The Takeover

In today's episode of the Well Grounded Podcast, hosts Leigh Ann and Diane are joined by their second-born daughters, Charlotte and Faith as they discuss their experiences as siblings and their upcoming transitions in life. Charlotte and Faith share their excitement about entering new seasons, with Charlotte preparing for marriage and full-time ministry, and Faith looking forward to post-grad life and pursuing new hobbies. They also discuss the importance of finding encouragement in difficult seasons and share their favorite Bible verses that provide them with strength and hope. Join them for an honest and fun conversation about embracing life's changing seasons and staying well-grounded through it all.

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Latte Moment Recipe: Iced Lavender Cream Matcha Latte

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Transcript

Leigh Ann (00:02):
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Faith (00:05):
It's like iCarly

Leigh Ann (00:13):
Welcome back to the Well-Grounded Podcast. We are your hosts,

Diane (00:17):
Diane 

Leigh Ann (00:18):
and Leigh Ann. And look, we have guests here with us

Diane (00:21):
We do have guests today, and it is a very special episode because our second born daughters, Charlotte and Faith, have decided to join us. When we developed this content, they were just so excited to be the first ones to volunteer to come on our podcast. So we want to introduce them to you. So Charlotte and Faith, take it away.

Charlotte (00:44):
Hey, I'm Charlotte. I go to Liberty University. I am graduating in December and I just got engaged a couple months ago. Yay. So that's awesome. And my fiance's name is Luke. And shout out. Shout out Luke. And yeah, that's a good, what are majoring in? What are majoring in? Oh, I am majoring in music and worship.

Faith (01:10):
Hi, my name's Faith and I graduated college in May, in May with a hospitality and tourism management degree. Don't really know the next steps, but we're just kind

Diane (01:27):
Of, it's been a good summer taking some time to just think about things and what's the next step. That's

Faith (01:32):
Right. That's a good thing. Don't really know, but it'll be good. It is

Charlotte (01:35):
Good. So good, so

Diane (01:37):
Good. Well, we're just excited that today is going to be an episode that we get to just have a conversation with these wonderful girls that have just grown up before our eyes. It's honestly so surreal to think that we have daughters this age. I honestly just pinch myself over and over again to realize that I have these grown children. Where did they come from? Is what I say all the time. But before we get into that, we are going to get into our latte moment. And today our latte moment is coming from Charlotte. Charlotte gave us an amazing option today. And so it is called an iced lavender cream matcha latte. And this looks really good. Charlotte, have you had this on multiple occasions? Oh

Charlotte (02:27):
Yes. I love it.

Diane (02:29):
Matcha. What'd say matcha match? Oh, sorry. She just put a little flare

Charlotte (02:33):
To

Diane (02:33):
It. Iced iced lavender cream matcha latte. So when was the first time you had this?

Charlotte (02:43):
It was a couple of months ago. I walked into a local coffee shop in my college town and my friend was actually the barista and she was like, do you want something specific? And I was like, I don't know. I kind of want to try something new. And she was like, let me make something for you. Let it be a surprise. Very cool. And then she made this and it's literally one of the best things I've ever

Diane (03:01):
Had. That is very fun. So this recipe is going to be on our podcast notes. It's also going to be up in our Instagram and that you can follow us at Well Grounded podcast on Instagram and make sure you follow us like us and share us so that we can reach more people. And we're just excited about sharing this recipe with you.

Leigh Ann (03:21):
It's a fun day. This is so fun. I was just having this moment of, we shared in our first episode about how we met and what our story is, and obviously you lived in the same neighborhood we did as our daughters. So do you remember when you first met, she's just always existed. Faith has always existed in Charlotte's mind and world.

Faith (03:44):
Yes. No, we were just really little. I mean, not a specific instance, but I am older than Charlotte's. I would say I'm By how much? I dunno.

Leigh Ann (03:57):
Three months, five

Diane (03:58):
Months, five months, four months. August.

Leigh Ann (04:00):
Hey, that matters a lot. When you're little you're like, I am four and a half and you're just four. Four. Yes. Those people love. That's a good thing. Yeah. So fun. All right, so early Mims, anything y'all want to share about,

Diane (04:16):
We

Leigh Ann (04:16):
Talked about this earlier. Is this an approved story?

Diane (04:19):
We're already excuse ourselves for lots of giggles today because I think having them on the set is just a lot of fun. This is the

Leigh Ann (04:28):
Beauty.

Faith (04:31):
So an early memory is, so there was another girl in our neighborhood named Julia and the three of us Shout, love you,

Charlotte (04:40):
Julia.

Faith (04:43):
The three of us would have sleepovers all the time. And so we would all just take turns sleeping at each other's houses. And so this one instance that I'm remembering the most with Charlotte is Angel is when we were at your house and someone was on a trundle bed and Charlotte, I think it was you, but you were eating a glow stick.

Diane (05:07):
Why

Leigh Ann (05:07):
Were you eating a glow stick,

Diane (05:09):
Glow stick.

Faith (05:10):
It was

Diane (05:11):
Disclaimer, this is not something you should do at home.

Faith (05:14):
It was like 10 30 because we

Leigh Ann (05:17):
Children, we were up so late. That's what

Charlotte (05:18):
Happens at 10 30.

Leigh Ann (05:20):
Don't stay up so late, let's

Charlotte (05:21):
Go to bed. Kids and

Faith (05:23):
Charlotte ate it and up getting all over a pillow and we were like home.

