Episode 45 Feathered In Grace & Armor: His Timing vs. Our Timeline

In this powerful follow-up to our Pray & Releasing episode, Chadd & Gina dive deep into one of the biggest struggles we all wrestle with… TIME. ⏳

How do we actually think about and use our time? Why does it always feel like there’s never enough of it? And how many times have we caught ourselves saying:

• “Where did the time go?”
• “I wasted so many years…”
• “There’s not enough time…”

This conversation challenges listeners to take a deeper look at how time has shaped their marriages, relationships, faith, and spiritual walk. Gina shares a powerful moment from a recent coaching conversation with a client that caused her to stop and completely rethink how we view time and urgency in our lives.

Together, they unpack the tension between our timeline and God’s timing, reflecting on the truth found in:

📖 2 Peter 3:8

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

God does not experience time the way we do.
 He is never late. He is always on time.

💭 A question they challenge every listener with:

Where in your own life have you felt the most pressure around time recently?

✨ Gina also shares how she now has 5 amazing coaching tools available to help guide people through their personal journey, relationships, faith walk, and emotional growth.

This episode is thoughtful, honest, faith-filled, and a reminder that maybe the answer isn’t getting more time… but learning to trust God more deeply with the time we’ve been given.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Feathered in Grace and Armor. I'm Gina.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

And I'm the Armor part of this podcast. I'm Chad.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Together, we're here to explore the beautiful balance between grace and strength in our lives.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

In a world that often pushes us to choose sides, softness or toughness, vulnerability or resilience, we believe the true power lies in embracing both.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Each week we'll dive into heartfelt conversations, share inspiring stories, and discuss the lessons we've learned on our journeys of faith, love, and personal growth.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

So join us as we uncover how to walk through life gracefully, all while wearing the armor of God against the challenges we face.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Whether you're a man or a woman, our hope is that this podcast becomes a source of encouragement and wisdom for you.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

So let's spread our wings and forge ahead together on this adventure of life, love, and the pursuit of grace. Well, hello again.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Fantastic listeners. Wherever you are listening from, Texas, California, Bangladesh. Just kidding. If you don't know by now, I'm the comic relief part of this episode of this show, Feathered and Grace in Armor. I'm Chad.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

And I'm Gina.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

And we are here at the Clubhouse Studio, Tampa, Florida. And yes, it is no secret, we have another jam-packed episode. They're all jam-packed, if you haven't known by now, because Miss Gina is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Aww. That's weird.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

You are. You're amazing. You've got great topics. We talk about them every week. But uh this episode is we're going to be talking about God's timing and our interpretation. So here's the thing, though. If you haven't listened to our prayer and release episode, which is what was our last episode, you're definitely going to want to go back and listen to that. Um it's really the first one in this kind of a short little series and the things that we're going to be talking about today that really uh give you the next layer of the conversation. So releasing something to God also means releasing your timeline. Okay. Releasing your timeline for how and when he answers. Because let's be real, he's not going to just answer you, you know, like a text message. Hey, God, I need this. Ding. Uh, well, hey, Chad. Um, I can't get back to you right now because my lines are full. So, you know, it it's it's never on your time. It's always on God's time, and God's time is always perfect timing. So go back and listen to that episode. Um, it was a great, it was a great conversation that Gina and I had. And um you're just gonna wanna you're gonna want to uh listen to that one.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

So that was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

So hi Gina.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Hi, Chad.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

I just wanted to preface all that before we really got into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yeah, no, I love it. I'm so happy that you did.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Are there any introductory remarks you'd like to give?

SPEAKER_01 3:08

I think just my, you know, here's here's the question. What if every time you said God was taking too long, he was actually right on time and your clock was just set to the wrong time zone?

SPEAKER_02 3:21

Oh. You said this the other day last week. I can't remember when you said it, but you were like, you were saying something like, well, four years or 40 years could have been, you know, 40 minutes, you know, to uh to to Noah's art, to Noah, and you know it was just how you said it was really in the desert. Yeah, it was really cool how you said it. And then you're like, oh yeah, okay. So 40 days could have been 40 minutes, and they felt like they were waiting forever.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Yes. I I just feel like this is a great, like you already said, it's the the next natural conversation to have after we talked about the topic of praying and releasing, because I think you know, this episode is gonna challenge some things we think about we we know, like about time and God and how we interpret both of those things.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Yeah, well, we live in a culture obsessed, obsessed with time, yes, too much time, not enough time, wasted time, maximizing your time. It's not your time, it's your time. Running out of time, so many different times, and how how has this cultural pressure around time shaped the way we approach our faith?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

