Held by God: Discovering Hope When Life Falls Apart

Have you ever wondered what God could do with the pain you wish you could forget?

In this episode of the Higher Pursuit podcast, host Cecily Lachapelle engages in a heartfelt conversation with Holly Sweat Raper, who shares her journey of grief after losing her husband to cancer. Holly discusses how her pain transformed into purpose, emphasizing the importance of faith, community, and scripture in overcoming life's challenges. The conversation highlights the power of trusting God during crises and the potential for personal growth through adversity. Holly's upcoming book, 'Living in Victory, Not Defeat,' serves as a testament to her resilience and a guide for others navigating similar struggles.

If you've ever whispered, "There has to be more to this,"—this episode is for you.

Want to go deeper? Grab a copy of my book Repurpose Your Pain at my website or on Amazon.

✅ After you listen: Share this episode with someone who needs hope—and take a moment to reflect on how your pain might be preparing you for a higher purpose.

3 Key Episode Takeaways: 

What if the very pain you're walking through is the birthplace of your purpose?
Holly’s story will challenge the way you see your struggle—and show you how God can use even your deepest wounds to build something beautiful.

Are you trying to hold it all together—or are you letting God hold you?
Discover how faith becomes a lifeline in crisis, not just a concept—offering real strength in your weakest moments.

Is your heartbreak hiding a ministry you haven’t stepped into yet?
Learn how repurposed pain can become the very platform God uses to heal others—and remind you that your story isn't over.

Follow Holly: 

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• Facebook
• Created4Success

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Pain and Purpose
• 02:48 Holly's Journey Through Grief
• 05:57 Faith in Crisis: Choices and Growth
• 08:46 The Power of Perspective
• 12:02 Finding Identity in Loss
• 15:01 Hearing God's Voice in Pain
• 17:56 The Role of Scripture in Healing
• 20:56 The Importance of Knowing God's Word
• 23:58 God's Bigger Plan in Grief
• 32:18 The Power of Perspective in Grief
• 34:37 Walking in Victory: Overcoming Loss
• 37:51 Repurposing Pain into Purpose
• 43:12 Faith Through Trials: The Testimony of Pain
• 47:02 Trusting God's Plan Beyond Un

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Pain and Purpose
• 2:48 Holly's Journey Through Grief
• 5:57 Faith in Crisis: Choices and Growth
• 8:46 The Power of Perspective
• 12:02 Finding Identity in Loss
• 15:01 Hearing God's Voice in Pain
• 17:56 The Role of Scripture in Healing
• 23:58 God's Bigger Plan in Grief
• 32:18 The Power of Perspective in Grief

Transcript

Cecily Lachapelle (00:00.989)
Hey friends and welcome back to the Higher Pursuit podcast where we have real conversations about faith, purpose, and living out God's plan even in the face of pain. I'm so glad that you're here today because we have a powerful and deeply moving episode lined up. So my guest is Holly Sweat Raper. Hi Holly. I'm so glad to have you here.

Holly Sweat Raper (00:23.086)
Hello.

Cecily Lachapelle (00:26.087)
Well, Holly and I were introduced through a mutual friend of ours, Billy G. And I just want to give Billy a shout out because Billy has introduced me to some amazing people. But I'll never forget when he texted me and he said, I am going to join you two in a chat because I just had an interview with this woman. You are going to love her. And he was not wrong. Billy, you were not wrong. So Holly and I just want to say thanks, because that was a great connection that you made for us.

And before we get started with today's podcast, I do want to tell my tribe a little bit about you, Holly. And let me just say this. What if your greatest pain could unlock your greatest purpose? mean, on our podcast here, that's what we've been discussing this whole series because we've been talking about repurpose your pain. But Holly's not just a speaker. She's a survivor, a strategist, and a spiritual powerhouse from heartbreak to healing.

She equips people to rise, rebuild, and live in victory. When life hits hard, Holly Sweat Raper hits back with purpose and power and faith. She's on a mission to help people live out what they were created for, success, purpose, and impact. In her upcoming book that's going to be published hopefully soon, Living in Victory, Not Defeat, Holly shares her journey of faith, resilience, and hope.

And she equips people to rise strong, living purposefully and standing on God's promises, even in life's hardest times. Her story is that after losing her husband, Dan, to stage four kidney cancer, she found herself asking questions that many of us have wrestled with. Who am I now? What is my purpose? Is this the end of my story? But instead of letting grief write the final chapter, Holly surrendered her brokenness to God. And what he did

during and after is nothing short of redemptive. So Holly, welcome to the podcast.

Holly Sweat Raper (02:31.256)
Thank you Cecily, what an honor and you were so right when Billy told me about you. I was so excited to reach out to you and never could I have imagined the blessing that I got by beating you.

Cecily Lachapelle (02:44.019)
Come on.

Cecily Lachapelle (02:48.851)
Well, the blessing is really mine. I am so honored to have you here. I've so enjoyed getting to know you. I mean, guys, just in case you don't know this, one of the perks of being a podcast host is that I get to meet incredible people like Holly. And a specific perk about this friendship is that I get almost daily texts from this encouragement powerhouse. I'm so spoiled. God spoils me. man.

But I also got a pre-read of parts of her book. So I have to tell you, I'm so sorry, but when I quote her book, don't flip open your Amazon app and expect to it today. Holly, I know your story, and I just wanted you to please walk my listeners through the nearly perfect life that you had with Dan and your twins. And then can you take us back to that moment when you were told that Dan had only weeks to live?

And when your life as you knew it just shattered.

Holly Sweat Raper (03:46.99)
Yeah. you know, life doesn't ever turn out the way we thought. I mean, it's constant up and down. But Dan and I were on, we were empty nesters. The twins were in college and we were like, this is so fun. I mean, all of a sudden we were, you know, riding bikes and we were doing well in our careers and

Cecily Lachapelle (03:54.365)
Mark.

Cecily Lachapelle (04:04.467)
Bye.

Cecily Lachapelle (04:08.179)
haha

Holly Sweat Raper (04:15.658)
It was just so much fun. were dreaming, dreaming big. And it was July 22nd. And I remember that because it was my birthday. And my husband started turning really yellow. Yellow, like minion yellow. And I was going, baby, something's wrong. Something's wrong. But bottom line is he went in. They found that he had stage four kidney cancer. And that was on my birthday when we found that out.

Cecily Lachapelle (04:34.696)
Over.

