Called To Create What's Never Been Done - Shari Rigby & Tiffany Pastor

In this episode of Called As Creatives, Shari sits down with Tiffany Pastor as she shares her journey from a childhood drawn to storytelling, to pioneering faith-filled narratives that bring biblical stories to life for the next generation. She discusses the sacred intersection of faith and creativity, how to develop content that not only entertains but prophetically influences young hearts, and why storytelling is a spiritual act of obedience.

Tiffany Pastor reveals the secret to turning divine inspiration into impactful media that transforms hearts and ignites faith in children.

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Tiffany Pastor's Instagram - @tiffanypastor

Song: “Blessing in Disguise” 
Performed by: Carlie Conner
Written by: Carlie Conner, Maggie Youngs
Produced by: Nick Lewkowski

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

This podcast is a celebration of women who are shaping culture, influencing the world, and boldly stepping into the entertainment industry to create God-honoring content across all media platforms. I'm your host, Sherry Reapy. Grab your coffee, settle in, and join me for an inspiring ride. Today's guest is someone who is redefining what's possible with faith and creativity as they collide. Tiffany Pasteur is a visionary producer, writer, director, and actress, and the CEO and president of Suddenly Films, creating bold, faith-filled stories that capture the hearts of families and reflect the heart of God. Her journey began in 2015 while serving in Next Gen Ministry, producing cinematic content for her local church with a volunteer cast and crew. What started as Weekly Act of Faith quickly grew into a large-scale storytelling, building immersive worlds and bringing biblical stories to life for the next generation. Over the past decade, Tiffany has written and produced 12 family series with more than 200 episodes. She has directed, produced with large crews, and developed a creative culture that calls people higher and draws out their God-given gifts. She's also recently completed a new family action series called Saints with more projects currently in development. Welcome, my friend, Tiffany Pastor.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Hi. Hi, Sherry.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

It's so good to see you. I'm so excited that you're on with me and that I get to keep seeing your face. Um, and it's been so great. So thank you for joining me and the women in my world and all those who are listening. They're going to be so excited to hear about all the cool things that you're doing. So I I am so excited. I think that I would love to jump in and talk a little bit about what you're doing and how you're doing it. But first, you know, when did you feel that you were actually being called as a creative and you were a creative person, that God was calling you into something far deeper and greater than you could have ever imagined.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

I was a little girl. I remember being a tiny little girl and was very much drawn to stories. And I actually was thinking about this the other day. I was God like reminded me that there were these little like writing competitions and little things that like along my tiny journey, like as a child, they would just be like highlight points. And it was like, oh, you do like stories. You are great at writing. You are you like when you put your hand to this, it succeeds. And like there were so many pieces of that, but I've been very creative my whole life. I've been drawn to filmmaking my whole life. If you would have asked me when I was eight, what do you want to be when you grow up? I would have said an artist, or specifically a, I wanted to be a Disney animator. And I would just like spend hours drawing all the cartoons I was growing up with. And so I think there was just something about world building and storytelling that captured me at a very, very young age. Even in in connection with that, I know the Lord was in it. Like the Lord would speak to me about those things, give me dreams, just like lots of different things along the way. So it led me to like an experience where I was in college as a theater major. I was pushing into that. Out of college, I stepped into ministry. And it was actually really funny because for so many years, people would say, What did what did you do in college? I would say, I was a theater major, and they would just laugh because they were like, uh, I that, you know, and I was like, okay, why is that funny? Okay. But it was like they didn't understand why you're in ministry, but you also loved theatrics and all of that. And they didn't know how to like put that together, but I know the Lord always did. Like God always knew how to put that together. So fast forward to like 10 years ago, I was in kids' ministry and was deeply dissatisfied with the curriculum content and how the gospel was being shared with young people. And I kept pulling other clips from other movies, and it ultimately led to this point of me saying, like, why don't we just make up our own stories and why don't we film this ourselves? And a journey that started like in really sweet small beginnings. And honestly, I still feel like it's in small beginnings, but it was just like saying yes to the next thing. And and that just continued to flourish.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

