s Coaching Focus: Mindset And Identity

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Yeah, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yeah. So I am a performance coach who specializes within mindset and identity. Um, I help faith-driven leaders kind of work through some limiting beliefs that are impacting their mental patterns, help renew their minds in Christ and create that lasting breakthrough. That is a big passion of mine with my coaching, is I don't want to just be a hype person that gets you energized when you leave the session. I want you to walk away with action that you can put into place right away and is going to have that lasting benefit for you and for the people around you. Because really, at the end of the day, I believe that we all are placed here at this specific time in our specific communities with specific God-given gifts. And oftentimes those limiting beliefs or thought patterns stop us from living that out fully. And if we believe that we are the body of Christ, then everybody needs to be operating from that God-given identity and truth. And so that's what I have the great privilege to help people through with private coaching.

SPEAKER_04 2:47

So good. And you know, a lot of times, I don't know if you've seen this yourself, just even in yourself and also the people that you work with, but you know, a lot of times the work that we're called into are areas that we've walked through, right? Um, so has that been really impactful for you to kind of walk through this process yourself and what has that looked like for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah, absolutely. Um, it's been completely life-transforming for me. Um, I was not aware of the negative beliefs and thought patterns that I was living under and how they were impacting me every day. Um, and I actually took a book by Kobe Campbell called Why Am I Like This? It's an awesome, faith-based read. She is a counselor and she introduced this concept of core negative beliefs to me. And I took that to God's word and through prayer just really started taking a look at a lot of the automatic things that were coming to my mind, the way that I was judging myself, the way that I would respond, you know, if something didn't go exactly how I thought it should. I'm a recovering perfectionist and I'm learning how to do things without perfect plans and expecting things to go perfectly. And then on the flip side, not judging myself and berating myself after the fact. And really, it has freed me up completely to truly live out this call the way that God has asked me to, and take each day as a new day to learn a little bit more about how he's created me so that I can love and serve others better.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

That's so good. I love, I mean, just that that new day, like kind of coming into each day with this um freshness and being able to kind of release but also receive the new revelations that he has for you, right?

Past, Comparison, And Living In The Present

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yes, absolutely. So good. And that's the thing about this too. You know, Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow, worry about today because there's enough problems today. And I'm like, oh my goodness, every day. It's like we need to reset our mind first on God and back on his kingdom and the purpose he's given us, and then look at our day and say, okay, how do you want me to live that out today, God? And let's not worry about next week, let's not worry about a month from now. It doesn't mean I don't have goals and make plans for it, but it's not what I live out of every day anymore, which I would say I used to be very much future-minded.

SPEAKER_04 5:19

Okay. Did now did you ever deal with kind of being like kind of looking back to your past a lot too? Because I I know a lot of times people kind of get stuck in the past as well. Was that something that you ever dealt with?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Oh my goodness, 100%. Yes. Um, I realized that that was a really significant part of what was impacting me was either past experiences that had happened or my current reality didn't have a past experience example. And that dissonance really freaked me out and really made me rely heavily on God's prompting and leading and a lot of potent of self too, in that it's okay that, you know, I have to commute 45 minutes to an hour. And so we eat dinner at 6:30 or 7 o'clock at night. And when I grew up, we ate at five. It's like right on the knot. Yeah. It's really simple things like that that we don't realize the amount of guilt that we allow ourselves to carry sometimes when we're comparing it back to our past or what we thought it should be like. And when you're able to let that go and let the Holy Spirit really guide you and kind of live in each moment as you receive it, because that's all we're really promised anyway, is the moment we have right now. Um, it's just there's just so much freedom and peace in that and not having to constantly be judging or or measuring back to that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Well, I wanted to kind of like go back a little bit to something you said. Um, I think it kind of aligns with this concept of like the automatic negative thoughts, right? Um, what would you say? Because I I've I've found that there tends to be kind of a collection, a collective over, especially over women. What would you say were, you know, maybe your top two that would just come for you all the time, that you were just kind of, it was just this thought loop that kept you held back.