Leigh Ann (05:28):
The stuff leaked out. I do remember this. This was my house. I was bed night.

Charlotte (05:32):
So I barely remember this story. I definitely don't remember chewing on it and that's what exploded. But I remember just coming out to my mom being like,

Leigh Ann (05:40):
I'm glowing. This happened. I'm

Diane (05:42):
Not sure what happened, mom, but this is what happened.

Charlotte (05:44):
Yes. And I remember, I think it was Julia and she's like, that's toxic.

Leigh Ann (05:49):
You can't happen.

Charlotte (05:51):
How old are we? 10. So it was just the 10-year-old.

Leigh Ann (05:55):
Oh gosh,

Charlotte (05:55):
Mom. So I remember that

Diane (05:58):
Story and you've lived to tell about it. So that is the story. So

Charlotte (06:01):
Good. My skin is clean for all the younger

Diane (06:03):
Moms. Those things have happened. Also

Leigh Ann (06:05):
A little bit of a shout out to me not watching these kids

Charlotte (06:09):
Very well. Hey, we were definitely supposed to be asleep. Asleep. Yes. In bed 10 30. We were crazy.

Leigh Ann (06:15):
Yes, I know. Oh my goodness. So fun. So fun. So many good memories.

Diane (06:19):
Well, it's really funny that you talk about that because in one of our first episodes we talk about our friendship story for ourselves and we talk about you guys having these sleepovers. It's truly a remarkable point of our friendships that we've been able to as well as us as friends, but our kids as friends. It's

Leigh Ann (06:39):
A big deal. I think that's one of the things that was so fun about having you guys as our first guests on the show is that we have this friendship, but y'all have been able to maintain that. You went in totally different directions for college. One of the things that we focus on here in this space and in these conversations is letting God do something in a longer story. Don't get caught up in just what's happening in these five minutes or these 10 minutes of your life this short season. There's these longer seasons and just all the things that you guys have seen and when you come back together just encouraging each other and just laughing your heads off. I mean, that's the best friends you could have. Well,

Diane (07:21):
I'll even bring up a story just because I think it's just fun, but four years ago, and actually it was three years ago when Faith had her last dance recital, it was a really special time because a lot of things were canceled during Covid and Faith was not able to have her last dance recital in 2020. And so the next year she did, and her good friends, Charlotte and Julia came and just celebrated faith and it was just a really special time. So fun,

Leigh Ann (07:51):
A great day. Had one awesome sleepover to the road before college. It was so good. So didn't all stay in a hotel or something. That was so fun. We did. So fun. I love that. Celebrating all those things. That's so good. Well, we wanted to ask you a little bit, because Diane mentioned y'all are second born, so you both have older sisters. Faith has also a younger sister, and you both have the caboose brothers, the little brothers that really keep us all humble, these boys, they're so awesome. But tell us a little bit about falling. I'm a middle child myself, and tell us a little bit about kind of falling in the middle of that, just being in the family dynamics, family dynamics of having multiple siblings going on and all of that so y'all can kind of speak to that.

Charlotte (08:44):
You

Leigh Ann (08:44):
Can be the good and the bad. We're not calling out any specific siblings today. Don't worry. Don't worry, Ethan. No,

Charlotte (08:51):
No. I mean I feel like because I'm a middle

Faith (08:55):
Of two sisters, I read that really cool birth order book, so I love talking about birth

Leigh Ann (09:00):
Order. Okay, me too. I'm a big fan, big fan of birth order, middle children love birth order books. Even though we matter,

Faith (09:07):
There's only one chapter about middle children in it, and I think that's crazy, but I love talking about birth order and so definitely growing up it was more of being the glue kind of between the sisters. That's a great analogy. So I am just envisioning when we played Barbies, and so it's like my Barbie shout out to the Barbie movie, love

Leigh Ann (09:35):
Barbies. Those Barbie movies are so good. High quality.

Faith (09:38):
I was the one to kind of bridge the gap between Emma and Sarah, I guess, because I mean they're not that much age difference, but it's like I was, it's a four year difference in the middle. It's enough middle of the two of them. And so that's just kind of what I think of. I

Leigh Ann (09:54):
Love that.

Faith (09:55):
I like that. But once Emma left for college, I took on a lot of firstborn tendencies. So people are always shocked to find out that I'm not the oldest kid

Leigh Ann (10:05):
You do have. I know from being the middle child myself, I had one family dynamic with my older brother and a different family dynamic with my younger brother because depending on what was going on when my oldest brother left home and graduated from high school and moved away, it was that shifted and we were a little family of four. Again, it's very, it's that long story we've been saying. I

Faith (10:28):
Mean I think you see it in Sarah when I went off to college, she took on firstborn tendencies. It's just kind of like when the oldest child isn't there anymore,

Leigh Ann (10:38):
What does the family need at that time? And as members of our family, we step up and fill in what's needed. How are you, Charlotte?

Charlotte (10:51):
I think the main thing, just summing it up, I'm trying to put it all into a place in my head, but Julia is older than me by four years and Will's younger. Drew?

Leigh Ann (11:05):
Yes. Julia. Julia, sister Julia.

Faith (11:06):
Sister Julia versus friend Julia.