You know, I love talking to people who are creative and also in ministry because there are so many times we can actually take it back to our childhood, right? And there was something that the Lord was impressing upon our heart at that time that made us recognize that that was going to be a part of our journey, even for myself. I remember whether I was sitting in this little tiny, you know, theater in Cooperstown, North Dakota, watching people on screen and dreaming about being part of that, or I was doing something that led me into being a creative today. And so I love that. And I love that we get to see that through scripture that our God is a God of creation. You know, he right from the beginning of time tells us the story of how he created the world that we live in today. It's so spectacular in so many ways. So tell me a little bit about, you know, as you can go back and share a moment of when you felt like your faith, because you just shared a little bit about ministry and also college time, but but share a little bit about where your faith deepened and the influence of not only what you were doing as a creative, but that ministry side of it. How did those two come together as they intersected? And how did you see your faith deepen from that intersection?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

I immediately am picturing when I was a senior in college and I'm finishing my bachelor's degree in theater. And I at that time I really was like, I'm gonna be a Christian actress, which by the way, 20 years ago did not exist. Like it felt like that was a completely impossible thing. And so it wasn't even like I'm gonna go be an actress in the Christian film industry because that doesn't exist. It was like, I just know I wanted things that are gonna be creative and create projects that are, but I'm gonna be Christian while I do it. I didn't know how that was gonna happen, but I was just taking the next steps, like auditioning all the time, had my agent like going all around. And at the end of that year, like I'm literally coming up to my graduation, I'm reflecting on the year, and I truly feel like the most weighty, like kingdom weighty, like impactful thing I had done was speak at a youth camp. And so it was a camp I had been to all my life, but this was the first time where I got to like take the word, unpack it as like a tiny little mini-series. And I just felt like this click of like, you need to step forward into this. And so it was a major shift. It was like taking my creative journey and putting it on the altar. I call it taking my Isaac, like Abraham putting his Isaac on the altar and was like, okay. And it actually, I wasn't even nearly as intense as it might have sounded. It was just like clarity of like, oh, this is next. And so when I stepped out, I switched everything, moved with my husband, stepped on staff at a church. One of the first projects I did was like their Easter musical, which so it felt like, hey, like ministry and creativity was happening. But then quickly it shifted into like the trenches of ministry. And while I was learning to write messages, I think that was a really cool part of my journey was I went into this like deep dive of intense writing all the time. I was preaching like three times a week in different ministry spaces for several years. And so I was constantly writing, constantly communicating what that needed to look like. And there were many times when I would write messages and I would get pictures in my head. And I would just be like, I wish I could open this message with this kind of a video or this kind of, oh, I can just like, and it was more cinematic, always a cinematic thing. Those were dreams in my heart that I think the Lord was just holding as like little pearls, like sweet things that he wanted to share. And then over time, as I just was obedient to him and he and hearing him, it just slowly took me on a path and a journey that got me to a place where it was immediately obvious that he was doing that. Wow. Yeah. It's all about saying yes to Jesus with whatever you have.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Right. Well, and and it's so, it's so significant. We talk about this all the time, where if you would just take time, I and and I do this, I have to do this with journaling because journaling really is a place where I can journal and then I can go back and reflect on what God has done and how he has trained me through the process. So if he appoints, he anoints. And I know that's kind of a cliche, probably thing to say, but technically that's really true. When he appoints us to a place, he starts to sharpen us. He starts to give us the tools and the resources to bring us to a place that he wants us to be. And so when he does appoint, he anoints and gives us the resources to do it. And so I love hearing what you're saying because he took you through that process. He took you through it as a child and then into college. And then here you are in ministry, and then you all of a sudden realize wait a minute, I'm not saying the kind of curriculum that I think is important for our children. And so you start to develop that and you get thrown in. And so often that's what happens. You get thrown in and you have to rely upon the strength of the Lord and not your own weakness. And that's where he actually does such great work. And I love it that not only was he giving you the written, but he's now giving you the visual pieces to step in to do it. So, how long have you been in this position in ministry? I love that you did the first project was Easter. Talk a little bit about what that was like for you to step into that role and what did you do for that Easter pageant or that Easter play? And then how long have you been doing that now?

