How to Be an Astronaut | Space, Science, and Bravery w/ Hayley Arceneaux

Welcome to an "out of this world" episode of the Collide Kids Podcast! Host Christen Clark is delighted to be joined by the remarkable Hayley Arceneaux, an astronaut and youngest American to orbit the Earth and a pioneer for many reasons.

Hayley shares her incredible life journey—from surviving pediatric bone cancer to becoming a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (the same hospital she was treated at). Her tale reaches beyond survival as she discusses her historic journey with the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight, aimed at raising funds for cancer research.

Listeners will be fascinated by Hayley's space training, and how she was able to see God's plan through these challenges. She emphasizes the power of dreaming big and trusting in God as she encourages children everywhere with her new book, "Astronaut Hayley's Brave Adventure," designed to foster hope, bravery, and resilience.

Special Thanks to our editor, Jay Lee, from provisionpods.com !

Clip Finder:

"From Surviving Cancer to Space Missions: A Journey of Hope": "I'm a physician assistant, and I work with kids with cancer. And I had this really incredible opportunity to go to space in 2021 and to become an astronaut. My mission to space was raising money for cancer research and funding, and I actually am a cancer survivor myself."
— Hayley Arceneaux [00:04:03 → 00:04:26]

"30-Hour Space Simulation Test": "One time we did a simulation for 30 hours straight where we were in that little simulator for 30 hours at a time. But we just practiced being in space."
— Hayley Arceneaux [00:07:18 → 00:07:26]

"Astronaut's First Impressions": "And then all of a sudden I see this very pale bluish purple pop into the, in, into my line of vision. And I even said out loud, I said, is that the Earth? And I knew it was Earth, but it was just so unbelievable I had to say it out loud."
— Hayley Arceneaux [00:12:04 → 00:12:18]

"Life Beyond Earth: The Daily Realities of Space Living": "It was incredible because we really got the whole experience of living in space. Like, we had to sleep, we had to eat, we had to get dressed in the morning, brush our teeth. And a lot of what we were doing up there was research."
— Hayley Arceneaux [00:13:24 → 00:13:36]

"Dreaming Big Despite Challenges": "And it's the same message that I want to share with other kids, because all kids go through something that really challenges them and maybe even makes them doubt what their future could look like. And I want to show them through this mission that they can dream big because really incredible things can happen to them."
— Hayley Arceneaux [00:17:21 → 00:17:37]

From Cancer Patient to Space Dreamer: "I'm a PA, a physician assistant at St. Jude and all I've ever wanted to do is work at St. Jude. And when I was a 10 year old going through treatment, I would tell all My doctors and nurses, that I'm going to come

“That’s My King” is a vibrant praise song with an edge by Dove Award winning artist, Yancy.  Filled with celebration, praise, and amazing wonder. Yancy put her rockin’ fingerprint on this song originally made popular by Cece Winans. It’s time for every generation to unite their voices to take a stand and shift the atmosphere when they push play on “That’s My King”! LISTEN NOW!

Bark proactively works to monitor, detect, and alert you to potential issues on your kids' devices. Visit bark.us to learn more about how you can keep your kids safe online. Use the code COLLIDEKIDS to get 15% off Your Bark Technologies Plan !

Transcript

Christen Clark [00:00:21]:

Let's do it. Hey, y'all. Welcome to the Collide Kids Podcast. I'm your host, Christen Clark. The Collide Kids Podcast is a show for kids and families where we learn together how life and faith collide. I am so glad that you're listening today. Thank you so much for being here and spending this time with me. Well, as you know, this season we're introducing a brand new segment called let's Talk About It.

Christen Clark [00:00:52]:

In this fun part of the show, I'm going to ask three questions. Some might be silly, some might be imaginative, and some deep and faith filled. All are designed to spark some great family conversations. So be sure to stick around until the end of the interview for that. Well, if you're keeping track of the numbers, we are just a few episodes away from 200. 200 episodes of the Collide Kids Podcast. Isn't that so fun? So, for our 200th episode, I've got some really fun surprises planned for that. So stay tuned this month and join our newsletter.