Core Lies: Not Enough And No One Cares

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Um for me, it was you're not good enough and no one cares anyway. And so it that is where that perfectionism came from, always trying to manage and control every part of what was going to happen so that it could not prove that I wasn't good enough because it didn't hit some standard. That kept me quiet in rooms I should have spoken up in. It um stopped me from stepping out and doing things that I believe God was asking me to do because I was so fearful of being proven right that I really am not good enough. And on the flip side of that, no one caring anyway, that just dramatically infiltrated my relationships and friendships. Um, sharing a lot about myself, but never really getting close to a lot of people myself because they're just gonna disappoint me and leave me anyway. So why should I care about them and get close to them? It's really hard to live out your calling as a coach, serving people if that's the mindset that you're coming in with. And so God had to completely break all of that down before I could really take on this calling within coaching and um this idea of the false beliefs, the false narrative, um, and the choices that we make every day.

SPEAKER_04 8:55

Yeah. Well, what did it look like to break down to get to that breakthrough?

Finding The Origin Story And Reframing

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Oh man. Um, for me, I really needed to get back to the source of where when did I start saying that to myself? And that took a little bit of searching on some of it. Um the knowing, caring one that came for me right away. I could pinpoint exactly where it was. And um in finding it, I could kind of look at it from a more objective perspective and see that what was happening in that scenario was not that people didn't care about me. Um, and I'll share it because I've I've shared it with them as well. Um, I have an older sister and um an older cousin, and we used to get together all the time when we were little, and I was probably about 10, and they had this game that they would get together and they would run away from me, and I would chase them all around our grandparents' house, outside, wherever, and it would usually end with them locking me out of my grandparents' bedroom. And this particular time I could hear them laughing, and I was just devastated. I mean, I was sobbing, crying, devastated. And um, when I was able to pinpoint that being the place where I started telling myself that nobody cared about me. Yeah. Now from my more mature spiritual look, I was able to physically look in my memory for where Jesus was in it, because I believe as sons and daughters of God that he's present with us always, and sometimes we just don't see it. So I looked for him and he I was sobbing in his lap and he had his hands on me telling me that he loved me. And from that moment, it was like the power of it was just gone. The power of telling myself you're not good enough and no one cares. It was just, it was gone. That doesn't mean those thoughts didn't come back, but the power that they held before was gone. And now, actually, because I was conscious of it, I could see it right away. Um, and was able to then speak life and speak truth over it. And even look, who does care about me? Well, now I can say my husband, my parents, I know my sister loved and cared about me even then and was just being childish and silly, you know. And the list could go on and on. But that's the power of identifying that moment.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

And I love how, you know, you even like I like to say flip the script and and ask that question, like, well, who does, you know, care about me, right? Who does care about me in this present moment, right? Um, so when like so that was when you were 10 and you had this breakthrough slash what you know, I would call deliverance. How many years later was that? Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Um, this was probably about four years ago for me now. So um 15, 15-ish years. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

Yeah, and you think of how many women and men um, you know, have maybe a formative moment in their childhood that, you know, creates a captive.

Practical Steps: Notice, Name, And Write

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yes. I I personally believe we all have lived some experience that creates this automatic response in us. Um and unless we're conscious of it, it just keeps running its playbook. And so that's that's truly what my passion and my focus is, is helping people release that and allow the light of God's truth in. Because it's it's something I just don't know that we recognize enough of that because God has given us free will and created us with free will, we have a significant amount of power to choose. We choose things we think about, we choose how we talk, we choose the things we do, what we buy. So much of that. And um we also choose to allow God in or not. And the fruit of the spirit and all of these gifts that God has for us are there. And sometimes we don't take them, we don't accept them for things like this that we don't even realize we're doing. You know. Um, and so yeah, that it's it's such an honor and a privilege for me to walk alongside clients and help them release that and then kind of put that power back in God's hands and say, okay, I don't actually want to make all of these decisions on my own.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

So please lead me and guide me and show me what you want.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Yes. Well, were you like, were you a believer at that time in your life, even as a 10-year-old?