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Well, so that Easter play was back in like, oh goodness, 2005. And so it was me stepping in as a director and taking on a whole choir, doing all the blocking, learning the light board because there were no volunteers for that. I was like, okay, we need better light. So it was kind of like me just like learning all the things and being a big cheerleader for the team because I think they just they really needed a leader to show them what could be possible. There, they had not done a musical like that yet. That church, though, I will say something that's kind of exciting. That church has done many musicals since they've made it a priority in their ministry. And this this actual Easter, they're they're doing their own original musical. So the pastors like created his own content, his own music. That's out of state, super far away from where I am now. But it was when I think about it, it was like that was a sweet little beginning point where we were showing um with what we had. Like we're carving and shaving foam to create set pieces and figuring out costumes, but it was like, let's start with what we have and just run and go for it. And it was super impactful. Since then, I'm now in a different ministry, and it I would say the beginnings are the same. It's truly like look what's with what's in your hands and just start with what you have. And and so it's been like not despising small beginnings, but embracing small beginnings. I truly believe God can do more with your yes than than the devil can do with your no. So yeah, like the the Lord, like He can take you everything and He just expands it and makes it meaningful. And so that's been a fun journey of being super creative and finding how to make those things come together. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Well, and I and I think what's so wonderful as I get to know you more and learn about what you're doing and learning about who you are in your heart and what you've been creating is this content, this creative content for this next generation of consumers, right? They're consuming content. We know how critical it is for us to be giving those, that generation a message of hope and inspiration. Talk a little bit about why do you think it's important for us as Christians, as believers, as creatives to create content for the next generation?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Well, for one, like children under the age of 12, everything about what they're learning is concrete. Like there, it's it's actually like cementing in their brain. And so all of those initial memories, what you're teaching them about the word, what you're teaching them about leadership, spiritual engagement, in addition to like not only what the Bible says, but what we do with the Bible, how we handle the Bible. Like all of that is becoming formative, concrete memory, memories to their soul. So I would say it is a massively important window of time. Like there are scripture verses. I could probably ask you, what are the scripture verses you memorized? Or I can tell you the things I learned at that age. And it's way harder for me to memorize scripture now than it is than it was when I was five. Like I can remember, I could, you could start singing a song and I'll remember it. I do think that that time, that window can expand beyond that into like the teenagers specifically as well. But I I'm a firm believer that what we get to engage with in media and messaging is prophesying over the next generation. So it's shaping them, but it's also prophetically welcoming them into a kingdom future that they can't even see yet. Like this is what God says your future can look like. Most of my teaching and my teaching style is from a very positive driven message, meaning there's a lot of things I can tell them not to do. And they usually know what those things are. I do address them. Like last week, I was just preaching about repentance. And so I was very real about like there's things that like we need to turn away from. So I'm in no way making light of sin, but especially at a young age, spend most of your time telling them what to do. Because sometimes they just don't know what to do. So you spend more of your energy explaining to them what Christ did pay for, what he do have access to, that the Holy Spirit can engage with you in this way. You can hear from God. Um, this is what the Lord says for you. All of that is like I can language, which is pretty cool because typically, if you speak to a child and you use negative language, their brain starts like canceling it out. So if I said, hey, hey, hey, stop sassing your sister, if I say that, and I like they they literally cancel out the stop or don't, don't, don't do this. They cancel out all the don't language, and all they hear and remember is the negative thing you just told them to stop. And so then you're like, Why aren't you listening to me? This because their brain is just like canceling out that info. But if you instead say you can be best friends with your sister, that's a completely different initiative. Or if you say, instead of like, well, you're this or that or this or that, I spend more time speaking identity over them in a positive light. Like one of my favorite phrases, and it just kind of naturally happened was God did a great job making you. And it's not like super catchy, it's not like there's a bunch of alliteration, it's not like singable. It's just this phrase that undoes a lot of other identity issues. Like if you can tell a child God did a great job making you, that one acknowledges God is the creator, not any of us. He knows what he makes, he loves what he makes. You were made on purpose and he did a great job making you. He intentionally made you. So if you ever think he made you wrong, like any of those questions that right now a whole generation is asking, like if you can undo that simply by helping them know the Lord, then you've just like you very clearly cut straight to the thing. In general, I do believe the enemy will attack identity because he really wants to attack the creator. If he can attack a generation in identity, he's going to like it's like his way of shaming the creator. But really, like my identity is actually found in my creator. It's found in Christ. So those are just some different ways that I feel like we have so much opportunity to make an imprint and shape them and redirect them. And we don't need to look back and complain about why the generation is one way or the other. We just need to say, let's just continue to hold their hands and move them forward.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