Christen Clark [00:01:29]:

You can head over to the Collide Kids Podcast website, collidekidspodcast.com and sign up for our newsletter. I send out a monthly newsletter with information about upcoming episodes and giveaways and fun family content. Lots of things your family will enjoy. Well, I cannot be more thrilled about our guest for today's episode. Okay, a little backstory. When I first started the podcast, I made a list of all the different jobs of people that I thought would be interesting to talk to. I wanted to learn more about what they do and how they got started. And there was one job that was on the list that I thought this would be amazing.

Christen Clark [00:02:05]:

But I don't know if I'll ever get to interview an astronaut until today. And I could not be more over the moon to have Hayley Arseneaux on my show today. She is a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a career she committed to at the age of 10 after surviving pediatric bone cancer. She served as an ambassador for the hospital when she joined the first all civilian orbital space mission Inspiration4 in September of 2021. And she spent three days in orbit at age 29. She became the youngest American in space, the first pediatric cancer survivor, and the first astronaut with a prosthetic body part. You guys, this was such a fun conversation.

Christen Clark [00:02:53]:

You're going to be so excited to learn more About Hayley and her mission and all the things that she's been able to do and accomplish in her life. I am so excited for you guys to hear this episode. So here my conversation with astronaut Hayley Arsenault. Hayley Arsenault, I am so excited to have you on the collide kids podcast.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:03:23]:

Well, thank you, because I'm excited to be here.

Christen Clark [00:03:26]:

Yeah. This is so fun, and this is so cool. So when I started putting together this idea for a podcast for kids, One of the things I wanted to do was to highlight different jobs. So I've been able to interview people who do lots of different things. I've been able to interview a jet pilot and a construction worker and a veterinarian, but there was always a job on my list that I've never been able to reach. Until today. I get to interview an astronaut.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:03:53]:

Yay.

Christen Clark [00:03:54]:

This is so fun. So this is fun for me. I hope it's fun for you too. Would you just introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:04:01]:

My name is Hayley arsenault. I am actually by trade. I went into medicine. I'm a physician assistant, and I work with kids with cancer. And I had this really incredible opportunity to go to space in 2021 and to become an astronaut. My mission to space was raising money for cancer research and funding, and I actually am a cancer survivor myself. I had bone cancer as a 10 year old, and now I work at the hospital that saved my life, helping other kids with cancer. And this mission to space was raising money for the hospital where I work.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:04:36]:

And so they asked me if I would go to space and be the ambassador for the hospital on this space mission. So I said yes to the most incredible invitation. Yes. And then I spent six months training, and I spent three days in orbit doing research in space and raising a bunch of money to help kids with cancer.

Christen Clark [00:04:56]:

Oh, I love that. That is so amazing. And I can't wait to talk to you about that, because I'm so interested what that was like and what the training was like. Before we get into that, because this is a show for kids, I always ask my guests to tell me a joke. So do you have a joke for us today?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:05:11]:

Yes. And I will give credit to. When we were in space, we did a zoom call with St. Jude patients, and a little boy told us this joke while we were in space. So this is. This is his joke. But he said, are there cows on the moon?

Christen Clark [00:05:26]:

I would say yes.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:05:29]:

I like to think so too. That's good.

Christen Clark [00:05:32]:

On the moon. Yeah. That's good. Okay, well, let's start into this whole thing. Were you ever interested in going to space as a kid or was this just something that popped up when you were working at the hospital?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:05:44]:

So space has always been my little brother's thing. He was the kid that he wanted to go to NASA. So we went several times over the years. Growing up, he would launch rockets from our backyard. And now he's a real life aerospace engineer. So I always saw space as my brother's thing and I was really focused on medicine growing up. I knew I wanted to work at the hospital where I was treated for cancer. And so space was never really something that I thought much about.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:14]:

And so when I got this invitation, it came as a total shock. I had not applied for anything. I didn't even know there was a space mission. And so you can imagine. Just that was the most shocking news of my life.

Christen Clark [00:06:27]:

Yes, I'm sure. So they approach you and they're like, hey, you want to go to space?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:32]:

Yeah, exactly.