Holly Sweat Raper (04:44.878)
But why he was so yellow was because he had a rare disease called Stofer syndrome, which shut down his liver. And so the cancer wasn't in his liver, but there had only been three other people in the world who had ever been diagnosed with this Stofer syndrome. Yeah, yeah. So mean, just miracle after miracle that we find out about all of this.

Cecily Lachapelle (05:03.815)
What? Wow.

Holly Sweat Raper (05:10.594)
and there's only a couple hospitals in the country that can even operate on somebody if you can't go through anesthesia through the liver, right? And Duke Cancer Center was one of them and that's where we had an appointment the following week after finding this out. So it's just gripping how God orchestrated

Cecily Lachapelle (05:21.481)
Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (05:33.898)
all the details from us moving to this place to my husband was an attorney for the Brody School of Medicine so he's working with all these doctors and I mean it was just it was amazing but once we got there they removed his kidney and the tumor on his kidney was the size of a football.

Cecily Lachapelle (05:43.753)
Wow.

Cecily Lachapelle (05:47.465)
Mm.

Cecily Lachapelle (05:56.456)
No!

Holly Sweat Raper (05:57.506)
they had to remove part of his rib. So it was just, you know, and the things that happened from the months that come from a brain tumor to the liquid in his lungs, I mean, all the things, I'm not a healthcare person. I'm a psychotherapist. I've been counseling for 20 plus years. Medical was not my thing, not blood, not, that's my husband who's a healthcare attorney.

my daughter who was a nurse and me, nah. And learning to care take to take, I was taking two fluid or two liters of liquid off my husband's lungs a day. So there were things that, that, you know, I said I would never do.

Cecily Lachapelle (06:45.32)
Wow.

Cecily Lachapelle (06:52.573)
Right. Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (06:53.418)
And now I have realized I have evered every never I ever said I would never. Right? mean, so.

Cecily Lachapelle (06:58.033)
right? Ditto, ditto. You get to a certain age where you tell you say to younger people, don't say never. Don't say never. Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (07:04.174)
Never saying that. Yeah, yeah, but you know nothing we go through God will not empower equip or give us Direction on how to do it if we lean into him. Yeah for sure

Cecily Lachapelle (07:14.761)
you

Cecily Lachapelle (07:20.168)
Yeah. So talk to us about, I didn't really prepare you for this question, but it just kind of came to my mind. I assumed that you were a believer when all of this happened with Dan. But when we go through crisis like that, I feel like as believers, we can go one of two ways. We're either going to blame God and move away from him.

Holly Sweat Raper (07:34.37)
Right. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (07:48.498)
or we're going to dig in. There's not really usually a middle ground once you are in the trenches of a war and you're being shot at moment by moment by moment. And so tell us, what were those areas of growth, of development, of deepening, and have you retained those habits or whatever it was, techniques that you developed then?

Holly Sweat Raper (08:13.998)
Thank

Holly Sweat Raper (08:17.366)
Yeah, what a that's a great question. That is such a great question because here's the thing, you know, and think about this with the story of David, right? And Goliath is, is it was he had to fight the lion and bear before he ever hit the giant, right? And in, in my life, I had lots of lions and bears. and, I write that in Living in Victory, Not Defeat from my mom dating the

Cecily Lachapelle (08:26.778)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (08:34.59)
Yes, ma'am.

Holly Sweat Raper (08:46.774)
mafia guy and being hidden for a year because he was after to kill all of us to a young man who I wanted to marry who died of an aneurysm and to marry in a rock and roll Christian lead singer who spoke and sang in front of 40,000 people telling them about the Lord our

Our wedding was televised. I mean, and then seven years later, he says, I don't wanna do this anymore. And I mean, so I had been walking with Jesus so closely and in every one of those heartbreaks, he met me there. In every one of those difficulties, he carried me. And this is the thing is that,

you know and you're right every every opportunity we have a choice we can be bitter or we can be better and we can go by how we see things or we can get scripture and go by truth and so facts are not truth so so here is the thing it is being able to say

Cecily Lachapelle (09:50.121)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (10:02.899)
Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (10:09.838)
And I'll give you the example. I do career consulting. So the fact is I lost my job. The truth is your job is what you get paid for, your career is what you're made for. So instead of this happened to me, this happened for me. And that whole shift, that whole perspective is what we're plugged into. So if we're plugged into the source, the creator,

Cecily Lachapelle (10:18.217)
you

Holly Sweat Raper (10:38.05)
then he is going to be able to take our circumstances and let us see them as the head and not the tail. And that's how we overcome. And so everything in life is a choice because it is, you know, in fact, I pulled this from my book. The deeper truth is people so often think

Cecily Lachapelle (10:46.769)
Yes. Wow.

Holly Sweat Raper (11:07.72)
that confuses God's favor. They think once you're a Christian you're not going to have any trials. Well that's not even in scripture. It says in this life you are going to have trials, but I have overcome. So the overcome is how you see it, not that you're not going to go through it. Because think about this, and this is what I wrote.

Cecily Lachapelle (11:15.293)
bright. No.

Cecily Lachapelle (11:22.046)
Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (11:33.278)
David still had to face Goliath, Joseph still endured betrayal and prison, Paul still sat in chains, and Jesus, Jesus still carried the cross. And in every single case, the very thing the enemy meant for destruction became the very platform God used to fulfill his purpose. And that's exactly what you do when you interview these people repurposing pain. Anybody can take good out of good.

Cecily Lachapelle (11:42.503)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (11:52.691)
Absolutely.

Holly Sweat Raper (12:02.594)
But only God can take bad and make it good. And he can take the test and make it a testimony, the mess and make it a message and make pain and give it purpose.

Cecily Lachapelle (12:04.553)
There you go.

Cecily Lachapelle (12:14.473)
EEEEH

Yes. Hey guys, listeners, I hope that you heard what Holly just said. That was, that's a quote worth stopping, pulling your car over, opening your notes app and write that one down. Anybody can make good out of good, but only God can make good out of what the enemy meant for evil. And that is absolutely the truth. And what kind of freedom and liberation is that for us when we know

that we are going to rise as long as we stay connected to the vine, as long as we're drinking in his presence and we're hearing his voice. Of course, none of us do that perfectly, especially when your emotions are in the blender, but God has such mercy and compassion on us when we're in these crisis times where we can't even remember why we entered a room because our brain is just so

and under attack. He understands that. But as long as we allow ourselves to be held, we cannot fail. God is going to work all of this out for good. And in his mercy in those seasons, he also knows that when everything is stripped away, we can feel lost. So Holly, talk about that because you do write about that in your chapter about

Holly Sweat Raper (13:18.99)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (13:41.782)
When everything was stripped away, your role as a wife, your job, you mentioned that a little minute ago, your direction in life, what did you do with that? Because that is, in my book, I write about the pain of a broken identity, and I put that chapter first because I feel like if you don't repurpose that broken identity, you can't go anywhere. You can't repurpose any of the pain. So talk to me about that, how you did it.