No, that's so good. That's so good. And I think it always goes back to speak life and not death, right? How do you tackle that from that perspective? You know, speaking life over somebody. And it's such a reminder to do that, that we have the ability to do that. And I think as creatives, as these storytellers, this art of storytelling now becomes even more of an opportunity for us to highlight that specific piece. Let's speak life rather than death. You know, Jesus was such, I mean, throughout the whole Bible, right? But the Lord is such a great storyteller. But Jesus was the ultimate storyteller. And he really identified identity within his disciples and how to navigate this world. And I think it's critical for us as believers to do the same thing. How are we speaking into the next generation so that it's not defining themselves on what they see on social media, but it's defining themselves by what the Lord has called them to, right? You know, and I guess that kind of leads me to the question of one of the things I think is such a staple is how does Tiffany define success? What does that look like for you in your life? Define success. Obedience to the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

It'll always start with obedience. There's some things that you are called to that other people are not called to. And it's not really about the way I compare myself to other moms or to other ministries or to other ministry leaders. There's plenty of ministries who are not doing what I'm doing. I actually have a friend who's constantly like, nobody's doing what you're doing. And I'm like, that's okay. Like, I don't need another ministry to do the same thing that I'm doing. I just need to be super obedient to the Lord. So that's the first thing. At the end of the day, I hope I can look Jesus in the eyes one day and say, I've been faithful to the things. When I heard your voice, I said yes. The next step I would say, did I do it with fruit? Did I have the fruit of the spirit as I obeyed? There's a lot of ways to engage in kingdom work that doesn't actually carry the father's heart. And so was there fruit when I did it? That would be that would be a big like litmus test for me. Personally, as a family, I my dad always had a phrase, he was like, I don't need to be famous to everybody, but just to three people. And he was really always referring to his three kids. And so I think on some level, there it's funny how like the creative world can sometimes get like very connected to like stardom and fame or views or life. Like there's all these measurements, right? And that's fine. But if no one knows me but my kids think I'm famous, my kids still love Jesus after watching the way I loved Jesus and followed him. Like those are lifelong things that we journey for forever. You know, like I'm gonna be constantly assessing and gauging that.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

I love that. I think that's such a great way. And I love how you just came right out and said obedience, like that is success, obedience. Because that's that's such a moment for all of us. You know, I heard this great message not long ago where it was talking about obedience, and it said, from the time that you're called until the time that you actually step into your obedience is the enemy's playground. And so I think it was really an eye-opener for me too, to be to be very discerning, to say, okay, Lord, I've heard the call. I'm gonna dig deep now and pray and fast, and I'm going to really seek you, making sure all things, and then I'm going to be obedient. And I'm not going to do it when I think all the pieces line up. I'm going to do it immediately. Once I have that complete, you know, that moment there with you, Lord, and you're like, go, I'm going to go because that's the obedience. Second piece that you said is the fruit. It's one of the most important things that we can see as believers. We can see fruit from people's lives and ministries and a lot of what they do. And so when we can see that fruit that will stand the test of time, that's also such an important part of what we do as believers and or see and want to step into to even be a part of. What's the fruit look like? I always say, do a fruit test. Do a fruit test. If you literally can't step into something and see the fruit from whether it's a company that you're going to go work with or a ministry that you're going to go work with, or even somebody's life that you're engaging in a relationship with, you can't see if you can't do the fruit test and it's not there, it might not be the place that you should be, right? Because that we should be able to see that.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Well, I think fruit is going to give you a gauge of like, so one, I would say Holy Spirit fruit is is your character, but then you you start to see kingdom fruit as well. So it's like, was I faithful with the resources God gave me? Or is there kingdom impact? Are there people being impacted? What has the Lord called me to? Like all of those are like beautiful little gauges. And and yeah, Jesus cares about fruit. Like he cursed the tree that wasn't bearing fruit. Like he he pays very close attention. But then he says in like John 15, he's like, Abide in me, abide in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches. And and it that presumes that if we're the branches, there should be fruit coming off of us, like heavy fruit moving, like growing forward. So yeah, I agree. Jesus loves fruit.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

He does. I'm always like, do the fruit test. Not low-bearing, but like, do the fruit test. It's so good. What what do you think? Because you're you've you're putting your hands to a lot of things, and we'll talk a little bit about that. But what do you think that there was, was there a turning point in the career that changed everything from you? I know you've stepped into ministry, but I feel like you're kind of you're you're doing a lot of stuff now into production and directing as well. And and so do you feel like there was a turning point for you?

