Faith Unmuted With Esther Graham
This is the place where Christian women get the opportunity to press the button and say what they want, how they want and exactly how they feel.
The one place where, together, we can collectively walk through our truths, live unapologetically and stop hiding.
Esther Graham has being in ministry all her life and has felt silenced from all the labels and responsibilities that come from being a pastor's daughter to the unexpected role of being a pastor's wife. This journey has not been easy nor has it been just. Esther no longer wants to hid nor lower her voice.
On this podcast, Esther shares what happens when you use your voice and shares the stories of overcoming the stereotypes and living unapologetically.
Faith Unmuted With Esther Graham
Finding Hope in "One Day"
The phrase "one day" can represent either endless procrastination or a powerful declaration of faith. For many of us, it becomes the anthem we cling to when faced with seemingly impossible family situations. This is exactly what happened when my eldest son abruptly left home as a teenager, disappearing for nearly a year without contact.
I'll never forget when I spotted him while driving – he didn't look like himself, but a mother knows her child. As tears streamed down my face, my assistant said, "One day he'll come back, he'll come home." Those words became my lifeline through months of uncertainty, judgment, and heartache.
What makes this story remarkable isn't just the reconciliation that eventually happened, but how it happened. While teaching a workshop called "Rising to Your Destiny," I shared my ongoing prayers for John's return, declaring my faith that "one day" we would reunite despite having no evidence this would happen. That very same day, in a Walmart I rarely visited, my sister spotted John. The God-orchestrated reunion that followed brought healing tears and opened a pathway to restoration that continues today.
This journey taught me painful truths about Christian community. Often, those who should stand with you through your children's struggles are the first to criticize. As I vulnerably share, "When you're in ministry, people expect you to show up for them when they don't even show up for you." They forget that pastors' children aren't "angels that dropped from heaven" but humans navigating their paths.
Whether you're currently waiting for your prodigal to return or facing any seemingly impossible situation, I encourage you: keep believing, keep pressing, remove the naysayers, and hold fast to your "one day." And while you wait, become someone else's miracle by lifting them up when they're down. Your breakthrough might be closer than you think, and your faith journey could be inspiring someone watching silently from the sidelines.
You are listening to Faith Unmuted. The place where Christian women get the opportunity to press the button and say what they want, how they want and exactly how they feel. The one place where, together, we can collectively walk through our truths, live unapologetically and stop hiding.
Speaker 2:Have you ever said to yourself you know one day, one day I'm going to travel the world, one day I'm going to lose weight or release weight, one day I'm going to quit this job, one day I'm going to do this, that or the other One day, and then that one day you think will never come right. I want to give a different perspective, with one day right, because there's good, you know, there's good and bad to one day. You know you could look at one day from a negative standpoint and say, one day I'm going to do this, but you know I haven't done it, but one day I will. Or you could look at it depending on what you're facing. One day this is going to come to pass in my life. So I've got a really good one-day story with my son. You know, we've got John and I. We've got three beautiful children they're adults now and we've got one beautiful bonus daughter that was given to us several years ago. But our eldest son has always, always say that he's caused me to pray, really caused me, you know, to get really close to God. Right, because you know, when they become teenagers you kind of have to figure out well, who is this person? You know, it's like they just have a whole different personality, and so John was always that one that would challenge. You know, I've got my other son as well. He's a whole other story, but John was always the one that would just challenge everything. You know well why do we have to do this and why is this and why is that.
Speaker 2:And one day John made a decision to move out because he just didn't want to follow the rules anymore. Fine, when he moved out, we didn't hear from him for quite a while. As a matter of fact, I was on a business trip. My husband was home and when I came home I said where's John? My husband said he's not here. I was like what do you mean? He's not here? I was like what do you mean? He's not here, he's just not here. Okay, where is he? My husband said I don't know. So after this long drawn-out conversation turns out, john decided to leave. He didn't take his clothes with him, he just left. And for several months not one, not two, several months, it may have even been like almost a year we didn't know where he was. He didn't reach out to us, he didn't contact us.