Holly Sweat Raper (13:56.984)
Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (14:06.102)
Well, and it was funny. So for your listeners, want you to know Cecily and I pray, prayed over this before we even got on that God would speak and that Holy Spirit would touch. And Cecily just said something that I thought, okay, Lord, I'm going to comment on that. And you were talking about how, the Lord will give us direction. He will walk us through things. He will give us peace. But here's the thing. This is what

hit me when you were talking about that is that how do we hear him because and you have kids too so my daughter when people would call our house they would start talking to my daughter Taylor and think it was me because we sound so much alike now the

Cecily Lachapelle (14:41.758)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (14:55.592)
that's funny.

Holly Sweat Raper (15:01.102)
people that know me really, really well, my best friend, my husband, as soon as I answer the phone, they know it's me and not my daughter. So thank goodness because my husband would be gone. Are you naked? You know, I never said that to my daughter because she would be born to fight. But here's the thing. The reason my husband and my best friend

Cecily Lachapelle (15:13.768)
Right.

Holly Sweat Raper (15:30.344)
know even the smallest nuances of my voice is because of the absorbent amount of time they spend with me. So, so often we can go, well don't know if that's the devil or the Lord. How you know that is by the amount of time you spend with him. So if, if you're hearing something

Cecily Lachapelle (15:38.045)
Yes. That's it.

Cecily Lachapelle (15:46.675)
Mmm. Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (15:55.41)
Yes ma'am.

Holly Sweat Raper (16:00.162)
The only way you know if you can identify it as truth is, you getting in the word? Have you been spending time with him? Because it is, you have to be able to recognize the counterfeit. And the only way you know the counterfeit, in fact, you probably know this, that banks don't study counterfeit because there's so many. What they study is the real thing.

Cecily Lachapelle (16:24.905)
Right.

Cecily Lachapelle (16:29.801)
That's right.

Holly Sweat Raper (16:30.87)
And so when you know the real thing, then you quickly recognize counterfeit. So when the Lord said, when going back to what you just asked me is you hear things and going back, fact from truth. So Dan had passed away and about three months later, three o'clock in the morning, the devil starts, you know, the voice, right?

Cecily Lachapelle (16:36.819)
Amen.

Holly Sweat Raper (16:57.358)
and waking up and it was like, my goodness, you're gonna have to sell your house. Your husband was your financial provider. And the kids had moved away. You have no purpose. You're not a mom anymore. You're no longer a wife. Who are you now? No one's ever gonna love you the way he did. You've had to step away from your job. So now you don't have a job. You've always had a career.

just on and on and on and I was like, Lord, do you hear this? And he said, yes. And I'm like, and he said, what did I tell you to do? And I said, well, you told me I have more authority. See, the devil has power, but he didn't have authority. We have power and authority. And I said, oh, you're right.

Cecily Lachapelle (17:33.142)
Hahaha!

Cecily Lachapelle (17:40.553)
Mmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (17:51.283)
Say that. Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (17:56.894)
And he said, stop talking to your problems or stop talking to me about your problems and start talking to your problems about me. And so I said, devil, get out of here. I'm a daughter of the king. You have no business in here. And I think he left. But I'm sitting there and going, but Lord, I don't have any money. And he said, well, what did I say? And I said, well, you said.

Cecily Lachapelle (18:04.797)
There you go.

Cecily Lachapelle (18:13.193)
That's so good.

Holly Sweat Raper (18:24.396)
You take care of my needs according to your riches and glory and you have unlimited resources." And he said, that's right. And I said, but Lord, feel alone. And he said, well, what did I say? You said you'd never leave me or forsake me. And I said, okay. And then I said, well, Lord, I don't have a job. And he said, well, what did I say?

Cecily Lachapelle (18:31.454)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (18:34.953)
Hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (18:41.789)
No. No.

Holly Sweat Raper (18:50.452)
You said I know the plans I have for you declares the lord plans to give you hope in the future until your husband dies. No there's nothing there it is well you're still here I'm not done. And then and then I said but lord it's been a really rough two years I'm tired I'm scared.

Cecily Lachapelle (18:57.629)
There you go.

Cecily Lachapelle (19:01.637)
Right.

Holly Sweat Raper (19:15.05)
And he said, what did I say? And I said, I don't know this one, Lord. You have to speak to me. And this is what I heard, Cecily. He said, daughter, I turned the water in the wine at the end of the wedding. Wait till you see, I've saved the best for last. Wait till you see what I'm about to do. And I tell you what.

Cecily Lachapelle (19:35.774)
around.

Cecily Lachapelle (19:41.513)
God.

Holly Sweat Raper (19:44.622)
My husband was fine. I mean, he's in glory. He was no more cancer, no more pain, no more. And God was going, this time on earth is short. And I have given you an eternal perspective. Now go out and tell people what a good, good father I am, because girl, I have plans for you. And I was just like, I had no idea.

Cecily Lachapelle (19:56.274)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (20:00.464)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (20:06.377)
Yeah. Yes. So awesome. So awesome. Wow. So I just want to press pause for one second because I know that my listeners hear this from me all the time. So that's why I love interviewing people because it's kind of like a mom when you get, when somebody else says something to your children or to your husband, all of a sudden they're like, Oh, I've never heard that before. But

Holly Sweat Raper (20:13.118)
I had no idea.

Holly Sweat Raper (20:34.36)
love you.

Cecily Lachapelle (20:34.813)
Did you all hear Holly say how important it is to be able to know the Word of God? Because when we're in the Word of God, the Lord uses that Word to speak to us. For me, from the time I was born again, thank God, the moment I got saved, the very first church I went into,

taught the Word, they prioritized the Word, they taught the importance of memorizing the Word. And back then I had like a super great young memory, post-menopausal memory. And so I could memorize chunks of scripture. And it was literally like I filed them in a filing cabinet in my mind, in my heart. I stored the Word up in my heart. And so when trials come,

Holly Sweat Raper (21:16.782)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (21:24.379)
when challenges come, when heartbreak comes, the Lord can do for me what he did for Holly and he can pull scripture up. I mean, what did Jesus do when he was being tempted in the wilderness and Satan comes at him with the word, which I'm sorry, that just shows that Satan might be very wise, but he's not really smart because why would you come at the word with the word? anyway.