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yes. I grew up in the church. Um I was born in a Christian family, and God was actually a very formative part of my childhood. I used to write my diaries to him. I didn't realize at the time, you know, I was writing my prayers, but that was that was how I dealt with everything was writing to him in my diary.

SPEAKER_04 15:14

Wow. And and do you still do a lot of writing, like journaling your thoughts as well?

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah, I needed to help get them out of me and make sense of them and put them back together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:29

So I'm I'm just kind of thinking of somebody like, you know, maybe who's in another country that maybe doesn't have, you know, a way to to to work with you or or to coach or what have you. Um I'm just imagining this person sitting there and and and wondering like what could be like a first step for me to to get free. Um I've got these thought loops, I've got um things that really are holding me back in my past or I'm I'm fearful of my future. Like, what could somebody do tangibly? Um, you know, both of us are coaches. So we we know coaching, so we can self-coach ourselves, right? Holy Spirit is an amazing coach. I would say the best coach ever. Um, but for somebody who who would really like to kind of lean into this um and doesn't have like somebody in their corner, what would that look like for them?

unknown 16:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Um, well, first I would suggest if you have not paid a lot of attention to your thought life before, start paying attention. Start noticing the way that you talk to yourself and listen to hear if that's something you really believe, or is it just an automatic response?

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Um, another way you can kind of see those things is was there something you were excited about doing that now all of a sudden is no longer holding that same level of excitement? And look to see what messages you've been receiving, whether it's you're talking to yourself or messages that you're holding on to from things you've picked up. Because usually your brain is looking for similar thoughts to reinforce what it already thinks. Um, and that's a big one to notice where I was excited before and now I'm not so excited because the fears crept in, the doubts crept in, um, all these things have crept in. And start writing them down. Like, what is it that you're saying to yourself? What are those situations? And really look at it and ask yourself, is that really what I believe? And is that what God's word says about me? That's a key one. Um, because if it's not, then we're coming to sort of a crux of do I choose to believe what God's word has to say? Or do I choose to believe this thought pattern that I've been holding on to? And it can be scary to let that go, but not if what you're doing is reaching for the hand of God.

SPEAKER_04 17:57

Say that again.

Truth Vs Feelings: The Car And Forgiveness Story

SPEAKER_00 17:59

It can be scary to let go of thought patterns that have protected us, we believe, or been beneficial for us in some way, we believe. But it's not scary if what we're doing is reaching for the hand of God to lead us instead. So good.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

Just let that soak over you guys if you're listening in. Like lean in, lean in and listen.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

All right, keep going. So there's a story that comes to mind that was not too long ago, unfortunately. But we can know the truth of God's word and not feel it. And I just want to talk about that for a minute because we tend to place more value on what we can feel and we want to feel everything. And um, I understand that, but our feelings and emotions are just signals to us. Um, they're not the truth. We have to look for the truth after we receive that signal. And so a few years ago when I was pregnant with our youngest daughter, uh, we needed a new vehicle and we needed a bigger car because we didn't, ours wouldn't fit a family of five, plus all the things that come along with it. So we were searching for a car and we drove one that was awesome. It had all the bells and whistles. It was like the nicest vehicle I'd ever been in before, and I loved it. But the problem with this kind of this situation was my husband and I didn't talk about it beforehand. We didn't have a game plan at all. We had not especially asked God's point of view or leadership, guidance, any of that in this situation. And so we just went straight to the dealership, drove this car, loved it, and decided to take out a lease for it. Okay. I had a feeling in my gut that this was not the right timing, that this was not the right vehicle or the right contract, that we should not do it. But I ignored that. I did not talk to my husband until you know a couple years into it, where I found out he also was having those feelings of this is not the right time. We should not be doing this. But he wanted to provide something for me that he felt like he hadn't been able to before. And honestly, I wanted to receive it. I'll be really honest.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Yeah.