Speaker 2:And I remember one day I was driving from one of my facilities checking on my employees. I had a meeting and my assistant was in the car with me and I was driving down the street and I see this person walking and he looked so familiar and it was my son. He didn't look like himself but I could tell it was my son and I kept driving and immediately, you know, because I have my employee there I didn't want to just break down crying. So tears just began to roll down my cheeks and my employee looked over at me and she said Mrs Graham, she's from Mexico. And she said one day he'll come back, he'll come home. That was all she said One day.
Speaker 2:And so I really took that into my heart, I really pondered it, thought about it quite a while, and every day since then, you know, before I talked about going on my 40-day prayer challenge, and embedded in my 40-day prayer challenge, there's a story, there's a one-day story, a one day that this could happen, a one-day that that could happen. And so for me, that one day was so significant when it came to our son John. He went through a rough time when he left, made some decisions that he probably should not have made, and as he looks back, he realizes the decisions that he made did not lead to a path of success at the time. He's great now, doing wonderful as a matter of fact, but it actually did something for me. He helped me build such a strong relationship. I had to stand up for him, while he couldn't stand for himself.
Speaker 2:As a woman, as a Christian woman, a woman of faith, a woman that's a pastor, a pastor's wife and all of these different things surrounding everybody's looking at how you're handling this. Where is your son? What's going on? You should have did this, you should have did that, and you're listening to all these voices and sometimes the voices you're hearing they're not exactly positive. You know, esther, you should have did this. John, jonathan, you should have done that. Why did you let him do this? And I had to sit back and I had to learn how to get rid of all the negative voices and I had to get to a place to where I can love on my son from a distance, no matter what. Yeah, no-transcript ended up in a lot of trouble. That really brought me and his dad to our knees.
Speaker 2:I could talk about it now, because John and I we've talked about it. We've looked back at where he's come from and where he is right now and the things that have shifted and changed in our lives, and when I look at it now, I think I just thank God for it, because if he didn't go through the things that he went through, made the decisions that he made, maybe I wouldn't have been the person I am today. Maybe I wouldn't have been that person who said no, you silenced your voice while I'm going to speak up for him. In other words, there were things that you know I would get phone calls. You know, hey, did you see John? John did this and he did that, and it was just so much y'all.
Speaker 2:Have you ever had it to where you know people could always see what's wrong with your kid, but they can never see what's wrong with theirs or what they're doing. Have you ever had that to where people can always point out the issues when you would think people will stand by you and support you and embrace you and stand with you as you're going through this challenge with your child? Those are the ones that they're not there. They're looking for the fault. I had to find what was good in my son at that time and my employee who said one day In other words, she was the one that gave that glimmer of hope that one day he's going to come home, one day it will all be well, one day that relationship will come back. And someone may say, well, when will that day be? Well, at the time I didn't know when that day would be, but I had hope that one day things will change.
Speaker 2:And so one day I had a seminar, I wrote some material called Rising to your Destiny, because I believe that destiny comes in levels. Right, like today. I'm destined for this. This is my destiny at this point in my life, this unit of time in my life. This is what I should be doing. Life, this unit of time in my life, this is what I should be doing. And so Rise Into your Destiny was really a workshop, teaching women how to embrace where you are right now, to lean into it, because this could be a journey, a stepping stone to where you're supposed to be. So it's a level of destiny at this period in your life, this unit of time. And so here I am, I'm standing, 75 women and I'm teaching the workshop material.
Speaker 2:And I began to talk about the one day, the one day, and I began to tell the story about my son, john, and at the time I said you know, I don't know where he is, but I keep praying that one day he will come home. It's kind of like the prodigal son. If you know the story of the prodigal son. He goes away and you know his dad says, ok, go away and I'm going to give you your inheritance. And he gives him his inheritance and he goes out and he's just having a good time. He's partying and it doesn't really say how long that he was out there for, but he was out there, gives the impression that it was for a while and he's out partying. He spent all his money and during that time he's got all these friends around him. Why? Because he had a lot of money Until he hit rock bottom. He hit rock bottom and it turned out that he was sleeping with the pigs in the slot because he had nowhere to go. His friends when he ran out of money, he also ran out of friends.