There you go. I love this, and I feel like we are just as guilty of this as the next person about using these lines about time. You know, I feel like on the daily, on the daily, I don't have enough time. Yes. Where did the day go? I don't have enough time. I'm wasting time. You know, I wasted all this time, all these years. You and I have had that conversation.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

I I have had that conversation, and you have you have you have gently pressed the pause button on me and say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Yeah, I have. Yeah, I have. So but I do feel like it is such a a thing with our culture, and everything is about time, and everything is about how can we do something quicker? How can we maximize you know our time? And I I just we never get away from it.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

No, daily.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

And so yeah, it I I love that question. How has the cultural pressure of time shaped the way we approach our faith? And I think for one thing, I think it makes people not spend as much time with God.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Well, no, because they put a deadline on things.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Right. Because we're like, oh, I I can't sit and be still with God because I need to be doing X, Y, and Z.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Oh, I can't have prayer time in the morning because I gotta get to work.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Right. Or I can't do it at night.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Because I'm with kids, or I have a sporting event to go to.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Well, I mean, I can see those things, but I think it's like, oh, I need to watch my show, or I need to scroll on social media. I, you know Doomsday scrolls. Yeah, it's so many excuses, but I think it is where it's it's about the time, always about the time. And so I think it does shape our way that we approach our faith. And then sometimes I think it's about, you know, we start putting deadlines on God.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Like I need you to answer this by this time.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

I've been praying for it. Why hasn't it happened yet?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

And if it doesn't, then I'm gonna go ahead and take control of it.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Ooh, did we talk about that last week or two weeks ago or whenever a little bit last episode?

SPEAKER_01 7:14

A little bit. Yeah, it's just definitely this um is another layer of that conversation. Yeah. So I think like the pressure of age and time, you know, like I should have had this figured out by now, or it's too late for me, which is kind of what you were referring to, that you will sometimes get into. Um, and I always have to try to tell you, no, you know, what if it's right on the timing? Um and so, you know, we know that social media does accelerate our sense of being behind or running out of time. That love-hate relationship I have with social media. Double-edged sword. I know. So I guess our our question for our listeners is, and I mean, we could we could say we could ask this of each other too, but where in your own life have you felt the most pressure around time recently? So for me, I think the pressure where for me around time is I'm thinking about how much time I have left to influence my granddaughters.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

I told you this was gonna be a deep episode.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

That for me is where I'm feeling the most pressure around time. And I have another one. So that's one that's one thing. Take it take it away. And it's also so but it's still about impact. I'm about how also I'm impacting the world with my spiritual gifts. So my spiritual gifts are an advocate and helper and a teacher. And so I have this sense of the pressure around them, but it's really based on I think because not that I mean I'm 56, but you know, it's that like we talk about, we're this is our second act. We're in the last half of our life. And it's more for me about am I there's pressure around time because I want to make sure that I do the things that I need to do. However, if we're praying and releasing uh that shouldn't be such an issue. Right? Shouldn't worry about it, releasing it and giving it to God.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

This is true.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

But that's why we're talking about this, because we're human and we don't always get that right. And it's a practice. So where in your life have you felt the most pressure around time recently?

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Goodness. I don't think mine's is as deep as yours, but for the man it's the making money part. And like, you know, we're building a new addition, we're doing some certain certain things to bring property value up, and you know, there is a stagnant amount of money coming in. So for me, it's so for me, it's you know making money.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Okay, in a certain amount of time. In a certain amount of time, yeah. Okay, okay. So the reason that there's always a reason why we're talking about something. And so one of the reasons that kind of went with this time thing is um working with uh some clients, but also a story of like I feel like my own story of time. But I I've people have said people like sometimes like my kind my clients will share their story of me and they'll sometimes if um we're getting into like spiritual topics, they'll say that they believed that you know God was telling them something, and it could be, you know, telling them how, like what to do in a certain circumstance or situation or relationship. And what I'm finding is sometimes when that what they thought God said to them, and I'm not saying that God didn't, I believe they that He did say that to them. I have no reason not to believe that, but I think it was in the interpretation. And so then they will stay in a circumstance or situation or relationship because that's what they thought God said to them. But then they find themselves like years later, that they're back in that same, like nothing changed. They stayed on the hamster wheel. And now years later, they're still struggling with the same thing. And they're at this pivotal point again, like, well, that's what you know, I thought God told me to do. So when do we realize that are we really hearing his desire for us, or are we trying to filter it through our own lens because of either it's from guilt, fear, control, shame? Um, so what is the difference between God's voice and our own heart's voice when we desperately want something?