Charlotte (11:08):
Yes. My older sister is four years older and then my younger brother is four years younger than me. And so it's funny because there's a lot of seasons where me and Julia will be in the same season and then will I won't, and then she'll step into the next season and then will I will be in the same season then. So it's just kind of funny. We

Leigh Ann (11:28):
Just talked about this. We were on a family vacation recently and we were talking about that you're bonding with the sibling that's walking through that with you or you're helping them through a season they're going through.

Charlotte (11:40):
Yeah, exactly. And Julia's newly married by a couple years and then Luke and I are about to step into that. And so it's fun to be able to go and be able to talk that through with her. Or even planning a wedding. Julia's my matron of honor and so it's just like, you just did this, I need your help in this way. And she's also a sweet friend of mine as well. And then same with Will, I can just always count on will to be my friend and things. And so that's been really special.

Diane (12:10):
Well, I think one of the things that we both have shared about our whole family dynamic is to have those younger brothers as the caboose is a very special thing. It really does. And everybody in the family has a special relationship with them. And so shout out to those caboose. We love them dearly. They golfing right now. They're probably golfing. They probably are dark outside and they're golfing. Yes, just drove. And it is a special thing. It is a special thing. I think as you guys have journeyed through a lot of seasons from high school graduation to college, to roommates to things, want your insight. Insight. What is something that you would want to tell your younger self? What is something that you would want to say to someone to be like, listen, if I could tell my younger self, what could I say?

Charlotte (13:00):
What I would tell my younger self is there's a lot of times where stepping into a new season, I would doubt the Lord in such a big way and then he proves his sovereignty the next day. And so it's just as soon as I was like I would doubt him for months and then the end of it I would be like, Lord, I don't want this anymore. I don't want this doubt. I want to just put it on you the next day. It would shift. And that hasn't happened every time, but the months have gotten shorter of the doubt because it's good I've been, without the big shifts in my life, I wouldn't have been able to see what the Lord can truly do.

Diane (13:45):
Yeah, that's amazing. If that makes sense. Yeah, very

Charlotte (13:48):
Good. Yeah. So yeah, that would be my biggest thing. Yeah,

Faith (13:51):
I mean that's so true in every way. The first thing that came to my mind initially, two things is just cheesy as it is, just trust in the Lord. Because in high school I'd say the biggest thing that I struggled with was finding good friends. True. I mean, other than you and Julia, I was not really on a friend train. And so in college I was blessed with some amazing people in my life. And so it's just kind of like that would be what I would tell my younger self. I'm never going to have any friends. I am never going to have a friend that I can turn to. And now I'm moved out a little bit ago and I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do without that friend. So it's just like,

Diane (14:38):
But that trust that you're talking about is just a big deal because you can honestly know that telling your younger self to say, it's okay, we're going to go through a hard time, but to trust that it'll turn

Faith (14:50):
Out. And there truly is a season for everything and there's a reason why you go through everything. But I also would tell my younger self, tell

Leigh Ann (14:58):
Me crying over here, Faye.

Charlotte (15:00):
I was going

Faith (15:00):
To say at the beginning of the episode, how many times do you think they're going to cry tonight

Charlotte (15:04):
Because their daughters are sitting

Diane (15:05):
Here? Yeah, it's very

Charlotte (15:07):
Special.

Leigh Ann (15:07):
Oh my goodness.

Faith (15:08):
But I'd also tell my younger self to just full send every moment. That's something that I learned in college is just to say yes to opportunities. Because like me in high school, I was not a spontaneous person, but I think my mother and family members and friends can attest that I love spontaneity now. So it's like

Leigh Ann (15:29):
You're still growing, I think you think you are your full personality, your full interests, all of that has, by the time you finish high school, you're so much different than when you started. And there's that feeling of this is it. This is who I am fully, but there's so much more growing and learning to happen and I love that, that you're like, I wouldn't have done this before, but

Charlotte (15:52):
Thank you for the service of bringing the mic

Leigh Ann (15:54):
Service my

Charlotte (15:55):
Girlfriend service. I don't even have to pay extra for that. I think my other thing would be in high school I really struggled with, I just had no gratitude in anything and I really had this big change of heart when I went into college. Well really when I left high school I was like, wow, everything that I really knew, I'm moving out of my house. I am leaving the school that I've always gone to, the church that I always went to what everyone else did, my friends that I had just like everything was turning upside down. I moved How many states away? Four,

Leigh Ann (16:31):
Three. Too many.

Diane (16:32):
Too many.

Charlotte (16:33):
Too many. But I didn't know anyone there. I kind of talked to people a little bit, but I wasn't going with anyone I knew. So I was just like, what would happen if I just came into it with gratitude instead of just this worry that I would just sit in of? What if I didn't meet anyone? What if I didn't have friends? What if I hated my major? What if I didn't like my school? Which sometimes that happens, but I think coming in with gratitude already that I even got to be there. That's a great perspective. I even got to be go to college that I even got to go to college. So right. Faith, it's like that's something to be grateful for instead of being like, well, what if I don't have this? What if just killed me in the past? And so it's just been really, really neat to be

Diane (17:20):
Blessed with that opportunity to just feel that gratitude.