Christen Clark [00:06:32]:

Like, okay.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:35]:

I said yes. And then I said, okay, let me check with my mom. But my answer is yes.

Christen Clark [00:06:40]:

Yes. Yeah. Mom has to approve. That's good.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:43]:

And luckily she did.

Christen Clark [00:06:44]:

Yeah.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:44]:

And luckily I had a little brother to call and answer all my questions about space travel.

Christen Clark [00:06:49]:

So what was the training like? Like, I'm sure that was pretty intense.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:06:53]:

It was intense. It was like mentally intense, academically intense because we had so many lectures on like, what space is, what our mission was going to be, what our roles are going to be. I was the medical officer for the mission, so I was in charge of the health of my crew members. So a lot of it was, was just academics. And then we spent time in the simulator of our spacecraft. One time we did a simulation for 30 hours straight where we were in that little simulator for 30 hours at a time. But we just practiced being in space. And then our trainers would send us all these different problems that we had to work through.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:07:30]:

And then we also. It was also physically challenging. We climbed a mountain together as part of our crew bonding. We did G force training to learn about the gravity that would be on us for launch, for going to space, and then for coming back to Earth. We did a zero gravity flight. We did water survival training. We also did this exercise where they took our oxygen away and we had to learn what that felt like. And so the six months were, were pretty intensive, but it was really fun.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:07:58]:

I got to do something that was completely outside of my day to day and learn this new set of skill.

Christen Clark [00:08:03]:

Yeah, Was there ever a part of the training experience where you're like, I don't know if I can do this?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:08:07]:

It was the mountain climb, really.

Christen Clark [00:08:09]:

Okay.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:08:10]:

And so my. So to back up, my bone cancer was in my leg. And so they had to. I've had to have several surgeries on my leg where they took out that bone that was affected by the cancer. And they put in this metal prosthesis, a metal rod inside my leg. And it's actually broken a couple times over the years. And I've had to have more surgeries, but I was really worried. I didn't think I could even climb a mountain.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:08:33]:

I was worried about falling, something happening to my leg, and then I wouldn't be able to go to space. But I just had to have a lot of trust in the process and work hard to train for that, and we were able to succeed on our mission. Mountain climb.

Christen Clark [00:08:48]:

That's amazing. I love that you guys did that together to bond also, but just to challenge you physically in all those different ways. So that's really cool. Okay, so you did that for six months, and then they put you in the spacesuit. What happens next?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:09:02]:

So, And I remember launch day. I imagined I'd be so nervous. And then I woke up and I said, I'm going to space today. And I was expecting this rush of emotions, anxiety, but I really didn't feel nervous. And then I put on the spacesuit and I still don't feel nervous. And then I strap into the spacecraft and they do the very iconic 10, 9, 8.

Christen Clark [00:09:24]:

Yeah.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:09:25]:

And I didn't feel nervous. I was just so excited because I knew in about nine minutes I would be in space. And all of my training had led up to this moment, and it was finally here. And I was just so excited. And I had a lot of trust that I was going to be okay during the nine minute launch, which is crazy that you get to space that fast. But during that time, I just, I really. I felt like I was going to be okay. I had a lot of trust in God and in his plan.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:09:52]:

And. And then nine minutes later, all of a sudden, my arms and legs just start floating. And then I could see Earth out the window.

Christen Clark [00:10:00]:

Now, were you, like, in a full body spacesuit or what was your spacesuit like? What did you have to wear?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:10:06]:

Yes, this spacesuit that they took over 200 measurements of my body to make right for me, it was a full body spacesuit. It weighed 25 pounds. So it was very heavy on Earth, in space. Of course, it didn't Weigh anything. But. But yes, it was, it was very official looking too.