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Yeah, yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah. And I and I think I've been there too. I think everybody could say they've been there. Where he says something, but we do something else with it. And so, you know, I'm like, well, could the lesson only have been learned by living it out fully? Like, even though we didn't exactly interpret it correctly, did we need was the lesson that we had to live it out to really fully understand it?

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Oh, yeah. Oh, that's so good. So good, babe.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah, so then I'm having another conversation with another client who is years beyond her spiritual maturity. And we're we're talking about time, and again, she's like, you know, um, did you, you know, maybe, maybe our timing and God's timing exists on a completely different scale. And I was like, how so? Well, maybe it feels like years to us, but it might be like moments to God. And I was like, whoa. Like that's one of those like And that's what you were talking about the other day.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Okay, and so it can feel like an eternity of waiting, but it might be like the blink of an eye in a larger story that we can't see yet. And it's not a it's not like a cop-out, it's actually like a profound reframe that can bring like a lot of peace, too. Because I guess my question is, you know, have either of us ever been convinced we heard God about something that didn't turn out the way we expected? And what did we do with that? And I can for sure, I mean, I can tell you something that you told me one time.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Please share it.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

That you made, you know, you were somebody came back into your life and you thought, oh, this is God saying that I needed to and and you did. Yeah. And then it didn't end well.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

And so it really was it.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Or was it that I had to live it out now?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Or was it that you had to live it out to fully like learn to fully learn the lesson, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yeah. I'm gonna leave that long pause in the episode because a light bulb just went off in my head. That is so profound. We can end the podcast now. Wow. So how long have you set on that? Have you waited for us to cut this podcast to tell me this?

SPEAKER_01 16:09

No, it just came to me.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Wow. It literally just came to me. Wow. I'm floored.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

It just came to me. Well, yeah, he put it there. He put it there.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

That I prayed about something and God said, Well, I'm gonna have you live it out because you're not paying attention. And I wasn't paying attention. It was all about me, me, me, me, me.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

But you had to live it out.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Oh, I lived it out.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Yeah, you had to live it out. So and I know I've done that too. I've been convinced that I heard him say something that didn't turn out the way that I expected, and you know, and because he probably he didn't say it that way. Probably or he said it that way, but that's you know, I interpreted it. I interpreted it the way I wanted to.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

And you didn't pray about it and release it to him. Yeah, I didn't pray about it and release it to him.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

But I do believe that he I had to live it out.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

So let's talk about what does the Bible actually say about time? Because the big biblical like time references that you will find, like I talked to you about the other day, like the 40 years in the desert, the seven days of creation, 40 days and nights of rain, three days in the tomb, Jesus waiting four days before raising Lazarus.

unknown 17:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

And so the question is what if these time references are less about like the literal duration and more about the completeness of a process? Because we know that Jesus, he taught almost everything in parables.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Take us to church, Gina.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

And stories, and they pointed to deeper truths, right? Yes, and they were using familiar language and concepts that we can grasp because we can't grasp anything else. So, what if the biblical references to time are really parables themselves? And using time like as a framework that humans can grasp so that we can like to point something beyond our linear linear understanding. Like that's that's where my brain is right now, right? With this, like it's blown my mind. And I told my client, we're gonna do a podcast on this because now I'm doing like you're blowing my mind.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Yeah, well, whoever your client is, she's blowing my mind. This is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Yes. So, like, is it like Kronos? I think I'm pronouncing that right.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Kronos and Kairos?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Yeah, so like Kronos is like a sequential measurable clock time. That's what we can grasp as humans. Wow. And then Keros is the appointed moment, it's the right time, it's God's time, and it's not measured in minutes, but in meaning. And so most of our anxiety about God's timing is Kronos. Right?

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Yeah, when's it gonna happen?