Charlotte (17:23):
I love that. Yes, even that is enough to step into a new season with complete confidence and not in myself, but fully in the Lord. And I think that was the big thing that I learned that I wish I just always came with gratitude first. And sometimes I still struggle with it, but it's much easier now because it's become a practice instead of like, oh, I got to be grateful first. It's like, oh my word, just sitting around this table with y'all. I'm grateful for this. And that way I got to come see my friend that I don't always get to see because I live four states away and she's

Diane (17:53):
Graduating and I'm graduating and now we're in a room doing a podcast because it's

Charlotte (17:56):
Amazing. Exactly. And so it's just joy. My heart is joyful all the time now, and that's just only the Lord.

Leigh Ann (18:04):
So here's a question just to back up. I mean to follow up with that, what steals that gratitude and steals that joy from not calling out that this is all high school students, and for you guys that was, I think being removed from home and going away to school. I know that's not everybody's experience, but you do have some outside perspective when you move out. And so what's the temptation that high school aged family members or friends fall for? What's that temptation? I

Faith (18:42):
Think the biggest temptation is just to get caught up in the tiny stuff because the tiny

Diane (18:47):
Stuff that's

Faith (18:47):
Good. That really doesn't matter. A silly little, she said this and this happened and she looked at me weird or she didn't sit next to me. That stuff really doesn't matter because when I went off to college, it was kind, not like a shock, but it was nice to not have to worry about every meticulous move that I made or I was like, oh, I'm not thinking, oh, that girl doesn't like me because she didn't sit by me. I'm just like,

Leigh Ann (19:14):
It's not under the microscope the same way. Own

Faith (19:16):
Person, my

Diane (19:17):
Own person. You mentioned that it was a really neat transition to say you went from going to the same seven classes with those students to seeing them maybe not even once a day. It's a really neat transition in your life to be like you're always with those people to then you're just with new people and it does refresh you. I think it really gives you a refreshment. Yeah,

Faith (19:40):
Some perspective. I love college. I loved it so much and it's just crazy to think that I'm on the other end of it now, but I think

Leigh Ann (19:49):
Post-grad life.

Faith (19:50):
Yeah,

Leigh Ann (19:51):
Right. You're going to rock it. You're going to rock it. I know it. I know

Faith (19:54):
It. I went to a conference and it was like you could go to these little sessions and it's personalized. And so then I went to this one for post grad. Oh

Leigh Ann (20:03):
Good.

Faith (20:04):
And someone was like, oh, what do I do if the church at home that I go to doesn't really have college students? And the guy who was talking about it goes, well, you're not a college student anymore. And I said, oh

Leigh Ann (20:15):
No,

Diane (20:17):
That was a hard reality right there. Yes.

Faith (20:23):
Can you not say that again?

Diane (20:25):
And it is hard. I mean, I think that's actually something that even grad

Leigh Ann (20:28):
School application just been off right there

Diane (20:31):
To speak of, that your identity has been in a student for so many years. That's what you've walked, that's been your talk, and it is a really different thing. And so I mean, we're proud of you as your parents and it's not easy. We're still here to walk with you and think about

Leigh Ann (20:50):
It. It's really fun for us to have seen this develop. And just a quick shout out to Faith specifically, just one of the neatest, hardworking, smart leader people. Talk about your firstborn qualities. This girl really has, it's been really fun to see the roles that you've and the different things that you've said yes to in college. And it's just grown you so much. It's such a cool thing to see. So fun. And this girl just moved really far from her mother. That's what she had. Okay.

Charlotte (21:29):
I was going to say about the Haskell stuff. I think also, I think, well, I literally had lunch with my friend today who just graduated from high school. And it's just like you're in such close proximity with people that you just don't need to be close with. And when you graduate, you're like, oh, I don't have to walk around these other 14 through 18 year olds all the time. It's a hard time where everyone's trying to grow at the same time. Then it clashes. And we both went to small high schools, and so we definitely have that specific experience in that. I don't think it was bad. I don't regret high school or whatever, but college is better

Leigh Ann (22:18):
For us. For us, the message of today's episode

Charlotte (22:20):
Is go to college friends. That's good and be prayerful about it. And the Lord just does really cool things with it. And he did really cool things in high school too, but this is also just an age where you just grow a lot as a person and as growing into an adult. And yeah, it's just really cool to see how the Lord does that.

Diane (22:43):
Well, I really appreciate your words. I mean, it is, when we talk about the content and the things that we want to talk about in the episodes, we just really think about all the different people that'll be listeners. And we really believe that a lot of those are just going to hear your words and feel that it is an encouragement. And so it takes a lot to come on. So we're very excited about that question from the viewers.

Leigh Ann (23:06):
It was a viewer, it was a texted in question specifically about, and this may feel like a little bit of a detour, but basically they were asking about how the relationships with your siblings shifted when you weren't in the same house together. That's a good one. The sibling left behind, which sounds terrible, but it's like the siblings that didn't go away. So you've both experienced both sides of that. You've been the one to watch an older sibling leave for college and still be home. And then you've also

Diane (23:37):
Been the one to leave, the one to

Leigh Ann (23:38):
Leave and be coming back for those breaks, even whether that summer or spring break or just Christmas and what is that transition? Sharing a bathroom with your

Charlotte (23:49):
Brother? Oh, we'll get to that, but

Leigh Ann (23:53):
Let's not talk about

Faith (23:54):
That.