Releasing Guilt And Accepting Grace

SPEAKER_00 20:26

And I can see now, and I saw after the fact as well that we were a hundred percent walking in disobedience in that decision. Um, and we had to live through the consequence of that as well. It was very painful. Um, it we could not afford it. We went through multiple repossessions with it and getting it back, and it was just a horrific experience. And I accepted that guilt so willingly and asked God to forgive me so many times. I can't even tell you how many times I pray prayed a prayer of repentance over not listening to God, over not seeking God, over um just the act of doing it anyway, not having a conversation with my husband. I mean, the list could go on and on. And I asked for this so often. And we were on our way to the dealership to return the vehicle, and God had created a miracle for us to be able to actually buy it out and sell it back to the dealership. Oh, wow, for a large enough sum of money that we could not only buy a used vehicle outright, but there would still be money left over. And that money left over was 100% necessary for other bills and things that we needed. And so here's this amazing like way that God worked it all out for our benefit. And I was on the way there asking God to forgive me again. And I have not heard the voice of God more than a handful of times, but this was one of them. And he just so quietly whispered, I already did. And it took my breath away and silenced my tears. And I was like, What? And he repeated, I already did. And I had a flash of Christ on the cross, I had a flash of all the Bible verses that talk about forgiveness and a flash of all the times that I had very contritely asked for repentance and realized from that very first time I had. Been forgiven. But from that moment to this moment, which was probably at least two years, I had chosen to stay in the guilt and stay in the consequence of the disobedience instead of accepting the gift of forgiveness and the freedom and peace that I offered. And now fast forward a couple of years, my daughter is seven. And she had done something and she said, and she said, Mommy, I'm sorry. I said, Miriam, I forgive you. And she's and she kept repeating it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And I got down on her level and I said, Look in my eyes. I said, Miriam, I forgive you. And she got really quiet. And she said, Well, I don't feel forgiven. And it made me think of this moment in the car.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

And how we choose to hold on to that feeling instead of the truth. Right. And so it really takes something to step back and say, God, do I take you at your word? Or do I wait to feel it? And I think we miss a lot of good things that He has for us when we wait to feel it. And I think that when we get in His Word daily, when we are in a regular rhythm of prayer with Him and relationship with Him, when we're part of a community of believers and we live a life on purpose, those truths start to become real for us. Yes. But I do believe that it starts with choosing to accept it and accept God at His Word.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 24:30

Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this testimony. I feel like it it just set many free.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

I pray that that's the truth. I really do.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

Because I know that there's so many people that, you know, it could be mom guilt. It could be um, you know, any kind of guilt, right? And I I know people in my life that have just hung, it's it's like a an outfit that they put on every day. Yeah. And I feel like somebody just needs to take that outfit to goodwill and just get rid of it.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yeah, I agree. That's a great benefit.

SPEAKER_04 25:06

Like we need to we need to swap it up for some new clothing.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

For a new outfit.

Worthiness, Safety, And God’s Word

SPEAKER_00 25:13

And and I think it's we need to ask ourselves, like, why are we hanging on to it? What is the benefit to us hanging on to it? For me, I felt like I needed to pay a certain amount of price for the guilt that I felt. And when I had that flash of Christ on the cross, it was like I had no argument there anymore. And sometimes as believers, we really struggle with that. Like um, and yet that's exactly why he did it. Yes, that was exactly why he said, I'll take it on. He asked God, take it away if there's any other way. But if there's not, I'll do it. And he did it so that we don't have to live in that guilt. We can live in the freedom of forgiveness. And this is just one of the many ways that we we have a hard time taking God at His word. You know, worthiness is another one. I'm I've had a lot of clients who've had situations in their past that have made them feel unworthy or unlovable. Yeah, some people struggle with safety, and God's word is such a ball for all of those things. He tells us that we are worthy because Christ makes us worthy. That we are, I mean, love is all over it. And sometimes the pain he allows as part of his love as he brings us closer to him and helps us um die more to ourselves. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 26:46