Christen Clark [00:10:23]:

Now here's the question. I always wonder, what is the food like in space?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:10:29]:

So if you think about space food, you tend to think about like the dehydrated food that they serve on the space station. But on our spacecraft, it wasn't a very big spacecraft. We didn't have a rehydrator. So we had to bring food that was shelf stable. Or we also had basically a really fancy ice chest that we brought with us that we could keep some cool food. So we ate a lot of cold pizza. They had put pizza in that ice chest before we launched. And the majority of what I ate up there was pizza.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:10:59]:

And the biggest rule for space food is it can't create crumbs because like we couldn't bring bread because it made too many crumbs. And these crumbs on Earth is not a big deal. They just fall on the ground. But in space they float around. They could get in people's eyes. They could affect our computers. So they gave us, for example, a tortilla instead of bread. So there was a day that I ate peanut butter on a tortilla and I had some shelf stables.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:11:27]:

So non refrigerated cheese and beef jerky. But a lot of what we ate was candy because we were playing with it. We had M&M's and Skittles floating all over the place.

Christen Clark [00:11:37]:

That's awesome. Get hit in the eye with a Skittle, you know.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:11:40]:

Yeah.

Christen Clark [00:11:42]:

So, okay, you get up there, it's nine minutes. And then what's the first thing you see? Like what, what was the amazing thing about like that first look into space?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:11:52]:

The first thing I saw was a sunrise. So when we launched, the Earth was initially, it looked very dark. And then. And we had to be buckled in our spacesuits for a little bit after we got there. And then all of a sudden I see this very pale bluish purple pop into the, in, into my line of vision. And I even said out loud, I said, is that the Earth? And I knew it was Earth, but it was just so unbelievable I had to say it out loud. And then I just remember seeing a lot of clouds and bodies of water. But it was that first the paleness of the sunrise that, that was the first thing I really remember seeing.

Christen Clark [00:12:27]:

That's amazing. And was it just breathtaking or was it kind of like this looks like a screensaver on my laptop.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:12:34]:

It feels so different looking at it from space. And I think it's because you just really feel the depth, like you see the shadows from under the clouds, and it makes everything feel so 3D. You see mountains coming towards you. We actually got to see a wildfire where the smoke was coming towards. So everything just feels very, like, real. And the, the 3D ness of it makes it feel very alive.

Christen Clark [00:13:01]:

Yeah, that's amazing. So how high up, like in the. Do you know how, like, what the dimensions were of how high you were in orbit?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:13:08]:

We were higher than the space station. We were around 595km, or like 360 miles above the surface of Earth.

Christen Clark [00:13:16]:

Wow, that's amazing. Okay, so you were you orbited for three days, Is that what you said?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:13:22]:

Yes.

Christen Clark [00:13:22]:

Okay, so what was that like?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:13:24]:

It was incredible because we really got the whole experience of living in space. Like, we had to sleep, we had to eat, we had to get dressed in the morning, brush our teeth. And a lot of what we were doing up there was research. We really wanted to contribute to science while we were up there. And so we were doing these different kinds of research projects throughout the day. And then we did have some time where we got to really enjoy the view and just enjoy floating and being there. And then we also called the St. Jude patients, the patients with cancer at the hospital where I work.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:13:55]:

And that was a really special moment.

Christen Clark [00:13:57]:

That's really cool. I think that's amazing. So what were some of the projects you were doing? Like, was it. These were like science projects? Was it just information you were taking down? How did that work?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:14:07]:

They were different science projects learning more about how the human body functions in this zero gravity or the microgravity environment. And they have some data from NASA. They have loads of data, but those are more for the longer duration space missions. Ours was a shorter duration. And so they wanted to compare what differences occur in the human body in the first couple of days versus the longer time that you're up there. And so, for example, we were ultrasounding different parts of our bodies to see the size and the shape in that zero gravity environment. And we took a bunch of cognition tests. So we had to do tests on an iPad to see how well the brain was functioning, basically.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:14:49]:

We also swabbed different parts of our bodies to test that microbes on our skin and how that changed in the three days in space. We were giving all kinds of samples that they later did a bunch of testing on, but like saliva samples, blood samples every day. And. And then they compared that with the data from before our flight and after our flight.

Christen Clark [00:15:10]:

So how many people were in the spacecraft with you There were four of.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:15:14]:

Us, and our mission was called Inspiration four.