Charlotte (23:55):
Let's actually skip that part, but no. Yeah, so when Julie left for college, I think in seventh grade when she graduated, eighth grade was the first year. So

Leigh Ann (24:07):
You did all of high school

Charlotte (24:09):
Without Jay there. So that I remember being really upset with her just because our relationship changed and we had just gotten so close. Me and Julie were not close too. We were not friends really up until she was

Leigh Ann (24:26):
An adoring big sister for you. Y'all just were always in such different

Charlotte (24:30):
Seasons because I was literally elementary school and Julia's in high school, she was cool with her friends and she was super cool for me, and I acted like I was took over her even though that justice swearing little girl was a little crazy. But anyways, yes. So I remember being kind of frustrated with her, but then I left for school and I remember being like, wow, it is, this is really hard to keep in touch, especially with a little brother too, because I'm like, Hey, will. He's like, Hey,

Leigh Ann (25:04):
He

Faith (25:05):
Calling me. Not a lot of words.

Leigh Ann (25:07):
Texting

Charlotte (25:08):
Helps and we'll send each other random stuff too, but Will and I think have also gotten a lot closer. But again, it's that different stages of the different seasons that we're in too, that shifts. So it's just funny. We are so far apart in years and stuff like that, but it's been really sweet to see. And now we're just all getting older and we'll just turn 17 and Julia's 20 about to be 26. She'll be 26. She is 26. Yeah, almost. But yes, so we're all just can talk to each other about hard things as well as it's

Faith (25:44):
A new state. It's a family

Leigh Ann (25:45):
Of adults now.

Faith (25:46):
Yes, I know. It's very strange.

Charlotte (25:48):
Hey, I'm actually really struggling with this. I don't have to just talk to Julie about that. I can actually really confide in Will and he's really wise, 17-year-old. So anyways, if you want to share.

Faith (25:58):
Thank you. Thank you so much. I would say that me and my older sister, Emma, we're closer growing up because we're what, 22, 20 months apart, 22 months apart. So we were pretty close

Leigh Ann (26:12):
Going through seasons together.

Faith (26:14):
When movies would come out that were PG 13, we could go watch 'em together without wow. Together without the younger sister because she's not old enough. But I could get away with it. Didn't realize that was a big deal. But I love it. I think about it sometimes, but I think when I love it, I love it. When she went off to college, it was like I took on the firstborn responsibilities. And so I think our relationship changed because when she would come home for breaks, sometimes we would clash because we had similar personalities. Now

Leigh Ann (26:53):
Who's in

Diane (26:54):
Charge? Who's in charge?

Leigh Ann (26:55):
Oh, siblings back.

Faith (26:57):
And so by the end of the summer we'd find a groove, but then she'd go back to college. That's

Leigh Ann (27:01):
So true. It's true. You finally get all settled in and then you're like, oh man, everybody shifted again. That

Diane (27:08):
Summer seems very short sometimes, even though in the beginning it seems long, but then it actually gets really short. Yes.

Faith (27:15):
And then I would say that Sarah and Ethan are closer. They're just closer in age. And then when I went off to college, her and him were driving to school together. And so that's just time that I just didn't get close to him. But when Sarah went off to college, she went down south for her first year, which was by me. And so it was fun when me and my friends would be online dancing. I would invite her and then her and her friends would come, and it was just kind of like that

Diane (27:44):
Was a sweet time,

Faith (27:45):
A new way for us to interact. And then we tried to do meetup at Starbucks, but she was a busy girl, so I had a class

Diane (27:55):
At In the campus? Yeah, New York,

Faith (27:56):
One of the remote campuses of my university. That was like 10 minutes from her. My goodness. We would try to meet up, but it only happened maybe five or six times.

Diane (28:04):
But that's a lot though. I think it's

Leigh Ann (28:06):
Great. Yeah, think about that dynamic that you're both away from home, home but living near each other that Yeah, it's cool.

Faith (28:15):
And I know Sarah will probably listen to this, but it was also a check-in for mom, how she was doing a full

Diane (28:24):
Reporting. I was always, I'm need you to

Leigh Ann (28:25):
Put eyeballs on that sister of yours,

Faith (28:28):
But I can definitely relate to Charlotte with brothers. Hey, hey,

Leigh Ann (28:33):
Why are you calling me? What do you need from me

Faith (28:35):
Right now? Hey, how's school going? It's good. Good. Can you give me literally anything

Diane (28:39):
Else? Anything else

Faith (28:42):
Seriously

Diane (28:44):
You could communicate via memes because they always love memes.

Faith (28:47):
A

Diane (28:47):
Good meme always with me.

Leigh Ann (28:49):
Look at her connecting with the younger yes kiddos.

Faith (28:52):
But it was nice to have him. He's been working on his muscles. Help move me out. There you go.

Diane (28:58):
That was definitely nice. Yes, the brother

Leigh Ann (28:59):
Are good for that. His brothers are great for that. Hey, quick question, is it true? Somebody told me that if your college student isn't responding to a text them a photo of your family pet and they will respond. I feel like that works a few times. Yeah. So good. So good. I feel like I

Faith (29:19):
Usually respond

Leigh Ann (29:19):
To you though. You were pretty responsive. I know. If you weren't responding, were genuinely busy. I don't feel we're

Faith (29:25):
Responsive children.

Leigh Ann (29:26):
Yes. The middle children your

Faith (29:28):
Favorite.

Leigh Ann (29:29):
That's right. Awesome, awesome.