SPEAKER_01 19:12

But really, the it's like thinking it's applied to a Keros, God. Oh my gosh. And so we can't apply it to that because it's not the same. So we keep talking about time, but really it's about moments. And so, like 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8 says, With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. He literally puts this in the Bible.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

The Bible.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

And I've I mean, and I've read I've read the entire Bible, and I'm still I'm going back and reading over and over. I'm reading it again. I'm I didn't pick up on any of this stuff. Um, you know, that's why you gotta stay in it. And it's like I love this, but it, you know, it's it's not poetry for the sake of poetry. Right. It's a genuine reorientation of how we think about divine timing. And God does not experience time the way we do, He exists outside of it.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

I'm just gonna take my headphones off and turn my microphone off and just listen to you.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

But so I guess the here's the question. You know, if God exists outside of time entirely, which we as Christians believe he does, what does that do to the concept of him being late?

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Well, he's not He's not He's never late. He's never late.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

He's right on time, right? Oh right, right on time.

unknown 20:44

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Always on time, always on time. It's always in his perfect timing.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah, but we always get upset about it. We always get upset about it because we're humans and we're just so this is the danger of like misinterpreting God's timing.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Let's get into it. Because should we take a TV timeout or a sponsor timeout real quick and just say, Oh my gosh, holy cow, if you haven't gone back in and given us a not given us, give Gina a five-star review because this is lightning. This is good stuff. Make sure you give us a five-star review on this podcast, share it with a friend or a family, and uh be sure to check out our socials.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yeah, and let me just say, I am not a theologian or a biblical scholar or any of that.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

We're just telling a story.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

I yeah, I'm just I'm just I'm doing a little deep dive. We did a little homework. I'm we wrote some notes down. Doing a deep dive.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

We have talks throughout the week, and I'm like, oh, we should do the podcast on this.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

It has blown my mind. So I guess here's the question like, like, how do we discern between God's voice and our own desire? And how, you know, what's a divine redirection and a fear based retreat? And what's a season of waking. Waiting and assigned to move. So how do we dis discern between these, right? Season of waiting. So I guess the danger of making a major life decision based on what we think we heard, especially when the decision aligns with what we want, like conveniently, right? With what we already wanted.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

With like what I did.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Mm-hmm. And then this is not about, it's not about doubting God. It's just about the humility to acknowledge that our interpretation of what he said may be filtered through our wounds, our fears, and our desires. And so the role of community, counsel, and scripture in testing what we believe we have heard. And that's the key. You need to go to wise counsel. You need to go to scripture and test what we believe we heard with the truth. And, you know, what happens when we get it wrong? Well, I mean, thank you, God, that we get grace, redemption, and the truth that God can work even through our misinterpretations because He does every day. Yeah. He already knows we're gonna mess it up.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

He already knows we're gonna mess it up. And that's I just want to take a brief pause on that for the guys out there that might be listening to this, because you said, you know, community and wise counsel, and we as men, we need to be in community. Um, I don't know if you know this or not, but I go to a men's group every Tuesday night, and there are over 300 men in this group every single Tuesday night. So, men, it's just it's really important for you to be in a community and to be in the scripture and to seek wise counsel. You know, for me, a couple of those guys are Todd and Tom. Um, I I talk to them on a on a weekly basis, and I've got a friend Tim. They all start with T.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

I know, that's so interesting.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

But I but I I talk to them on a weekly basis, and it's just uh it's just something really good for me. So sorry to cut you out.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

No, I think that's great, and I'm glad you put that in there because yeah, need reminding. Um, so I want to just give you some practical, because you know, I like some practical tools and things like you know, to pass on to you. But um, I want you to ask yourself these questions. Does what I believe I heard align with scripture? Does it align with the counsel of wise people in my life? Am I hearing this because I want it to be true? Am I running towards something or away from something? And what is the fruit of this direction over time? So this, you know, kind of goes along where I'm gonna give you some like practical tools as well. But how do we personally test what we believe we're hearing from God before we act on it? So practical tool number one is shift from Kronos to Keros thinking.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

And that right there. I just wanna I just want to stop because that is so wild. It is I've heard I've heard this before. Oh, well good. I've heard this at church camps a long, long, long, long, long, long time ago. I'm having the flashbacks of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

I am positive that I have also heard a message from one of our pastors at some point in time, but you know, are we really like did it? It wasn't it wasn't, you know what, it wasn't God's timing for me to really like go, ooh.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Gosh, but now that you're saying this, it's just so impactful.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

So we're gonna go back tool number one, shift from Kronos to Kara's thinking. So stop measuring God's faithfulness in days and years, and start asking, what is this season producing in me rather than when will this season end? The desert was not 40 years of waste, it was 40 years of formation.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah, building them.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

They needed 40 years. Gosh.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

It's such a good episode.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

And was it 40 years?