SPEAKER_00 21:54

I would say it's always gradual. There were definitely key moments where I could I'm consistently hearing from God. So it's not like, oh, this one moment. I would say there's like a hundred. Like I could literally list off to you dreams I heard I had in the night, messages I would hear, being grounded in scripture, just different like hearings from God. So ultimately, wherever I am has got to be in alignment with where does the Lord continue to nudge and open doors and make way. I actually have a phrase, follow the favor. Like God would just continue to favor these things, like bring grace upon these moments. So so that's very exciting to be able to like lean into that while I and I and I've learned to be a both and kind of girl. Like I both and I love preaching, I love unpacking God's word. I love taking his word and then seeing it in a cinematic way. And so it's an interesting nudge, but the better I get at one usually impacts the other as well. So it they both are sharpening moments of how I communicate, how I grow myself, how I empower others. And all of them carry a lot of spiritual weightiness. In general, I think it's been just this sweet, like gradual path. Um, I still am very actively engaged. I'm leading in my kids' ministry, I'm I'm preaching, I'm leading, I'm baptizing kids. Like, like there's I'm still like fully engaged in ministry while also prepping and praying for what production can look like and dreaming bigger than ever, which is really exciting. I think this has been a cool journey where God's taught me to dream again in his language, like dream for the things he's dreaming for. So I wish I could tell you like there was this one there, and there are like there's definitely like key milestone moments where you can see God awakening something, he's bringing um the teams together. There it is, the fruit. It's truly like there's so much fruit on this. Keep moving forward, but it's definitely been a both and and it's very sweet. And I've learned that my gifting is not going to be held back by a title either. Whether I have a title of a ministry title for now or next week or the rest of my life, that's just a title. But I can live in my gifting for my whole life. And so that could look like filmmaking, that could look like ministry. It doesn't have to be within the same box that I've always seen it in. Leadership isn't about titles, ministry isn't really about titles. Being obedient isn't really about titles, like it's just being fully present to what the Lord's calling you to.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Hey friends, if you're enjoying today's episode, we'd love your support. Hit like, subscribe, comment, and share this video, which helps us grow the channel that directly supports the women in my world and our mission to develop, educate, and launch Christian women in the entertainment and media industry. Every action you take truly makes a difference in our ministry. And now we'd like to share a brief video about the heart and mission behind the women in my world. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with us. Hi, I'm Sherry Ritby, the founder of the Women in My World. Our goal is simple but powerful. We focus on developing, educating, and launching Christian women in entertainment and media. Our aim is to train up emerging talent, empower them to craft impactful, God-honoring content across various platforms, and contribute to positive global change through leadership roles. We invest in women by providing opportunities to learn essential skills in their desired field. Through hands-on education and on-the-job training, we build a community of like-minded women who shepherd others to grow and flourish in their careers. The Women in My World has helped support and launch women into key positions, such as producers, script supervisors, production and costume designers, directors, makeup and hair artists, and so many more. These women have gone on to expand their resumes and their relationships, which have provided opportunities to work on major network television shows and feature films. Due to the small percentage of Christian women and decision-making roles and entertainment, believers must invest in their training, mentoring, and discipleship. These women can then become a voice to change in the negative narratives influencing our culture and shed light on topics we desperately need to tackle from a biblical worldview. The women in my world is honored to help support women and their careers in entertainment and media as they bring redemptive stories to life and uplift, encourage, and influence the world for Christ. So I want to talk a little bit about how you maintain a posture of this relentless, I should say, prayer to stay spiritually grounded while you're working in an industry like what we work in. It's so important to stay connected to the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