Diane (29:32):
Well, we wanted to also ask a question about something that one of your fun family vacations or fun vacations and time that you spent with us. I think Mother-daughter moment, mother-daughter moment

Leigh Ann (29:45):
Sits up there with a latte moment, but just a little below it. Mother-daughter

Diane (29:48):
Moment. Yes. Mother-daughter moments.

Faith (29:51):
Go ahead. Okay. So my story is I love it so much and I got pictures everywhere about it. So I studied abroad in fall 2022. And so while I was over there I was in England and it was just super awesome. And I remember talking with mom and she was like, oh, I'm so sad we won't get to go and do all the London stuff doing that without me. And I was like, no mom, I want to go to France with you. If y'all are going to come and visit me, let's go to France,

Diane (30:24):
Let's do it,

Faith (30:24):
Let's do it. And so they flew into London and we took the channel and went over to Paris and spent a

Diane (30:29):
Few days. Dad and I,

Faith (30:30):
Dad was also there, dad

Diane (30:31):
Was there,

Faith (30:33):
He needed his wallet. He's a good dad. But it was super fun. And I think one of the funniest memories of that trip is the champagne bottle on the street. So Emma, she was like, listen, you guys have to get champagne when you're buying the Eiffel Tower. And so we forgot when we were there. And so for 15 euros we bought a cheap bottle that they were selling on the side of the street and we tried to get it open, we couldn't get it open.

Leigh Ann (30:59):
It was just for a photo

Diane (31:00):
Moment. Yes, it was photo for the moment. I didn't know why to spray champagne in the middle of the Eiffel Tower

Leigh Ann (31:07):
And was a photographer. So she's

Diane (31:08):
Looking for the moment.

Faith (31:09):
Exactly, exactly. But we couldn't get the champagne bottle open and we're shaking it and then we realized it was a twist. And so we finally untwisted it and

Diane (31:16):
It popped so hard.

Faith (31:18):
I took the bottle, I start shaking it and everyone's like, whatcha

Leigh Ann (31:21):
Doing? You're getting these

Diane (31:22):
People, but with champagne.

Faith (31:24):
And I'm like, hilarious. They're never going to see me again. I was good. I'm going to enjoy this moment. And the video is just

Diane (31:31):
Pure, it's priceless,

Faith (31:32):
Pure joy. And then we got to drink some champagne by the Eiffel Tower. Good. It's

Leigh Ann (31:35):
Splattering people you don't know. It's

Faith (31:37):
So good. Yes, it's so good.

Diane (31:38):
I definitely think that we also share the love of the French language, so that was a lot of fun to order in French, French on the, it was just really amazing to just be able to do that together. Very core memories for sure. I would agree is a good time

Leigh Ann (31:57):
That one-on-one mother-daughter time. That's good stuff.

Faith (32:00):
Plus father sometimes.

Leigh Ann (32:01):
Yes. And a dad. We love dads.

Charlotte (32:04):
I think my favorite was when me, my mom, my sweet friend and her mom. We went to Hawaii two summer, oh my gosh. Two summers ago. And it was just such a sweet trip that we got to have, especially with me and mom to have, because the middle children, it's not always possible to have the chance. One-on-one with your parent will gets plenty of

Diane (32:33):
One-on-one,

Leigh Ann (32:36):
The last one home does get not parenting, he would say he's over parented. But

Charlotte (32:43):
That was really sweet, just that we had that time with just the four of us, that small group. And to experience something like that because I never experienced anything like that and probably never will again. But it's just really neat.

Leigh Ann (32:57):
But the adventuring of that I think is for us not having dad planning and driving us everywhere. And it was like the two moms trying to be the coordinators and the travel agent of all of that, but it was really a really sweet, really sweet week. We're

Diane (33:16):
Always in there. I think an encouragement is to just say that dream about that. We've talked about that in other episodes about thinking about what are some fun things that you can do when you do have multiple children. It's hard to always find that time. So when you can and you can set that time apart, I think it's very important. And I think that's an encouragement to anyone that has a bigger family for sure.

Leigh Ann (33:41):
Just a little bit on the mother daughter memories and travel and that kind of thing. That can also be a small thing. Some of it's funny. Hawaii was incredible experience for us, but sometimes I was going to say as much as I loved that trip and I was there with a lifelong friend of mine who was the other mom that went with us, that we were celebrating y'all's high school graduation. So it was like this big trip. But one of my favorite trips with you was when we were visiting your college for the first time. Oh, nice. And do you remember our big adventure? So that was so fun. We booked a trip, we just always went as a little family. We did everything together as a family. Unless I was taking them to see the grandparents without my husband. That was, we had never done anything like that. And we booked our flights and we rented a car and we were driving around and we would miss the turn over and

Diane (34:34):
Over. And

Leigh Ann (34:35):
Charlotte was like, good try mom. Let's try that again. And she literally lives. So this was before, this is while she's still in high school. So she literally lives on the corner where we kept missing that turn. Oh wow. That's funny. And when we were moving you into that, we were passing

Diane (34:51):
My future house, we were passing

Leigh Ann (34:53):
The house where she was going to live. And so it's this kind of crazy exit. You get off into downtown Lynchburg and you just swirl around. But anyway, it was just this funny thing. And when we were moving her into that house, which was also a mother tiny trip, didn't mean to be, but it turned out to be just the

Charlotte (35:08):
Two of us. We really love mother dog trips. Now

Leigh Ann (35:11):
We just keep getting defaulted to do these things. But anyway, but I was thinking, oh, this is where we were when we visited here. Nice. Not knowing what school you were going to end up attending. So it's just cool. That's

Diane (35:22):
Very cool.