Christen Clark [00:15:17]:

That's very cool. I love that. Okay, so you go to space, you've been orbiting. How do you know it's time to go home?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:15:24]:

So we had every hour, maybe even it was down to the 30 minutes timed out for us. And it was included in this. Basically this schedule that was uploaded to our flight iPads before launch. So we had been. We knew this hour was coming, and we had. We had dropped our altitude slightly the day before we came back, and then they had to put our spacesuits back on, strap in. And the whole process was about two and a half hours to get us down. We landed in the ocean, but the.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:15:56]:

It was really the last 15 minutes where we were coming through the atmosphere. I could see flames out of the window. And we felt just this really intense gravity on us before we. Boom, landed in the ocean.

Christen Clark [00:16:08]:

Yeah. I'm sure that was a unique experience unlike anything else.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:16:12]:

It was. It was. It was. Physically, it was more difficult than launch to endure all that gravity when our bodies had not been used to gravity for a couple of years, days being without gravity. And then also that was the part of launch or the part of the whole experience that I was most nervous.

Christen Clark [00:16:27]:

About, was the coming back. And then you land. Where. Where did you land? In the ocean. Was it, like, near the shore or like middle of the ocean?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:16:35]:

Luckily, it was near the shore. It was actually right off the coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral. So then they put us. They put our spacecraft on a boat where we all got out, and then they helicoptered us back to Cape Canaveral. Kennedy Space Center.

Christen Clark [00:16:49]:

Very cool. That's amazing. Now, you are the youngest American to ever be in space. Is that right?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:16:55]:

Yes.

Christen Clark [00:16:56]:

Yeah. So that whole process, you made history.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:16:58]:

I will say I'm the youngest American to orbit.

Christen Clark [00:17:01]:

Earth to orbit. Okay. But still, that's amazing. Like, you made history in that moment. And you're the first pediatric cancer survivor to be in space.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:17:09]:

Yes. Yeah, I'm really proud of that one. And just being able to share it with kids who are fighting something really difficult to show them this light at the end of the tunnel, that having cancer doesn't have to stop them. And it's the same message that I want to share with other kids, because all kids go through something that really challenges them and maybe even makes them doubt what their future could look like. And I want to show them through this mission that they can dream big because really incredible things can happen to them.

Christen Clark [00:17:38]:

That's right. So Their cancer diagnosis doesn't have to be their label. You know, we talked about that in one of our episodes previous to this was just, you know, we put on a lot of labels or people put labels on us. And that doesn't have to be our label. We can overcome that, we can change that. And so I love that you're able to inspire people. So to inspire people, especially kids. You wrote a book.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:17:59]:

Tell us about your book, Astronaut Hayley's Brave Adventure. It's about a character named Astronaut Hayley. And the storyline of the book is similar to my real life experiences. That Astronaut Hayley, she learns to be brave in everyday ways, like at school. And then she gets sick and she has to be brave in this whole other kind of way. And because she's been so brave, they want her to be an astronaut. And then in space something goes wrong and she has to be really brave and save the day. And that part didn't exactly happen.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:18:33]:

That was the. More the fiction side of the children's book. But I wanted to be able to share my story with kids and I wanted to celebrate their everyday bravery and just focus on this concept of hope, bravery, resilience, because it is something that all kids need to. They need to have bravery every single day and being who they are and in being in their school environments. And so I wanted to share what I learned in a fun way. And luckily kids tend to love space and so hopefully they'll enjoy the story of Astronaut Hayley as she has her adventures in space. But. But really hoping it inspires kids to dream big and to believe in their big dreams.

Christen Clark [00:19:17]:

Yeah, I love that. And the book is so fun. So I definitely encourage our listeners to check that out. It's such a fun, very colorful and if you want to know what it's like to be a brave astronaut, you could check that out for sure. Now I do want to go back and talk a little bit about your experience with. You had cancer as a child and that was really difficult. But you're cancer free. You're completely healed now.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:19:41]:

Yes, yes. I was in treatment for a year. I had to do very intensive chemotherapy. I had surgery to save my leg and put in that prosthesis. And then I've been cancer free ever since.