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Yeah, what or was it? Or was it 40 minutes? 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Or was it four months, you know?

SPEAKER_01 26:22

So tool number two, the waiting inventory. Write down the things you are currently waiting on God for.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

And this is where we talk about having a uh a notebook or a journal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

So next to each one, write honestly, am I trusting his timing or am I managing his timeline? And then note how long you have been waiting, and then ask, what has this waiting produced in me so far? And I want to just say something here because I'm feeling I'm feeling called to say this. Sometimes we will say that we're waiting, and he's already given us the answer so that we don't have to do the hard thing. So we stay in a in a space, in a circumstance, in a relationship because it's easier than going through it. And the only way to get through it, as my husband always says, is to go through it. And I work with a lot of women who are staying where they're at instead of making a move because it's hard. So I just want to say that. So tool number three, reframe the narrative of being behind. You're not behind, you're not too late, you're not forgotten, you are in a process that is working on you even when you cannot see it working.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Say it again. Say it again.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Which one? The last one?

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Reframe the narrative of being behind.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

You are not behind, you are not late, you are not forgotten, you are in a process that is working on you, even when you cannot see it working.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

I just think for believers and people that believe in Jesus Christ, you know, that is so powerful.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Oh, he's been working on me for a while.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

You're not too late. No. You're never forgotten.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Yeah. I I look at things, you know, you you've often said to me, Come on, you got that book in you, babe. You got that in you, you whatever. And you're right, I do. But I look back and I'm like, he's still working. I I'm there, but like there we're still processing. And not because I don't want to do it or I'm fearful because I'm I'm not anymore. But I know that like if I would have written it five years ago, eight years ago, God's not done. It's it what it wouldn't be ready.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

God's not done.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Tool number four, test what you hear. So before acting on what you believe God has told you, run it through scripture. Does it align with scripture? Run it through community. What do trusted people say? Run it through peace. Is there a settledness even in the difficulty? And run it through fruit. What has this direction produced over time? And I think that is a great way to test what you hear. Because if you don't have a piece about something, or the fruit is not, if the fruit's rotten, then what are you doing? Yeah. Why why are you why are you doing that?

SPEAKER_02 30:22

You're not gonna eat it, you're not gonna replant it.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

He doesn't want to give you rotten fruit. He's not keeping you with rotten fruit. Tool number five, and this is the last tool, connect back to pray and release. So if you didn't listen to the last episode, go back. This is layered. Releasing something to God means releasing your timeline for his answers, too. You cannot truly release something and then set a deadline for God to resolve it. True surrender includes surrendering the when, not just the what.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

The when, not just the what.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Yeah. I need to work on that.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

This is a fire episode, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

So here's a question. What are we personally waiting on right now? And can we honestly say we have surrendered the timeline and not just the situation?

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

So what are we personally waiting on right now? And can we honestly say we have surrendered the timeline and not just the situation?

SPEAKER_02 31:41

No, never.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Not in my life. Not in my life have I ever thought about this information that you're sharing with us today.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yeah, and I again I I just I want to give a shout out like to this client and the way we were connected is now that I'm sitting here looking back at it. It's very amazing how we were connected. We were connected and then it was it was months later that they reached out to me. And um and to be 24 years old and to be this spiritually mature, to like be diving in, and you know, she's the one that prompted this whole thing for me to start really doing this dive. Um to say, like, you know, yeah, the timing of God and you know what what's that look like? And you know, to have that conversation. So kudos to her. All right. So I don't know, do we want to share where we are right now in our own journey with God's timing? You know, like we've had the move, the compound, the employment, finding community. Um, you know, all of this is a live experience experiment and trusting his timing.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

And going right now. I mean, that's it's still going. We're literally in it the turbulence of waiting and being patient and you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

And I, you know, it's funny, I've asked so many people for prayers on all of this. And I think the best thing that someone said to me recently, it's a it's another um, it's another coach, and uh we've become really good friends. And I asked for prayers in all of this the move, the compound, the employment, finding community. And she said, God didn't bring you this far to quit now. Amen to that. He wouldn't have brought you this far if this isn't where he wanted you. Amen, sister. And I was like, huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

Without a doubt. And we know that.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