Leigh Ann (35:22):
Cool, cool. Doesn't have to be a big,

Diane (35:25):
Well, I know that just sitting here today just kind of talking through some of these things, it's going to be an encouragement to a lot of people. What is something that you are thinking about as you launch into the world? I mean you kind of are getting to that stage. Faith you are in that stage. Charlotte's close to that stage. She's

Leigh Ann (35:47):
Four months behind you. Always.

Diane (35:49):
Yes, always. I'm just kidding. That is. Yeah, that is funny. What is something that you're thinking about? What's on your heart about that? Your first faith probably you're four months ahead of her. Four months ahead.

Faith (36:04):
I'll go first. I don't know. Can you repeat the question?

Diane (36:10):
Repeat the question. What are you looking forward to about launching into the world? Something that's coming up that you can be excited about?

Faith (36:20):
I don't know. I'm just kind of excited to be in a new season again. I would say high school meet didn't like change, but that spontaneity, I've become more adaptable to change. Yeah, I like that. So good. I am just excited for a change of pace. People at the conference, they were talking and they were like, listen, post-grad is different, but just when you were in middle school, high school is better when you're in college, when you in high school, college is better. And so when you're postgrad post-grad is better because you

Diane (36:59):
Good

Faith (37:00):
Each season can just kind get better when you have good perspective. So I mean, that's awesome. They're like, you have more free time to kind of work on yourself. And so personally, I want to get into running because I'm not getting married, so I thought I'd run a marathon.

Diane (37:18):
I love that goal. It's a good one. So fun. Yes.

Faith (37:21):
Can I do a

Diane (37:22):
Disney marathon? You should do

Faith (37:22):
The Disney one. I mean there's so many people online that are like, listen, I'm not getting married, so I guess I'll go run a marathon. Those are the two things you do in your twenties. I didn't

Diane (37:34):
Know

Faith (37:34):
About that. So

Leigh Ann (37:37):
I'm sure glad I was getting married

Diane (37:40):
A default to the marathon. Are you going to run a marathon on a

Faith (37:44):
Treadmill? I'll not be running a

Diane (37:46):
Marathon. Marathon,

Faith (37:47):
Yeah. But I mean, it's just kind, I don't know, finding my hobbies that I like to do. And I found some in college, but then I kind of just ran out of time because I was a full-time student. I was involved in my sorority working, working, did a ministry on campus. And so it's just like my time was split and I didn't really have time for hobbies. I was doing student stuff. So now I'm just kind of like, that's

Diane (38:13):
Nice. That's cool.

Faith (38:14):
Shout out to Pickleball.

Diane (38:15):
Pickleball.

Faith (38:16):
Excited to get back into pickleball because I love got

Leigh Ann (38:20):
Cute paddles online you can get

Diane (38:21):
For that. Oh yeah.

Leigh Ann (38:22):
Oh, a whole section of Target right now that's all these, it's like tennis clothes, but they're

Diane (38:26):
Pickleball clothes. Oh, that's fun.

Faith (38:28):
So

Diane (38:28):
Cute. It's very trendy. Very good.

Leigh Ann (38:31):
I'm excited.

Faith (38:33):
Can you repeat the

Diane (38:34):
Question? So the question about what I'm looking forward to, how are you feeling about launching into the world? What do you feel? What's something that you're looking forward to? I mean, you've got a lot of good things coming up in your life. So

Charlotte (38:47):
Yes, I'm really excited to not run a marathon. No, actually, yeah, I'm very excited to get married and start that journey along with my future husband. And then we're also going to be going into full-time ministry ministry. And that's something that I felt the Lord has been calling me to since 10th, 11th grade. And so just to be able to, a

Diane (39:13):
Real dream turned to a reality.

Charlotte (39:15):
It is. And so it's just been this really sweet thing. Also, to be able to do that with my husband is going to be just a dream I didn't even know to dream. And so I am really excited about that. I think, well, I'm moving to a new state, another new state. I'm moving to North Carolina and so that'll be a big change. And so it's, I'm excited for the change. And like you said, that used to be really hard. And now I love spontaneity and I thrive in it actually. And so I'm really excited for the new stuff, but I just make sure that I come with gratitude first, just so that the worry doesn't creep in first. But there's a lot of, I actually do have a lot of things lined up, which I would not have expected. And it's literally only the Lord, truly. But I just come in with gratitude. This is not in my own doing. If I came up with this plan, it would be looked so bad, but it was just the Lord doing things and me having to come with gratitude and then obedience and then this really cool things are coming. So

Diane (40:29):
Yeah, it's a really good segue into one of our questions that we wanted to ask today is about what do you find, how do you find encouragement in those difficult seasons? A scripture that you might say is one of those life verses or things that just really anchor you. Is there a song, I mean Charlotte, you're an amazing worship singer, so lemme

Charlotte (40:53):
Talk about it.

Diane (40:54):
Yeah. Is there something that you just draw upon? I mean I have my set and things in my playlist that I can go to when I have those discouraging days and we all have them. I mean it does happen. And I mean we're kind of sharing all of the fun stuff right now, but there were times, I mean in college, that you guys have had difficulties and struggles and so what have you done to find that encouragement?