If I do it without the Lord, it's my own work and it's going to fall apart. Like, or I'm going to ruin it. Like I will absolutely ruin it, even in my best efforts, is the grace of God. I do think God has been really sweet to me to give me a lot of years of hiddenness, just being hidden in Him. And I've had a lot of, I remember when I stepped away from my pursuits for acting and film industry. I remember immediately thinking, like, I can have kids now and I can have a family now. Like there were a lot of pressures at that time that was like, you know, you your hair needs to match the headshots and you can't like be pregnant or this. Like you had to like, there's just a lot of different restraints and these weird things. And I just had dreams of having a family and having a strong family. So I feel like I've had years and years. I've been married to my husband 22 years, and I'm just thankful. I'm thankful that like I've had a lot of time to celebrate him. We've gotten to grow up together, grow up in ministry together, support one another. Like God's been building a ton of unity with us as a family. And that comes out of like a deep relationship with Jesus, keeping your heart so pure. Like so, so pure. I think I'm it's like little soapbox. I'm so disenchanted with like celebrity church and celebrity ministry. Like it's so like I just like that's not what this is about. It's about Jesus and his bride. And like, are we are we more enamored with ourselves than we are him? Like, if we can stay in this pure space of like awe and reverence and wonder and purity, then he can do anything with that. Like he can do anything with humility, but pride, like he'll just push it away. And so I think it's just been years of cultivating a a time for the Lord, raising my children, being close in the Lord in those seasons, building like principles and practices for me that have just layered like years of depth where I feel like he's just now getting to a place where maybe he's got something to say through me. You know, like I remember, I remember when I was in college and someone was like, What would you want to do? And I remember I said, I really feel like I want to write stories. And I remember immediately hearing in my head, but you don't have any stories. And it was like such a clear negative, like, ugh, and I remember for quite a few years through my 20s thinking, I don't have any stories. I don't like that's just not me. I'm too sweet or too whatever. And I actually feel like that was the enemy, really trying to like pull something that the Lord had intended for me. Yeah. And in that time, God was giving me depth to create wonderful stories. Like He was giving me all of that context for years and years. And so when it was time to write something, it wasn't that hard. It was just time. Does it make sense? Yeah, oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

And I think the obedience factor, I love that, you know, and there's a couple things that I just keep thinking about and just to to navigate to. And because one of the things, and I'm we're gonna talk about it in a minute, because you work with your husband and your widows and on these projects. But before we go to that and talk about that, because I think that's the coolest thing. I keep telling my husband, I'm like, don't you want to do something in the industry so you and I can be together? It's like so good. I'm gonna do quality time farmers, you know. So, but we'll go, we'll we'll hit that in in a in a second. But before we go there, I want to talk a little bit about the content that you have created because you're talking about writing and you have the enemy who's telling you something that you don't have any stories to tell. And all of a sudden, first of all, you're basically discipling and walking along and shepherding the little lambs, right? So you're creating these stories. So talk a little bit about some of the some of the resources that you've created for the children and the ministries that you you're part of, and maybe which one was your favorite? And also, if it was your favorite, was it the hardest one to write?