We do, but I needed to hear it. Yeah. I was forgetting. For sure. I was losing that. Yeah. And so, you know, have there been moments where, you know, we've questioned whether we heard him correctly about this season? Absolutely. I think we've questioned him several times. Yeah. Like every time we think like, oh, this is we're getting ready to do this, what's gonna happen? Something, you know, and then you start to doubt, like, are we supposed to be doing this? Is it really, you know? Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, what what does this season of waiting and uncertainty like produce in us that could not have been produced any other way? And I think that is such an amazing thing to look at for our life. Because we we've had like a lot of waiting, a lot of uncertainty, but I think this has produced like that fruit where we've had to be really uh faithful, trust, surrender, be obedient. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_02 35:15

I would agree 100%.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Okay. And I think that's what, you know, I guess the question is, what do you know about God's faithfulness from past seasons that anchor you in this one?

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Well, for me, it's every step of my life where he's given me choices. I've failed miserably, but somehow God's grace has always landed me back on my feet. I mean, I could literally write them down and tell you where they're where they were. But, you know, because I I I, you know, it was my way or God's way. Chad took Chad's way. If you would have taken God's way, I'm just being serious. No, I love it. But I know, I I know there are multiple times across my 51 years, you know, uh, that that that God gave me the path. I it came right up to it, came to the red light, and it was like, hey, you can go God's way or Chad's way, and Chad went Chad's way. And, you know, so I'll share one story with you. I can't even remember how old I was in 19, 20, 21, somewhere around there. I went to an audition in New York City, and I was already working for uh uh an entertainment park, Six Flags. And I, you know, I went to this thing, I got the I got the gig, and because they weren't gonna pay me enough, pay me as much money as the theme park, I was like, well, I'm not gonna take it. Well, that was God opening a door for me to the left. Wasn't as glamorous as the theme park, but it was the next thing, and I never got another gig after that.

SPEAKER_03 36:56

Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Yeah, it's pretty wild. But that's it. It's it's God's timing, it's God's path, and we have to be patient, and we just have to reach up to him.

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Okay, I want to flip something though.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

I think though, that was a way of God saying that's not the path you're supposed to be on anyway. Oh, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

Could be.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

I looked at it as I was cocky and conceited, and because I was arrogant, I didn't granted, yes, it could have been.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

But no, I I love what you said because I felt I was like feeling like the same way. Like every time there was a fork in the road where I could have chosen the path that I should have been on, God's path. I didn't. I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. But guess what? We left it in the river, Jamie McDonald says.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

Oh, Jamie McDonald, she's a great little entertainer.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

I left it in the river because I did. Yeah. I mean, there's so many things I could confess, but I don't need to because I left all that in the river. Oh, sure. Okay, so let's get back on. Okay, so here's a question I have for us, our listeners. What would we say to our future selves looking back on this season, knowing that his timing was perfect, even when it didn't feel like it? And I love that because I think what I would say is exactly what my friend Tanya said to me was he he didn't bring you this far to not see you through this. That's what I would say to my future self looking back on this season, knowing that his timing is perfect, even when I don't feel like it.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

God's got this.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

Love it. Okay. So I just want to say that, you know, nobody is exempt from the tension of waiting on God. I mean, not even the most faithful person you know. We we're human, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

So we're we we're all gonna feel the tension of waiting, and God knows that. And I think that's the beauty of it is he already knows that we struggle with time. Yeah, he he knows this. I mean, it's not it's not a news flash to him. And I think the goal is not to eliminate the tension, but it's to learn to live in it with trust instead of anxiety. And, you know, I want to speak to anybody out there right now who is just exhausted from waiting, who wonders if they missed it, who made a decision based on what they thought they heard, and is now navigating the consequences. And I just want to encourage you to give yourself some grace and mercy, because as I just said, God is not surprised by any of it. And I would just encourage you to go back to those things where you find community, you seek wise counsel, you go to scripture, you go to the fruit, because that's where you're going to find your answers.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Wow. So that was, I mean, both of those. The last episode and this episode have been lights out, probably two of our best episodes. I I'm I'm wowed by both of them, just so you know. Is there anything else that we need to throw in here?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

It's like it's like I'm gassed.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

I don't think so. And I'm sorry that I I feel like I just it all over.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

No, it was it was fabulous. I learned, I learned a lot. I had a lot of a lot of little nuggets in there. Right? Hey, that's what I'm here for. So thank you guys for listening to the Feathered and Grace and Armor podcast. Be sure to check us out on socials, leave us a five star review on Spotify. And until then, stay parade up. God bless, and we will see you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Bye.