So he comes with scripture, but of course he's misconstruing it, using it out of context. And Jesus uses the word back. And so here's the thing we have to learn about that is that God speaks not just through the actual words on the page, but it has to be combined with his voice, his Rhema, his now ever-present speaking voice in that moment. So he'll take a scripture you've read a thousand times.

And all of a sudden in a moment, it is your Ramah word and it will become that lifeline that you hold on to until that storm is passed. And it'll be something you emblazon on a mug or something and say, this is my memorial stone. That scripture got me through. God spoke into it. It was anointed and I hung onto that and I clung to it. So I just want to emphasize once again,

my precious tribe, please be in the word of God regularly. Develop godly habits of being in the word daily, journaling it, writing it out longhand, reciting it, whatever you have to do to be able to have it packed away. So if somebody walked in and stole all your Bibles, or if it became illegal in our country to own a Bible,

Holly Sweat Raper (23:13.347)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (23:15.015)
You're okay. You've got enough of God's Word stored up in your heart that He can then, like kerosene, drop on it and light that thing on fire and ignite it as a flame of His voice in your heart.

Holly Sweat Raper (23:28.59)
And I tell you, and I love that you said that because, therefore just to give hope for those people go, my gosh, I'm in my 50s, I've never even memorized the verse except John 3.16 for Godzilla. And so it really wasn't until I was 50 and I went through a whole tsunami of painful things. And again, that's kind of more of my bears and lions. But the...

Cecily Lachapelle (23:41.651)
There you go.

Holly Sweat Raper (23:58.456)
but I'll never forget I was in the shower. That's where God speaks to me. I really should take more showers. And I heard, it was when I was going through a really, really devastating time, but you have to read the book to find out what those are. And I heard Romans 8.18. And I remember thinking, Lord, I'm in the shower. I'm butt naked. I don't have a pen. What's Romans? I don't even know what Romans 8.18 was.

Cecily Lachapelle (24:04.508)
you

Cecily Lachapelle (24:14.985)
I'm

Holly Sweat Raper (24:27.022)
But in my spirit, heard, write it down and memorize it. And Cecily, I think this is the first scripture I had memorized since I was in college. And I was like, 8.18, Romans 8.18. And so I got out, I looked it up, and it was, I consider your current suffering not worth comparing to the glory I will reveal in you.

Cecily Lachapelle (24:38.355)
Well.

Holly Sweat Raper (24:53.492)
So I was going through a lot of rough stuff and I was going, okay, well, so Lord, you know what's going on and he's going, I know, wait till you see what's gonna happen through this, trust me. So I can tell you that when I'm walking around Duke Cancer Center, when we first got Dan's diagnosis eight years later, after the message in the shower, seven years later, I'm hearing.

Consider my current suffering not worth comparing to the glory of will reveal in you I can and I kept going Lord How are you gonna turn this around? How are you gonna turn this around? Because I know you're gonna turn it around but how? And it was and the other thing is and job when I turned 50 I remember reading for the very first time I'll bless your latter years more than your first

Cecily Lachapelle (25:25.385)
Grace con.

Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (25:33.832)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (25:48.401)
Right? I cling to that one.

Holly Sweat Raper (25:49.678)
Right and the first 50 were pretty tumultuous. I mean I was really I mean I've kind of hit almost Everything but that also has helped me become a better counselor But so but when I got to for 4212 the Lord gave me revelation of that saying that does not mean You're not gonna have difficulties in life

Cecily Lachapelle (25:55.089)
Bye.

Cecily Lachapelle (26:03.593)
with.

Holly Sweat Raper (26:17.976)
But what that is going to mean is you're going to see me quicker, faster, more obvious in those storms. And that's how you walk on water, right? Because God does not stop the storms. He's greater than the storm. And so that's really where that really came in because I kept going, you're gonna bless my...

Cecily Lachapelle (26:26.643)
Yes. Yes.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (26:36.809)
Amen.

Cecily Lachapelle (26:42.641)
I am.

Holly Sweat Raper (26:46.166)
my latter years more, Lord this doesn't feel like a blessing. And he was going, yeah, but, and then, and then I got the scripture, Job 42.5, which almost blew me away. And it said, before I had heard of you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. Because when you walk through devastation,

Cecily Lachapelle (26:49.907)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (27:03.571)
You knew what to see in my eyes, yes. Yes. Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (27:10.766)
You feel him, you know him, he is there, he is your best friend, is your Abba father, he is the provider, is the director, he will weep with you. And then, you know, he's in the fire with you.

Cecily Lachapelle (27:13.352)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (27:18.941)
Yes, use your husband, use everything. Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (27:30.962)
Yes, yes, that scripture became a mainstay for me during my separation and my first marriage. And I was alone and isolated. My parents were in California. I'm in New England. I have no brothers and sisters, so I don't have anybody to swoop in. And I'm alone with four kids all the time. And they're all little, ages two, four, nine, and 11.

You know, life was hard and he was the only breadwinner. I hadn't gone to college and I didn't have a job because I was planning on being a stay-at-home mom my whole life. I didn't have a Plan B. And I had been a Christian since I was 17 and I thought that I had a pretty decent walk of faith. But when everything fell apart and shattered and I lost my identity as a wife, I lost my identity as someone who was

Holly Sweat Raper (28:09.4)
Yeah, yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (28:29.161)
could be a stay-at-home mom, and all the things I thought my life was gonna look like, it was all pulled away and burned, and I'm sitting in the ashes of that, that was one of the main scriptures that really I clung to because I was seeing Jesus in a much more eyes wide open way, and feeling a sweetness of his presence that honestly I could say I'm not even sure I have felt it since.

He was so ever-present. I could feel him in the room. I knew that I am not alone in this. And it was absolutely incredible. No, no. I remember shortly after... Go ahead.

Holly Sweat Raper (29:03.886)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right, right. And nobody can take that away from you. That's why, I was going to say that's why, you know, for people who go, Cecily knows so much scripture and even Holly seems to know scripture. Here, listen, the thing about it is if you don't know scripture, it doesn't matter. I mean, it will help you go through the fires. But for those of you who can say, just like Cecily just did,

I know Jesus is real, just like the woman at the whale, this is what he did for me and no one can take that away from you.

Cecily Lachapelle (29:46.986)
Absolutely, It's so absolutely so true Well in your book you had said this quote you said the enemy tried to steal my identity after loss and grief But God had a bigger plan so what was the lie that grief was telling you and? How did God begin to speak that truth back into your heart? Can you unpack that for us?