Charlotte (41:19):
I got it first. There's this verse that I always keep coming back to. I found it not I found it. It's been there for quite a couple years in the Bible there, but it really hit my heart during my transition from senior year into college life. And it's two Corinthians 12, eight through 10 and it says three different ways. I beg the Lord to take it away each time. He said, my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults and the hardships and persecution and troubles that I suffer for Christ for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Diane (42:06):
I

Charlotte (42:06):
Love that. And I kind of changed my literal whole life. And when it says that his power works best in weakness, I'm like, Lord, that's literally all I have. All I have is weakness. And so just that he works best through that, that he could use me even so, not just even so, but because of my weakness. It's just really that has brought me through the hardest moments of my life because senior year was the hardest moment of my life. And with all the covid stuff and all the disappointments that came with that and hard friendships or just all the things, hard situations, leaving your family that I adore, all of those things. And so it was in hardships and insults in persecution.

Diane (42:55):
It's a big deal.

Charlotte (42:56):
It is. And so it's just like now I'm going to boast only about Jesus. If there is one thing to boast about, it's Jesus Christ. So that's what I'll do. Take credit. You can't it away from me. You can't take it.

Diane (43:09):
I was a mess on my

Charlotte (43:09):
Own. Oh, literally I was

Diane (43:12):
Doing well. I'm going to give a shout out to you because you have truly been to just watch you grow in your faith and watch you grow as you've become a singer and just an inspiration to so many. I mean, it really is tremendous. And we spent a summer last year together, we did a vacation and it was really an awesome moment because you felt inspired when we were together and you wrote a song and that we actually love, had a little power outage in our house. We had a big storm and Charlotte just went off and wrote a song and it was truly powerful to just see how the Holy Spirit has taken a hold of you. He is. He is writing things and you are responding. And that's not something that we can take. It's like you even said the word gratitude. Take and feel that gratitude because it's a great thing. Definitely. So shout out

Charlotte (44:10):
To it actually about, it's kind of relevant to the topic of our podcast, but it's about changes and kind of watching your life change before you and not knowing what to do.

Diane (44:22):
We'll have it. We'll link it in the comments, link it. I think that will be a definite, we have that video. It's very fun. It

Charlotte (44:29):
Very fun. Something to note about

Faith (44:30):
This trip is I wasn't even there.

Diane (44:32):
I know

Faith (44:33):
It was Charlotte.

Leigh Ann (44:34):
It was me and totally the dog, the two boys and the parents.

Diane (44:38):
And the parents. She

Leigh Ann (44:40):
Your, believe me, she missed you. She was like, and this is the part where I wouldn't be hanging out with faith and she's not here. Yeah. Busy girl. We do want to hear a verse from you. I know you. I know.

Faith (44:53):
I don't remember when I found this. So growing up, before each school year, mom would have us pick a verse, and mine would always be about friendships

Leigh Ann (45:05):
You were seeking, you were seeking God. God about that was, yeah,

Faith (45:08):
I was seeking. And the Lord was like, Hey, just wait until college. It'll get better.

Leigh Ann (45:13):
But God's good.

Faith (45:14):
This might've been when I went to college, but it's Psalm, Psalms 32, 8. And it's, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. And it's a short little verse, but stays on my home screen. And it's just kind of like a good reminder for myself. And this year, with all the changes that are coming, I always try to pick a word for the year. And so my word this year is trust, because I don't really know what my next steps are, what coming next. And so it's like I am like, okay, I'm just going to trust and have peace about where the Lord's going to take me. But this is just a really good reminder because it's just like the Lord is going to make sure that he's determining your steps and stuff and with his loving eye on you, it's just kind of

Leigh Ann (46:05):
Love it. I love that

Faith (46:06):
A good, I know there's some versions that don't have loving eye and I'm like, oh,

Leigh Ann (46:09):
We need the

Faith (46:10):
Loving eye's, the wrong version.

Leigh Ann (46:11):
We need that

Faith (46:12):
Because it's a really good representation of how the Lord determines steps. It's not like you should do it this way. It's more like, Hey child, you should go this way instead.

Diane (46:25):
It's loving night.

Leigh Ann (46:27):
And now that you have your own testimony about that, about I sought the Lord about something for years and he gave it to me later, but better. There was no sweet, not the sweetest kid in high school could compare to what mature young adults can offer you in friendship. Even the best friend you've ever thought of, they still have growing up to do too. So he gave it to you later. He answered you, but it was better than even what you thought you were asking for. I love that faith. I love that. And I've seen you absorbing with ministries and giving out in ministry and it is really cool to see that flowing through you girl. Preach.

Diane (47:08):
Well, the amazing thing is that our time is done and it's so amazing that you guys joined us. Bonus episode. It is very cool you have made this

Faith (47:21):
Episode.

Diane (47:24):
It is definitely a very special time and we don't want to leave without speaking over our audience, our verse that just teaches and reaches us each and every time. So Leigh Anne, I'll let you

Leigh Ann (47:38):
Say that. Well-Grounded blessing receive this blessing you guys, we're going to bless you today so that Christ made well in your heart through faith, and that you may be rooted and grounded in love from Ephesians three 17. Hey everybody, thanks for joining us. Be refreshed,

Diane (47:56):
Be encouraged, and stay well grounded.