Speaker 2:Have you ever had that To where you know, when you're not doing so good, then you find out. Honestly, that's when you find out who your true friends are. It's not in the moment of the good times that you know who you're really connected with. It's those bad times, those challenging times, that you really know who you're connected with. That person that's going to stay with you through the thick, the sin, the ugly, everything. They're going to stick with you no matter what. And so the story with the prodigal son and after a while, when he couldn't handle it anymore, when he had hit rock bottom, no one was there. He says look, I just want to return back to my father, I just want to return back to my father, I just want to return home. And the story goes on to say he began, he decided to return home and his father looks out of the window and his father sees the son coming up let's say in my mind, this pathway and he runs out to greet the son and he hugs him and he covers him to welcome him home, says ah, my son, who was gone, he was lost, he was all these different things. He is now home.
Speaker 2:I know that many of us may have children out there that we're saying you know, I don't have a relationship with them. The relationship is gone. As a matter of fact, a few, several weeks ago, I was speaking to someone that said I don't have a relationship with my son, my children. I wish that I did and I was really actually able to sit and share my story, share the story of one day and what I said to them. I said don't give up, Keep praying, keep circling, because one day they will come. So again, going back to I'm teaching this material and I'm speaking about one day. This was several years ago, y'all Several years ago.
Speaker 2:And when I'm finished teaching the material and I began to really talk about, you know, my son not being around. I don't know where he is and I haven't seen him. But one thing I have been doing is that I just kept praying for him and I kept saying that one day he's going to come back, one day his mind is going to change and he's going to come home and we're going to embrace each other and we're going to love on each other and we will talk and have a conversation, a deep, deep conversation, not a superficial conversation, but a deep conversation, and I'm going to welcome him home with love and acceptance, because that's what we have to do. See, what happens sometimes is that we don't accept where our children are and what they're doing, not forgetting, honestly, that we were them at one point, like, really like, you know, we were the one that was way out there and our parents were saying, oh my God, what's going on with her, what's going on with him? And now it's like we are now the parent and we forget that our children have to create their own pathways, and sometimes it's just not easy.
Speaker 2:But one day and so, when I was finished teaching, you know, we were finished with the workshop and I needed to go to Walmart. Now I have to tell you, walmart is not my store, y'all. It is absolutely not my store. So many people are in there, and especially on a Saturday, and I don't like to go. But I needed to go, for, whatever the reason may be, I just felt I need to go to Walmart and I need to go pick something up, and, as a norm, someone will go pick it, like my husband, he will go into Walmart and he'll pick up whatever I need, you know. But this time it's like no, I need to go.
Speaker 2:And I went into Walmart and I'm in Walmart for I'm not even sure how long I don't even know if it was 30 minutes and my sister, who was visiting me at the time, because she came in for the workshop, went into Walmart with me. Now I have to tell you that my sister, she loves Walmart, so she could take a year and a day in Walmart, but while she was in Walmart, in a day in Walmart, but while she was in Walmart, she came, she found where I was and she said Esther, guess who I saw? And I said who? She said I saw John. I said you're kidding me. And I said John, who? Your nephew John, my son John? She said yeah, he's in Walmart, my son John. She said yeah, he's in Walmart. And she said I told him that you're in here. And so he came looking for me and I said son, I said come home, come and let's talk. And he said, okay, mom.
Speaker 2:So I want to set this up, because when I'm in the workshop, I'm speaking about one day, I'm speaking about my prayer, I'm speaking about my faith, my belief. I'm saying that I just believe that one day that my son will come home and we'll have a chance, an opportunity to talk. And I said and I've been speaking this for several months now and he hasn't come yet and I don't know when he's going to come, but I just know what's going to happen. See, this is faith. This is like no matter what's going on in your life, that you just got to know what you know, what you know, and you got to take the naysayers out and you just have to stay focused on what you believe. And I focused on that one day.
Speaker 2:One day, when I went home from Walmart, I was so excited, as a matter of fact, I was crying, and I was so grateful to God and I said, oh, thank you God, thank you Jesus, because I'm a Jesus girl. And I said, oh, thank you God, thank you Jesus, because I'm a Jesus girl. And I said great, he's coming home. And John came home. He saw his dad, he hugged his dad and we sat and we talked and I began to share with him how much I loved him, how much I was concerned. My concern was because of my love for him, that how we will always be there, that we may not agree with what he's doing or his lifestyle or anything like that, but at the end of the day, he is still our son and that we will continue to pray, that we will continue to stand with him, no matter what. And he sat there and tears rolled down his eyes and he hugged me and he said thank you, mom. And then he went to talk to his dad privately. It was such a healing moment for us. And then he went to talk to his dad privately. It was such a healing moment for us that one day came.