Christen Clark [00:19:51]:

That's amazing. And then that experience inspired you to become a doctor. Tell us a little bit about that.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:19:56]:

I'm a PA, a physician assistant at St. Jude and all I've ever wanted to do is work at St. Jude. And when I was a 10 year old going through treatment, I would tell all My doctors and nurses, that I'm going to come back and work with you one day. And then I went to college, I studied hard, I became a pa and then, you know, to be honest, I didn't get my dream job right away. I was told no a couple of times and had to just work on getting experience and never give up. And then I got my dream job at the hospital. And then I had this other dream come my way of going to space.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:20:29]:

A dream I never could have expected.

Christen Clark [00:20:31]:

Yeah. Oh, I love that. And I love. That's part of your story, that sometimes there's some roadblocks or some things that get in the way, and we just have to keep working towards the goal, keep moving towards it.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:20:42]:

It's part of life. Sometimes you get told no, but that doesn't always mean a final no. Maybe it just means no right now.

Christen Clark [00:20:48]:

That's right. Yeah. And that's hard. That's hard for kids and adults to do.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:20:52]:

It is.

Christen Clark [00:20:53]:

Because we want what we want right away.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:20:55]:

Yes. Yes.

Christen Clark [00:20:57]:

Well, I love that you're doing that now and you're able to help other people. And. And I think that's so inspiring that, you know, you've been used in so many different ways to do amazing things. What is something in your space journey and your journey with a PA and dealing with cancer and all those things? What are some things that has helped you from your faith in God? Like, how has that encouraged you or helped you through this time?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:21:19]:

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and is part of his plan. And so when I was going through cancer treatment, that was one thing that I would say out loud a lot with my mom, and saying it out loud really helped for I know the plans I have for you. It gave me hope that even though I was having to go through so much and I was suffering in a lot of ways that it would be used for good, that God would use the experience for good. And he has, and I've seen it. And especially just getting to do what I do, helping other kids with cancer and then getting to go to space to raise money for kids with cancer.

Christen Clark [00:21:52]:

I think it's so amazing. I think I say this almost every episode, but it's like the things that happen to us when we're kids really inspires the things that we do later. And I love that the way that you were served and supported and helped as a kid is something you're getting to do now for other kids going through the same thing, because you know what it feels like, and you Know what that experience was like for those families. So how does that encourage you to know that you're serving the people that you once were?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:22:18]:

It's so easy to remember the people that impacted me and knowing what a huge impact they had on me, not only at that time, but for the rest of my life. And so to think that I could be that person for someone else, that's what encourages me.

Christen Clark [00:22:34]:

Yeah. That's awesome. I love that so much. All right. So do you think you'll ever go to space again?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:22:40]:

I think I was really lucky to go the one time and I would like other people to have the experience. I will say I'd be tempted by a moon mission, but I will not go to Mars. You can count me out from Mars.

Christen Clark [00:22:52]:

That's like years and years and years. You have to really be committed. Yeah. Yeah.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:22:56]:

And I really love Earth and so I've. Earth is great. Earth is so great. And so I've enjoyed being back here and getting to really appreciate our planet.

Christen Clark [00:23:05]:

That's amazing. I love that. Well, Hailey, this has been so good talking with you. I love your story. I'm so thankful that you've had all these experiences that's led to this moment. And you have such an amazing book. I hope our listeners will check that out.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:23:17]:

Well, thank you for the kind words and for having me on. It's been so fun talking to you.

Christen Clark [00:23:22]:

Yeah. Where can our listeners find out about your book?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:23:24]:

It is anywhere books are sold. It's on Amazon Books a million. And then it's in local bookstores as well.

Christen Clark [00:23:31]:

Great. Okay. Well, that's good. I hope people will check that out. Okay, before I let you go, I always ask my guests to tell me a memory from when they were a kid. So what memory do you want to share with us today about your childhood?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:23:42]:

Okay. I have a story. And it makes me sound like I wasn't a very nice big sister, but I promise this was. It was just a one time thing.

Christen Clark [00:23:51]:

Okay.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:23:51]:

But I. I'm three years older than my brother. And whenever my mom took him home from the hospital, there was this one day that she was. She was in the kitchen cooking. I was playing. I was in the room, my brother was sleeping. And then all of a sudden she hears my brother scream. And she runs in the room and he's just screaming.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:24:12]:

It's like, you know that, you know that the moms know that scream, right?