Holly Sweat Raper (30:10.22)
Yes, so it was a couple weeks after Dan passed away and I was sitting in Dan's study reading my Bible and it was the road to Emmaus.

So the disciples the disciples Jesus had been crucified for those people who don't know Jesus had been crucified and So the disciples were disheartened. They thought no, I thought he was this messiah. I thought you know, this is and So they were walking back to Emmaus And Jesus was walking with them and they didn't recognize them and I remember reading this and going Lord

Cecily Lachapelle (30:53.737)
Right.

Holly Sweat Raper (30:57.624)
How is it that they walked with you so closely but didn't recognize you? And I heard in my spirit, Holly, the same way you're not recognizing me. It didn't turn out the way you thought. It didn't turn out the way they thought.

Cecily Lachapelle (31:03.177)
Hmm.

Mmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (31:13.299)
Hmm. Wow.

Holly Sweat Raper (31:20.718)
And you remember the story, they walked a little bit further and then he was about to keep going and they said, well, you know, stranger stay, Rabbi stay. And he stayed and when he broke the bread, the eyes of their heart were opened. And they said, Rabbi, it's you. And he and I heard in my spirit, Holly, they still missed it. They thought that I was raised from the dead.

Cecily Lachapelle (31:36.231)
Yes, I love that.

Holly Sweat Raper (31:49.898)
It was so much bigger. I conquered death. Dan is right here beside me. There is no more death. Death, where is your sting? And he and I got this shift of where I thought things were over. He said, they're just beginning. They're just beginning.

Cecily Lachapelle (31:51.912)
Yes, yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (31:57.097)
you

Cecily Lachapelle (32:02.057)
Bye.

Holly Sweat Raper (32:18.878)
you have a perspective that when people see you know who would have ever thought to tell Mary when Christ was brutally crucified they were going to call it Good Friday and and he says everything the devil thought he won but

Cecily Lachapelle (32:33.897)
Come on.

Holly Sweat Raper (32:45.054)
It was all a plan and he said you don't understand but you have to trust me that I have something greater bigger than you could possibly ever imagine and you know you were I'm walking in victory I'm walking in authority when people go you don't understand I've really gone through terrible loss I'm like baby girl

If you're still here, God's not done because he will do a measurably more than all we ask or imagine according to the power that's within us. So that's the key, right? People go, well, it doesn't feel like a measure anymore. But if you're not plugged into the source, you're not going to have the power.

Cecily Lachapelle (33:24.552)
Yeah.

Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (33:34.089)
That's right. Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (33:37.294)
So it's kind of like you have a power saw, well it can do so much on its own, but if you plug it in, man, it's gonna take out. And one of the things that I thought, and I love, this is something you said, is the fire that was meant to destroy you, I love, was the very thing that God used to refine you. You know, and that's it. We have to be able to recognize that

Cecily Lachapelle (33:59.622)
Hmm... Yes, yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (34:07.208)
God is doing something that is, he's refining, he is making us stronger. He is all of those things. And we have an opportunity to walk in this life on heaven, in heaven on earth as it is in heaven. we can have things are going to happen. But

Cecily Lachapelle (34:14.311)
Yeah. yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (34:31.645)
Yeah

Holly Sweat Raper (34:37.134)
for us to look at it instead of saying this happened to me this happened for me and change that shift and it is

Cecily Lachapelle (34:42.683)
Right, right.

It is really an eternal perspective what you're talking about because if this life was all there is, then yes, losing somebody that's so important to us or losing a child or losing a job, losing a relationship of any kind, whatever loss it is, then that would be absolutely crushing because this life is all there is.

when we are in Christ and we are in Christ, part of His body, then He is able to use everything, repurpose every single thing that the enemy brings against us, similar to how when you go to the gym and you lift weights, and the stronger you get, the heavier the weight you can lift, and you don't stop lifting weights. When your muscle gets to a certain point, you don't say,

Okay, well, I've arrived. have a decent bicep now, so I'm never coming back. No, we understand it's constant exposure to resistance that keeps us strong and constant exposure to increased resistance that makes us stronger. That's just the way things work in this life. And so when we understand that something hasn't come to crush us,

Holly Sweat Raper (36:01.995)
Right.

Right. Right.

Cecily Lachapelle (36:10.345)
The Lord isn't going to allow us to be crushed. He's not going to allow us to be destroyed. We might be pressed down, like weighted down, and we might have to push the resistance up for a while. And we're feeling the resistance against our flesh, against our soul, the resistance of grief, the resistance of having to press back against those lies. Because it is a fight to have to press back when the enemy is saying, you're done.

to when you're feeling depleted to pull yourself up and say, no, no, I resist. I push against that lie. That is not the truth. I am not done. I am chosen. I am anointed. This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. So we have to resist those things. But the eternal perspective is none of this is wasted and God is going to work all things for his glory.

Holly Sweat Raper (36:43.214)
That's right.

Holly Sweat Raper (36:48.973)
Right.

Holly Sweat Raper (37:01.965)
No.

Holly Sweat Raper (37:06.401)
That's right. That's right. That's right. And what's amazing and your podcast is the very essence of this is it's not even about us. It is about being able to say that each one of us is chosen and blessed and adored and if we're here to carry each other and to help each other.

Cecily Lachapelle (37:07.122)
and for our good.

Cecily Lachapelle (37:19.283)
Come on.

Holly Sweat Raper (37:35.302)
And when things are going bad, to just remind, you know, the Satan wants to say, you don't have value, you don't have worth, no one will love you again, you're broken, you don't matter, all of which are lies.

Cecily Lachapelle (37:47.785)
you

Right.

Holly Sweat Raper (37:51.382)
And we're here to say each one of those listening that there is no one like them. God did not make a mistake and that they are where they are and God will use them exactly where they are and repurpose that pain. And he wants to give them victory and not have them live in defeat.

Cecily Lachapelle (38:19.059)
Yes, yes, absolutely. And then, and that's, that is our history with God. And I think that's the cool thing is that that's never going to go away. And that's, that was something that impacted me when I was in my tabernacle time and I was worshiping the Lord. I all of a sudden started saying out of my mouth, my words of worship are never going to go away. They are going to be resounding through all eternity, swirling around God's throne or wherever.

Holly Sweat Raper (38:28.311)
Mm-mm.

Holly Sweat Raper (38:45.55)
Hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (38:48.743)
Words go, but my words of worship are eternal and I will be forever, eternally, worshipping God. And right now, I get to worship Him not just with my words, but with the fruit of my life. And oftentimes, the only way that we are going to truly bear fruit of that intimacy with Jesus is through demonstrating the fact that our closeness with the Lord.