Speaker 2:But I have to tell you that it wasn't easy all the time. It wasn't easy to hold on to that faith, to that one day, god, this is going to change that one day. God, this is going to happen One day. Sometimes it's just not the easiest thing at all to do, just to believe it's not. But that one day came and since then we've had several one days. Did he move back home on that day? Absolutely not, he did not. Was I expecting him to move back that day? No, I wasn't, because I didn't know Really at this point, I had no expectations. I was just glad to see him. I was in the present moment, just glad to see my son, that he was okay. And since then we've had several one days. Since then, on his journey has taken us through several challenges, challenges, yeah, yeah, several, several times where we had to stand in faith, just us, because nobody else was going to stand with us.
Speaker 2:Can I tell you something in all transparency and truth? Sometimes the people that you think that's going to support you and stand with you they absolutely do not, but yet they expect for you to show up for them. I think that's especially true when, like you're in ministry you know what I mean. Like people think that you know you're just supposed to be there all the time for them, when they don't even show up for you when you need them. And then here's the other piece that many times they expect for you to leave your child, your family, to come and help support them in theirs. I know this doesn't sound like it should be coming out of my mouth, a woman of faith, you know, a woman in ministry. It shouldn't be coming out. But this is the truth. Like, if I'm going to show up and be present for you all the time in your family and pray for you and stand with you, can you do that for me too? Can you not criticize my children when they make mistakes, because yours make mistakes as well, because, you see, when we got into ministry and had our children, they weren't angels that dropped out of heaven. No, they're human beings just like everybody else.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that I discovered with our son was that he was just so hurt on how he was treated, not in his family, but those outside that were supposed to love him. I never forget one day and it just brought tears to my eyes when he said, mom, I saw this person and he said it was a bad day for me and she kicked me while I was still down. My heart sunk, I mean literally sunk, and I thought how could anybody do that? How can you kick a person while they're still down? You're supposed to love them, you're supposed to pick them up. We have really good friends of ours and I remember my husband and I we were leaving church one night and we saw their son. Of course, at the time we didn't know it was their son. We didn't know who he was because we didn't even know them at the time.
Speaker 2:We discovered years later, when we remembered the story, because here's this one day again. And so he just happened to stumble in front of our church and he was a little bit, you know, a little bit tipsy, a little bit drunk, a little bit high, all these different things, and he fell and we ran out there to pick him up and to help him. And he said, hey, do you know who I am? And we didn't know who he was. He told us his name and then he told us who his dad was. Didn't know he was. He told us his name and then he told us who his dad was, his parents and we're like okay, and his parents pastors in the area. And he even remembers it because what he remembers this was several years before we even knew, actually met and became really good friends with his parents.
Speaker 2:But he remembers that he said I was down, it was bad. He said, and you picked me up. See, that's our job, y'all. Our job is to pick people up. There's the one day. One day someone is going to be able to help you. One day, some things are going to come to pass in your life. But while you're waiting for the one day, can you serve someone else, can you pick somebody else up, because you're that pathway, you could be that pathway to that person's one day.
Speaker 2:My employee, who we're still friends to this day, spoke into me and said one day he will come home and I held on to that. She didn't say, oh, my God, look at him. It's just so bad. You need to. She didn't do that like what everybody else was doing. What was even interesting was that we didn't even have the same belief system. Does that make sense, y'all? She just knew that one day, hold on. I hope this is all making sense to you. One day it's going to come to pass. One day they will come home. One day it will happen. Keep believing, keep pressing, remove all the naysayers and hold on to your one day. And while you're holding on to your one day, help somebody else out so they can also experience a one day.
Speaker 1:Wasn't that episode amazing Living unapologetically. Faith unmuted has allowed us once again to ask ourselves the kind of questions that will help us get to the next level and live this life unapologetically. Your next step head on over to wwwesthergramcom and let me know what your favorite episode is Ask a question or share this with a friend. I can't wait to be with you next week as we dive deeper into redefining what it means to be a Christian woman and redefining what it means to live in our truth.