What would you say? You know, maybe somebody's listening in right now and and they unfortunately are, you know, surrounded by people that you know don't, you know, show love. And you know, it depends our our environment really matters, wouldn't you say? Um maybe somebody doesn't, you know, help them uh to feel worthy. Um what would you say to that person that because I'm I'm imagining somebody going, well, I don't I don't have anybody in my life that you know I'm they're constantly speaking down on me. They're um they're not loving on me. Like what would you say to those people?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yeah, um that kind of falls into those buckets, unfortunately, of things that we don't specifically control. Um we cannot change the words that come out of other people's mouths. However, we can change our response to them.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

So you may feel only bold enough right now to preach it to yourself quietly in your heart, the truth of God's word. And if you don't know it, if you don't know how loved you are and you don't know the worthiness that you have, open your Bible and it doesn't matter where it doesn't, there's not a right way or wrong way to do it. The Holy Spirit will lead and guide you.

SPEAKER_03 28:05

Yes.

Handling Unloving Environments

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Find somebody who can help you understand what you're reading in his word if you don't have that. But I'm guessing you do. I'm guessing that your listeners have some head knowledge of the truth of what God's word says. And so, if in that moment the most you can do is whisper it to yourself, then start there. If you feel courageous enough, speak against it out loud and say, I don't agree with that statement. This is what I agree with. And you can look and see, I don't know how necessary that relationship is or isn't. Um, you can choose, hopefully, the amount of time you spend with that person. If it's somebody you work with and you really don't have that choice, then I think that the way you uh the thoughts that you allow for yourself and the way you respond back to the person are going to be really important. But it starts with accepting it and choosing it for yourself. Um I think a lot of the things as it relates to our lives that we're unhappy with or dissatisfied in. God starts with us internally before he changes the outward circumstances. And in prayer, you can be asking for that. Like, hey, I'm in a really unloving situation here, and I believe your word that I'm lovable and that I'm worthy of love. But Lord, lead me to the right people, bring me to the right circumstances and environments. Is there something that I should be creating? Maybe that's true. Yeah, maybe God's put something on your heart to create, and the fear has been holding you back from it, that fear of rejection. But maybe it's time to put some action into place towards that and start to build this environment. Yeah. Or another thing too is how can you be the voice that speaks that truth into someone else? Yes, amen.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

Yes. That's so good. Are you guys hearing this today? Like so many gold nuggets.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

So my goodness. God, one of the deepest lessons he's taken me through through my own dark night this whole is how much he so deeply, deeply loves us. And it can be overwhelming to truly contemplate that. But 2 Peter 3 9 says that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises and some countlowness, but he's patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish. And there was stuff tied to that vehicle that needed to needed to go in me. The materialism I felt, the value that I attached to myself from things, the status that I thought it provided, were all false identities and false um just false thoughts that I needed to really have die so that I could actually step into what God wanted out of my life, what he's asking of me. Um, otherwise those things would have always had a grip and held me back. And so I thank God for the experience and the fact that he was faithful and steadfast through it all to not only give me those lessons and help me see his truth, but then also to sort of wrap up that experience the way he did with another vehicle that had no monthly financial obligation, yeah, the money left over to take care of other things that needed it at the time. You know, that is the goodness of God. Yeah, and so if you are struggling with any of that, or this is hitting true and you're unsure of what that path forward looks like, yeah, it is grabbing tight to God and releasing that desire to know it all and control it all and allow him to lead you.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

So beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 32:27

You know, it it kind of reminds me of this. Um, I don't know, you could say kind of like a word slash thing that he um gave me many years ago when I was in this great, I called it the great surrender. Um probably eight years ago, and and it was this let go to hold on.

unknown 32:45

Yeah.

Let Go To Hold On: Surrender And Calling

SPEAKER_04 32:45

Right. You gotta let go to hold on. And there's things like if our hands are too full of whatever it is, whatever it is that you're holding on to, we can't uh fully hold on to him because we're just too full of whatever it is that we're holding on to. So I love how you know, these moments that we get to to get to, even though it doesn't feel like it gets to sometimes. Um we get to walk through this, get go through to get to breakthrough, and then we get to turn around and like what you're doing today, you're sharing your story, you're sharing your experience. But I believe, you know, through your words, um, somebody's hearing you today and it's gonna set them free. Right. So it's not for not. I like to say that when I'm in the middle of something, I'm like, okay, this is not for not. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

For the purpose behind the pain.