Holly Sweat Raper (38:49.577)
That's giving me a feeling. Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (39:05.303)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (39:18.023)
and our intimacy with the Lord is producing a peace that passes understanding, that is producing a provision that the world cannot give. And how would the world see what we have as believers that they don't have unless it's in those times when they see us walk on water, like you said, Holly.

Holly Sweat Raper (39:22.798)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (39:27.01)
Mm-hmm

Holly Sweat Raper (39:37.004)
Mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (39:40.398)
Well and that's why the Lord, you know, helped me create created for. We were all created for success. We were created for a purpose and we are created for impact. And we all each have something unique that we were created for. And how we worship is by

using the gifts and skills and abilities that's unique to each of us. And for people that say, Holly, I don't know what my purpose is. Well, certainly the first purpose is to have a relationship with the creator. Number one, that's number one, and then he'll help you. But if there's something you're good at, you desire, if it is being a mom, if it is being a teacher, if it is

Cecily Lachapelle (40:22.589)
Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (40:36.014)
being in manufacturing, whatever it is, there's not anybody that's better than anybody. I mean, we truly are the body. So if you're just going, you know, well, I'm just a pinky. Well, you know what? That whole hand relies on that pinky. You know, the hand would not work without the forearm and the shoulder. I mean, we all work together and everybody is needed.

Cecily Lachapelle (40:53.319)
Right.

Cecily Lachapelle (41:01.577)
mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (41:02.334)
And so I heard your post the other day and I thought I love the insight and wisdom of you know the enemy wants us to compare. she's she's prettier, she's smarter, she's richer, she has a you know whatever. And you and I talked about that goodness I can't even imagine how Josh and

Cecily Lachapelle (41:16.243)
So viral.

Holly Sweat Raper (41:30.144)
Joshua must have felt after having to follow Moses. But God is saying each one of my kids, each one of them is precious and each one of them has gifts and skills and abilities and people who say, I don't know what mine is. Well, what do you like to do?

Cecily Lachapelle (41:34.397)
Right?

Cecily Lachapelle (41:51.581)
Right. Exactly.

Holly Sweat Raper (41:52.578)
What do you like to do? Your career is an extension of yourself. You want to do something that you enjoy. Well, who do you think gave you that desire in the first place? But Kingdom Minded is going, what's a problem? It's an opportunity to create a solution. And when we come up with solutions, then we add value. So what are we doing to make a difference? And with you, my beautiful friend,

It is to encourage, to inspire, to remind people that they can repurpose their pain, that God can take something ugly and turn it into absolutely something extraordinary if we don't give up.

Cecily Lachapelle (42:39.429)
Absolutely. Absolutely. And you segued perfectly into my next question for you. You said in your book, and I loved this quote, sometimes the greatest ministry is born from the deepest pain. And that's certainly the case for me. And I know that resonates with so many of my listeners. So what have you learned about God's ability to turn mourning, and I mean, M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G, mourning from grief,

Holly Sweat Raper (42:54.296)
Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (43:09.285)
into mission.

Holly Sweat Raper (43:12.28)
Well, and you mentioned this before, it's our relationship with the Lord. Because here's the thing, I mean, all of us is like once that testimony of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? But here's the thing, you have to have the test before you have the testimony. Because if you turn around before the testimony, then you just have the moany. And there's a lot of people that are doing the moany, you know?

Cecily Lachapelle (43:27.038)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (43:36.243)
Yeah.

You sound like my pastor, that's so funny.

Holly Sweat Raper (43:44.126)
It's just but but here's the thing and and this is really this is a really big deal my pastor has said that little faith is saying god, I believe you can Middle faith is saying god. I believe you will but chadrach, mishach and abednego faith is even if you don't I still believe And and so when we have expectations of god

Cecily Lachapelle (44:05.927)
That's it.

Say that, yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (44:14.198)
of how he's going to answer. And he doesn't answer the way we thought.

And we say, but I still believe you're still good. You're still loving. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, to see things the way you do instead of my circumstances, because circumstances can be overwhelming. But we serve a God of the impossible.

Cecily Lachapelle (44:23.781)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (44:38.131)
move

Cecily Lachapelle (44:44.073)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (44:49.7)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (44:51.099)
And when you see that, then we can walk in that.

Cecily Lachapelle (44:56.081)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What I think is amazing, Holly, is that somebody reading the title of your book, Living in Victory, Not Defeat, is going to think that the end of the story is that Dan gets up from the bed and he's totally healed and you guys rode off into the sunset. And that's not the victory that you're talking about. And I think that's why this is such an important book that you've been called to write.

Holly Sweat Raper (45:12.386)
Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Cecily Lachapelle (45:23.667)
how you're turning your morning into a mission, because for a lot of us, myself included, I didn't get that answer to my prayer. And it made me look at my faith in God. Do I look at God as a vending machine? If I put in the appropriate amount of praying and fasting and reading my Bible and going to church and being a good little girl, that when I press E4,

is supposed to pop that Snickers bar that I wanted. But when I get a stock of celery or something else, I'm just like, wait, wait, wait, wait. I did the things. I did the do. Aren't you supposed to then give me the answer to my prayer? And when in some respects that didn't happen, I had to look at my perspective of God and say, do I believe that you are God because you do what I want you to do?

In my limited, I mean science has proven we only use 10 % of our brain. So if I'm only using 10 % of, yeah, it's probably less for me now. My kids will be like, my mom forgets stuff all the time, so she's probably down to 8%, maybe 7. But anyway, we're using minimal part of this human brain, and yet we think somehow,

Holly Sweat Raper (46:28.344)
some of us.

Cecily Lachapelle (46:46.857)
but that part of our brain that we're using is able to determine what the best outcome is. And I had to look at that.

Holly Sweat Raper (46:53.346)
Well, and that's exactly right. mean, the bottom line is, is

It's all about trust, right? mean, the bottom line is, Lord, this doesn't make sense to me, but I trust you. And, and, and, you know, I hear him say what he said to Job, were you there when I parted the ocean from the mountains? Were you there when I, you know, from light to dark, it's kind of like you weren't there and my picture is bigger and my picture is better. And

Cecily Lachapelle (47:11.081)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (47:19.838)
Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (47:32.35)
in every place I did they trusted I mean Abraham you're only gonna have one son and he's gonna you're gonna be the father of nations okay now I want him back yeah that doesn't make sense right I mean and and he's like okay

Cecily Lachapelle (47:46.633)
Right. Right.