Christen Clark [00:24:16]:

Exactly.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:24:16]:

And she said, what happened? What happened? And I was just sitting there, eyes wide, and I said, someone may have bit him. And she and she said, what? And she saw his sock, his on his foot was wet and she took it off. There was little teeth marks. And I think I was just, I was just adjusting to being a big sister for the first time. And we actually, we have gotten along very well since then. But as a three year old, someone.

Christen Clark [00:24:47]:

I don't know who, who would have.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:24:48]:

Done it, but I know that's what that's. We love about that story, that someone may have bit him and there was like clearly no one else there.

Christen Clark [00:24:56]:

It was clearly teeth marks, like you definitely did.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:24:59]:

But we get along great now.

Christen Clark [00:25:00]:

We've come a long way. No more biting, right?

Hayley Arceneaux [00:25:02]:

No, never.

Christen Clark [00:25:03]:

Thanks for being on the show today. This was so fun meeting you.

Hayley Arceneaux [00:25:06]:

It was great to meet you too. This was really fun. I love your podcast.

Christen Clark [00:25:17]:

Isn't that an incredible story? I cannot believe that it only takes nine minutes to get to space, but I guess if you're riding on a really fast rocket, that would happen. And it took six months of training for her three day mission. Wow, that's such dedication and probably a lot of hard work that I know she set her mind to do. I love when Hayley was talking about the day of the mission and how she thought she would be really nervous, but she woke up and she just thought, I'm going to space today. And she trusted in God through the whole process and knew that God's plan was at work. She also reminded us that everyone is going to go through something that really challenges you and makes you doubt what your future will be like. But like she said, cancer doesn't have to define you. Your mistakes don't have to define you.

Christen Clark [00:26:02]:

Your challenges don't have to define you. God is in control of your future and you can dream big dreams and believe in your big dreams. Hayley said God is able to take our experiences and use it for good. Hayley's cancer journey as a child was tough and challenging, but it brought her into some incredible opportunities and a passion for helping other cancer patients. Hayley Arceneau's book, Astronaut Hayley's Brave Adventure will inspire children everywhere to reach for the stars, to aspire for the impossible, and to seek new friends and new adventures wherever they are. You can get Hayley's brand new book that just came out last month wherever books are sold. Well, now it's time for our family conversation. So let's talk about it.

Christen Clark [00:26:50]:

Here's the three questions that you and your family can discuss. You can pause between each question, or if you have really good memory, you can listen to all three and talk about them later, after the episode's over. All right, here's the first one. Imagine you're an astronaut floating in space and looking back at Earth. What do you think would be the most amazing thing to see, and how do you think it would make you feel? Okay, here's the second one. Hayley talked about how challenges don't define us and that God is in control of our future. Can you think of a time when you had to trust God, even when things were hard or uncertain? Oh, that was a good question. Okay, last one.

Christen Clark [00:27:32]:

God used Hayley's difficult journey for good, giving her opportunities to help others. How do you think God can use the challenges in our lives to help us grow or make a difference? Well, I hope you and your family enjoyed discussing those things. Those are some really fun questions to think about. Well, if you're enjoying the podcast and you want to help keep it going, there's a few ways that you can support the show. First, leaving a rating and review is a huge help. It not only makes my day to read them, but it also helps more families find out about the show. You can also share this episode with a friend and let them know why your family loves listening. And if you're shopping on Amazon, you can now support the podcast at no extra cost to you by just using my affiliate link.

Christen Clark [00:28:18]:

Just head over to Collide Kids Podcast and click the Amazon link before you check out. Or if you want to send a little extra encouragement, you can hit the Buy me a coffee link on my website. And most of all, I always appreciate your prayer support. Well, I hope you guys have an amazing week. Wait. I hope your week is out of this world. Get it. And in case no one has told you today, I would love to be the first to remind you that God loves you so much.

Christen Clark [00:28:49]:

Thanks for listening.