SPEAKER_04 33:35

Yes, always. Well, I would love for you to share how can people get in touch with you? Um, and then I'll be sure to add that to the show notes. And then um, I had one more question for you.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Sure. Yes, um, I am most active online through my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn. If you just search Heather Sanchez Lumens, my full name, and you'll find me there. I'm also on Instagram, but more active on the other two. You can also find me on my website, this onewildlifeco.com.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Um, and through there you can contact me through email or however, whatever contact forms I have on there. But yeah, I respond to everything personally. Um I'm I'm absolutely here.

SPEAKER_04 34:25

Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that. And I I wanted to make sure that we don't forget about um, you know, dropping things off at Goodwill and getting new apparel. I feel like there's something you might have to share in that realm as well, right? Oh wow, drawing perfect in the apparel apparel department. The apparel department.

Connecting With Heather And Her Coaching

SPEAKER_00 34:48

You're so good. Okay, I'm seeing what you're doing here. See, this is so new to me that it's not even we're drawing it up. We're drawing it. Yeah, thank you, Kristen. Okay, so my family actually started um a clothing line. It's called wildfruitco.com, is our website where you can shop it. It is for Christian apparel for the family. So we have for youth um and men and women. And it really just comes from our desire to have meaningful connection points. Um, one of the feedback points we've gotten from a lot of people in events and things like that is we like how the designs are more simple and kind of make you come close to see what they say and what they mean. And that's our intentionality behind Wild Fruit Co. is we want to start conversations and have people ask, like, what does that mean? So that you can share your faith and your testimony and the love of Christ with that person. Oftentimes it either builds up the community of believers with strangers that we didn't even know, you know, were walking by us and our brothers or sisters at Christ. And other times too, it challenges, it presents challenging conversations, but the Holy Spirit's there through it all. And um that's kind of our baby project that we are just really excited to share with our kids. They help us with the designs, they help us with some of the processes behind the scenes with it as well, and it helps us teach them about business and um, you know, the purpose and mission behind it as well. So, and 10% of all of our profits are donated as our own sowing of seed into other organizations that promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

I love it. Oh my gosh. So when was this established?

SPEAKER_00 36:38

We just started it in uh June of 2025. Um, and it's just been kind of slowly growing. It's something that we'd like to put more time to, but we just felt like we needed to get it started and start now. Okay. And it's it's been a really great journey. We're really excited for um a lot of the in-person things that are going to be happening in 2026 as well.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

Beautiful. Well, so June of 2025, like, did you get a vision for this? Did you have a dream? Like, how did this like what what was that seed? Where did where did it be?

Wild Fruit Co: Faith Apparel With Purpose

SPEAKER_00 37:10

It's been a little bit of both. So my husband um was the one who, like, two years ago said, I really want Christian clothes that profess my faith wherever I go. And he's I'm very crafty and do it yourself and all of that. He's like, Can you make me some? So I started making him some. And then our kids said, Well, we want some too. And then I was like, Well, I kind of want some too. And as I was doing this for them, I had this vision for wild fruit coat. You know, if we think of the principle of firsts and go back to the first place, fruit is mentioned in the Bible, it's in creation. And it tells us in Genesis, Genesis 1 that fruit has seed inside it that bears more fruit. And so I said, okay, well, whatever we do with this, it has to um mention the wildness of God that is so far beyond our capacity to fully comprehend or understand. And I believe the things he wants to do in our lives are so far beyond anything that we can ask or imagine. And it has to be beneficial for others. So whether it be through sharing of faith and testimony or this promoting of um the tithing of our prophets to other business organizations and Christian businesses. And I started to see this need for community as well, where we can be strengthened in the faith outside of a church building, outside of like a typical Bible study, and just be led as a family to love God and serve our neighbor right where we're at. You know, we live in such a time of social media and being more technologically connected than ever, but also lonelier, more anxious, more expressed, more stressed than ever. And it keeps us, I think, from loving and serving our literal neighbor here in our community where we live and serve. And so um my long-term vision and dream for this that I think God has put on me and given to me is that it becomes this large community for families where we're, you know, not just receiving God's word, but that coaching side of things that is a little bit of challenge and invitation into shifting the way that we lead in our homes and our marriages, and um the way that we live out our life. You don't have to have a ministry role to share your faith. Um, in fact, God's probably put you in secular places for just that reason. Um, and so just becoming more aware of it, more discerning of the spirit of when to speak and what to say and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 39:59