Cecily Lachapelle (47:52.787)
Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (47:53.614)
He's like I don't this doesn't make sense But but but and and then you know with his disciples and they thought you know I thought the kingdom has come and he just died and Here's the thing then he walks through walls and he shows up but there's still people that don't believe and And he's right there. So every day we have a choice

Cecily Lachapelle (47:57.14)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (48:07.675)
Right? Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (48:17.481)
night.

Holly Sweat Raper (48:22.092)
we have a choice to believe that there's something bigger and greater than us and we have our own personal testimonies and walk in power we walk in authority we walk in faith and God God Almighty maker of heaven and earth speaks to us he gives his insight he gives his wisdom I had a tumor go down in my hand I saw things that were

Cecily Lachapelle (48:26.611)
in

Yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (48:51.47)
Absolutely miraculous. mean, oh It even gets better. You have to read the rest of the chapter. It's like it's it's incredible and and so Through those things. I mean at one point Cecily I said I don't need a no testament or a new testament. I have a testament I mean God is the same yesterday today and forever

Cecily Lachapelle (48:58.947)
haha!

Cecily Lachapelle (49:14.195)
You

Holly Sweat Raper (49:18.25)
and he's still speaking to his kids, he's still doing miraculous things. If we have eyes to see, ears to hear, then we can get excited about what God is doing even in the midst of difficult situations. And we can see our life in a different perspective. But we have to...

Cecily Lachapelle (49:41.725)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (49:43.086)
into it and I love what you said my beautiful friend as you said you have to get in scripture because here's the thing the truth will set you free but it's only the truth you know so if you only know during 316 you were in trouble that you're not walking in power you're not walking in authority you're not walking in peace or in love or any of those things that he freely gives

Cecily Lachapelle (49:53.321)
There you go.

Cecily Lachapelle (50:08.423)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And in that knowledge, like Holly was saying earlier, it's a journey. So wherever you start, there's nothing wrong with where you're starting. And I mean, I've been saved for over 40 years. And for most of that time, I could say I've been in the Bible almost daily. And it's not to toot my own horn, because I probably should have written a hundred books on what I should know by now.

Holly Sweat Raper (50:15.342)
Right, right, right.

Cecily Lachapelle (50:37.235)
So obviously I'm not the perfect student, but the cool thing is that even though there's a certain number of chapters, there's a certain number of pages in every Bible, I am still learning every single day. I'm in a super exciting season right now where the Lord is showing me some like really cool supernatural stuff about altars and all kinds of stuff that is taking my intercession and my prayer life to a whole other level.

been there all along, but I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to see it. I wasn't pulling on that. I didn't need it in that moment. This is my Kairos moment for God to unpack certain things. But if I don't show up, then I won't be there when the Lord says, okay, now it's time for me to pull back the scales from your eyes in this area, illuminate this part of the word, because you're either going to need it for yourself. I can't tell you how many times I wrote a scripture down in my journal and I thought,

Oh, that is amazing. Thanks for that encouragement, Lord. I really saw that. I understood that in a whole new way. And I thought that was it. And then I got a phone call later in the day and it's a friend and she's struggling with something. And all of a sudden that scripture that I thought was for me in the morning is for her right now. And all of a sudden, bam, because that scripture is so fresh in my mind and the anointing is there, it combines and it goes from being

words in my journal to be a message, an anointed message of deliverance, of hope, of healing, of authority that I can now give away to someone else. But if I didn't show up in that morning, in that secret place, in that time with the Lord just to say, okay, I'm here, some mornings are just rote.

Holly Sweat Raper (52:26.606)
But you you just nailed it girl is the thing about it is we are his hands and feet We are his hands and feet here on earth and so it is what an What an awesome responsibility? What an awesome privilege?

Cecily Lachapelle (52:30.298)
Thank

Cecily Lachapelle (52:34.215)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (52:48.377)
yes.

Holly Sweat Raper (52:49.318)
that we get to love on people for Jesus. We get to instruct and to teach and to help and to serve for Jesus. We are His hands and feet. It's just wonderful. And one of the things while you were talking, I wanted to make sure that your listeners do hear is that one of the things that really hit me

Cecily Lachapelle (53:02.409)
It's amazing. It is absolutely amazing.

Holly Sweat Raper (53:18.574)
A couple of years ago when I was going Lord, what do you want of me? Where do you and you know, he started whispering you need to read or write your story about Dan and I and Honestly, I I used to say I'd rather have my face nailed to the floor than to write

I mean, I'm scared to death to write, hate to write, and God just said, you gonna trust me? And what he's doing is just, I could write a book about how I'm writing a book. It's just what Holy Spirit is doing is outrageous. But this is the quote I heard several years ago from Anthony Trucks, and it said, the last person you want to see on your deathbed is the person you could have been.

Cecily Lachapelle (53:41.09)
my gosh.

Holly Sweat Raper (54:07.15)
And so what is keeping you from doing what the Lord has called you to do? And when you step in front of the Father, He's going to ask two questions. What did you do with my son?

Cecily Lachapelle (54:07.729)
Just...

Holly Sweat Raper (54:24.302)
and what did you do with what I gave you? And he doesn't care what what but somebody else had. What did you do with what I gave you?

Cecily Lachapelle (54:27.657)
Yeah, absolutely.

Cecily Lachapelle (54:33.906)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (54:37.929)
Yes, yes, that goes back to that whole comparison thing, right? If we're looking at other people comparing ourselves to them, we're acting as if we're supposed to be a different version of them. And maybe they're not even being their authentic self. Maybe they're a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. I mean, that's that's the worst thing we could be to be some watered down copy of a copy of a copy when we've been called to be a unique original.

Holly Sweat Raper (55:00.418)
Yeah. Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (55:07.753)
And God will reveal that, not probably all in one shot. It's probably going to be a lifetime of leaning and loving and learning from the Lord who we're designed to be. I mean, I know that's definitely been the case with me. If I had known at 17 what God was calling me to do now, I would have jumped in and tried to do it without any backstory, without really anything to offer people.

Holly Sweat Raper (55:09.752)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Holly Sweat Raper (55:17.432)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Cecily Lachapelle (55:35.303)
It would have been just me trying to have a platform and being completely an empty vessel. It would have been a train wreck for the kingdom. Yeah.