So good.

SPEAKER_04 40:00

Well, thank you for for stepping into this. I I love the vision behind this. And um, what would you say is like your favorite um piece of clothing you've created?

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Oh, geez. Um, it's right now, it's my um walk by faith sweatshirt. Um I was actually wearing it today, but uh, we have it in like a lilac color online. And I just like it because for so many years, and that was something I was doing in terms of I couldn't see any vision, I didn't have plans, I didn't know where God was leading me. But I knew that as long as I was tethered to him, he would protect me and care for me and reveal it in the time that I could handle. And he has proved so steadfast and faithful in all of that. And now it's just the way that I live my life. And so, in a world that likes to see everything, walking by faith can be a big challenge. But yeah, that piece is just very encouraging to me.

Vision For Community And Family Discipleship

SPEAKER_04 41:05

So beautiful. I I I kind of think I need it too because I just tell people like 11.1 of 20 um five was a very significant four-year anniversary of leaving uh corporate job. And I I was comfortable ahead of that. I was like, I'm coming up on my four-year faith um degree. My degree in faith. Yeah, you know. So oh, I just love your heart. Oh my goodness. Well, thank you so much for sharing today. Um, and as we close, I would love for you to um, you know, I do this for the one, uh, it's a seed cast, not a podcast. And if you could just kind of get in mind um somebody who's listening in today, do you have any other like words of encouragement or wisdom that you'd like to speak over them? And then would you pray us out today?

SPEAKER_00 41:53

Sure, absolutely. And thank you so much again for having me. This was a wonderful conversation. I'm so grateful for this space. Thank you for coming on. You're amazing. I would say to anyone who's listening that this has resonated with at all. And if you feel like you're in that season of uncertainty or waiting, or maybe you're worrying disobedience and you're yearning for um that stepping into obedience, I would just say whatever you're perceiving as potential delay could be his love wrapping around you in this time. And in this time of waiting, you can look and ask him in prayer, where are the areas that you need to repent that maybe you haven't been conscious to yet? What is God teaching you in this season? And what truth about God and what he says about you can you choose to believe today? So I invite you to take those in prayer and let him surprise you by what he may or may not share.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

So with that, I'll pray.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

Yeah, thank you.

Walking By Faith In Daily Life

SPEAKER_00 43:05

Father God, thank you so much for this opportunity um to speak with Kristen and for each of the listeners, Lord, who is tuning into this. Lord, I pray that your truth would cut through in a way that does not just go to the head but reaches the heart. And I pray that anyone listening would have the willingness to set aside what they thought they knew and accept and hear for what you are telling them. Um, and as they step on that journey, Lord, that they would have courage and boldness to live that out with the Holy Spirit. We get that wonderful gift. The Holy Spirit lives in us. And I just pray that we would give them the space to work and to will in their lives and transform us from the inside out, Lord. Um, I pray your blessings and abundance over Christian and every listener here that your name might be glorified and our neighbors might be loved and served in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

Amen. Well, thank you, Heather. Thank you for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. I cannot wait to hear more about what's coming down the pipeline for you. I know there's a lot more for you. So thank you so much. I will be back with another episode next week. Thanks, listeners.

unknown 44:34

Bye.