Holly Sweat Raper (55:40.622)
Mm-mm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's constantly teaching, constantly refining, and constantly using us, but it's not just for us, it's for others, which is such an honor, such a blessing. Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (55:56.014)
Amen. Well, Holly, I could talk with you for hours and we do and we will continue to talk for hours because this is a friendship. you're stuck with me for better or for worse, for better or for worse. So good. people, you need to understand that Holly is what she says she is. She is her authentic self.

Holly Sweat Raper (56:07.618)
We're good on support. I love it. I love it. blessed. So blessed.

Cecily Lachapelle (56:23.419)
She is when she's speaking, she's pouring out, when she's writing, she's pouring out, when she's done career counseling, she's pouring out. All of this is just her. She is the type of person, the reason I gravitate towards her is because she's the type of person that is gonna get a nugget from God and go, who can I give this to? Somebody needs this right now. And if I can't find a person, I will just jump on my phone and I will just tell you all right now what God just downloaded to me. And here you go, be blessed.

And I love, love, love that about Holly. She's just, she is not a Dead Sea. She is not gonna hoard all of the lessons and the wisdom and the good things that God has put in her. So we will be the recipients of the fruit of her walking in victory and not in defeat. And there's guys, there's so much more of the story. So I will keep you posted on my social media.

And so will Holly. She'll make sure to tag me as we get to a launch date and pre-launch and all of that so we can join in her book launching. We're all going to support her, right? We're going to be there and waving our banners and excited with her and for her. And her book is really, it's a blueprint. It's not just her story. It's a lifeline for others who are walking through grief.

It's for every woman and every person who's ever wondered can I really live again after loss? It's for every person who's ever felt like I'm broken and I think that that just means that I'm finished and What do I what do I do now? Will I ever find purpose again? So Holly I would like it if you would just do a couple things as we close Would you take a moment and speak directly to the listener?

who feels like their life has been shattered and who's questioning if they're ever gonna find purpose again. And then will you pray for us, pray us out.

Holly Sweat Raper (58:19.694)
Oh absolutely, absolutely. And I cannot emphasize enough that if you're going through a difficult time, God sees you. He is with you. He is holding on to you. He is loving you. He is wanting to give you direction. And He is not a father that doesn't care.

Cecily Lachapelle (58:36.423)
you

Holly Sweat Raper (58:46.83)
As a if you are a mother if you have even if you aren't a have biological children there might be people in your life that you truly love and care and if we have that capability Can you imagine that much more how much God loves you and he doesn't want you to stay stuck? He wants to take the pain that you're experiencing

and he didn't cause it. Now let me tell, I just want to share this is when Dan passed away, someone asked me, which was a great question. They said, aren't you mad at God? And I said, you know, Dan was an incredible father. And when the children would get hurt or upset about something and he would say, baby, I'm so sorry, never did they blame their dad for the pain. He was there to either comfort or make it better.

And that's the same way as our Heavenly Father. He did not cause that pain. He is there to comfort or to make it better. That's what our Heavenly Father does. And so that's what He wants to do for you. He wants, and if you trust Him,

Cecily Lachapelle (59:54.915)
I love it. I love that.

Holly Sweat Raper (01:00:06.75)
what he will do for you will be immeasurably more than all you could ask or imagine because that's how much he loves you. Lord Jesus we just praise you and thank you thank you for being a loving father thank you for not being this distant god but our heavenly father our friend that you sent Jesus

Cecily Lachapelle (01:00:16.879)
Amen. Amen. Keep praying.

Holly Sweat Raper (01:00:35.178)
and Jesus' life was tough and Lord, He was such a good example and now you have given us, Holy Spirit in us so that we can be hands and feet of you Lord to bring light and joy and hope and peace into this world. No matter what circumstances we have gone through, you give us the ability to walk through it, to walk through it.

and Lord just encourage and help each other as we navigate this thing called life. But Lord I just am so excited that you have incredible plans in store for each and every one of us. We are loved, we are valued, and you are a good father. Lord I just pray that the words spoken today that Holy Spirit that you touch and open the eyes and

hearts of those listening and that they feel encouraged, empowered and seek you in a deeper level. Thank you so much for this precious, beautiful woman, Cecily, who has been called to reach many, to repurpose pain, to be able to be a voice in the darkness and bring such light. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:01:53.258)
Yes.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:02:02.337)
Amen, amen, thank you. Holly, thank you so much. Your vulnerability, your faith, and your obedience to write this book, I know, are gonna unlock healing in so many people's lives. So as we close, can you just tell listeners how they can stay connected with you and know when this book, this great book's gonna release?

Holly Sweat Raper (01:02:15.662)
Thank

Holly Sweat Raper (01:02:23.414)
Yes, absolutely and I believe Cecily has my link on her podcast so to go to created for success.org or follow me on my created for success Facebook page I'm also on Instagram and here's the thing Holly sweat raper. What a name, right? And that's a story in itself, but yeah, so

Cecily Lachapelle (01:02:28.329)
See ya.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:02:49.257)
you

Holly Sweat Raper (01:02:53.186)
just Holly Sweat Raper, but you can Google me and find me and I am so excited about living in victory, not defeat. I'm excited about what God is going to do with it to touch the lives. And like Cecily said, it's not about surviving, it's about overcoming. It's about empowering. is truly living in victory, not defeat.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:03:03.017)
Bye.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:03:12.733)
Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:03:18.099)
Yeah. And just as an example of living in victory and not defeat, Holly was just told yesterday that she has walking pneumonia. And so she texted me this morning and she was like, I'm just letting you know there could be a cough or two. And I texted her back. like, girl, we can postpone this. Like literally don't feel any pressure. She's leaving for Portugal, you know, in a little bit. And she was like, my gosh, I'm going to be fine. I'm still going to get on this podcast.

So she's living in victory, guys. She is not allowing defeat to suck the life out of her. my word. my gosh. Well, greater is he that is in you than he that's in the world. Amen. Well, friends, remember, victory isn't about avoiding pain. It's about what comes after. And Holly, as you've seen, is living proof that God can take our worst chapters and write something breathtaking. So until next time.

Holly Sweat Raper (01:03:51.502)
With fucking pneumonia. It's all good.

Holly Sweat Raper (01:03:59.306)
Amen. Yeah.

Cecily Lachapelle (01:04:14.397)
I encourage you keep pursuing God's voice and his presence in every chapter of your lives, even the hard ones, because with God, even the broken pieces have purpose. So be sure to like, follow, and share this episode with someone who needs hope today. And until then, I will see you next week on the Higher Pursuit podcast. Thanks for joining us and thank you so much for being here, Holly.

Holly Sweat Raper (01:04:40.984)
Thank you.