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Ooh, those are really good questions. Um, okay. Well, so when I create a series curriculum for our children, there's always like two combos. One is I always start obviously by asking Lord, like, what do you want to say to our children? Like, what is the now word? What is the thing you have to say to them? And there's usually like this overarching theme. I teach in an expository structure, which means we'll pick a book of the Bible and like go chapter by chapter. So that way the word is getting to reveal itself through it and it's not hopping all over. That was one thing that I really had a hard time with with a lot of curriculums was it's kind of like if I were to teach you the ABCs and I started with the letter Q, and then I and then I went to P, and then I went to uh D, and like it's like all over the place. And you're like, okay, okay, you know, trying to put together. That's the way I felt spiritually on a scripture level, is like I just want them to understand the word because one day I will not be there to unlike unpack everything for them. And they need to know what's in the Bible, where do we find it? What is this whole chapter about? And so those are like some structural kind of things that I will put into place of like on a teaching level. From the cinematic side, I always just say, what's the world? Like, what world do we want to bring our kids to? And what world would that like tie really well to this message? So, like, one series was called The Hidden Crown, and it was in the book of Luke. And as I studied Luke, it was clearly all about Jesus establishing his kingdom. So the world was beautifully knit together as a kingdom story with a castle and princess and like warriors and like sword fighting and everything about the scriptural language was beautifully tied to the cinematic language. Awesome. Like it meant everything was a wonderful object lesson. So that was super fun. But I would say, like, there have been quite a few that have been fun. The recent one, our Saints series, which was like kind of our spy series. I mean, secretly, I'm like a big like I like Mission Impossible. I like all of the fun. I love all the twists. I love, I love like pull the mask off of the face, and it's like, ah, like I love all the surprises. So I was definitely geeking out a little bit. But what was really fun was it became a series a lot about identity. And we did unpack, like in each person in the Bible that we were looking at, we were talking about the unseen greatness that God had positioned in that person. And each person has it. And so, like in our spy series, we are seeing something that others can't see, and we're protecting someone with unseen greatness, and it's all about identity. Like, so much about that series was about identity, which is very fun when you have some people who are undercover, some people are changing costumes and this and that. And it's like, oh, it becomes a very fun way to approach a deep concept. And I would say, probably that's probably like a good tie for me in general, is I'll take something really deep and hard and then make it fun. I don't know how. I it's just like it's just the language. Like, if I'm talking about repentance, sometimes I somehow I'll make it super fun. If I'm talking about steps of obedience and being very systematically intentional step by step, and it turns into this like super fun creative thing. If we can mix fun into deep spiritual things, like kids will like latch on and enjoy it so much. So, but yes, when you said what's my favorite, the favorite things are always the hardest things. The hardest things we do are always the best memories. Like we have like key phrases with our crew. Like, it's not, it's it was cold that day, but it wasn't hidden crown cold. And the reason I say that is because we filmed in the woods in the snow for the entire winter, and it was a level of cold no one should experience. And it was so it was like and so, but like, but it's like a joke now. Hardest thing we did didn't feel my feet for a couple days after filming, you know, but like hardest thing, but best thing. The hardest times were like we're working for something really valuable. Guardians was a great series, actually, as well. And it was uh that that was a series that was like treasure hunting, and we had so many locations. Like we were literally, I think we had about 30 locations, like major, not set changes or like setups, like full-on different locations where we got to film at the great sand dunes. We went to like ancient, ancient ruins. We got to film at we get we would go to waterfalls, we would film underwater. We did a whole underwater scene, and oh my gracious, like we were filming underwater and teaching about salvation and how without a savior to come down and rescue us and pull us up out, we would be nothing. Like that's exciting to me when the hardest thing you do is now tied directly to kingdom eternal things. That gets me pretty fired up. So I know I just like I just saw them peppered all over the place. I love all of them. No, no.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

Well, I think what it is too is that we we, as those called, you know, that are called into this creative atmosphere that God calls us to. It's exciting because we get to tackle and then we get to tell the testimonies about what we had to go through in order to navigate to get to the finish, right? To get to the finish line. And that's what makes those stories and what we do just it, it, I don't know. I maybe I guess the only word I can think of is like epic. It makes it epic, you know, it makes it, we really do have to lean in on the Lord. I I I was telling someone, and and this is kind of an interesting moment for me in my life, but I remember hearing myself for years, I I had written a devotional, and um I was I kept saying, this is gonna be the easiest thing that I've ever done. It's gonna be so easy, and it's gonna, it's I'll fly right through this. No big deal. It's uh, you know, and I just I had this like mindset of that's the way it was gonna be. And I kept saying that out loud. And when I got to the point of where I was actually writing the devotional, it became the hardest season of my life. Oh, not only me diving into this devotional, but I shouldn't say the hardest, but one of the hardest seasons of my life. And to continue to keep pushing forward, but to see again the fruit, the obedience, making something go, oh, wait a minute, Lord, you were all over that and in that. And so you just took me through a storm that could give me a deeper well for me to pour forth and do a devotional that I probably wouldn't have been as deeply grounded in. And that's the power of it, to look back. And I'm sure you have stories like that with the curriculum and the things that you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Yeah, I I think that's just the way the Lord works. He's so good at working through all of it. And so the minute you think you're making someone for something else, God will reveal to you, actually, it's gonna start with you. And this is a mess, this is a message. This is a this is gonna be deeper than you think it is. And I can go back through all of my series where like if there was a key mantra in a series or like we're like declaring this or a major breakthrough, it had to come through us first, which is honestly something I would tell my crew. I would say, hey guys, we we I would like have like a devo at the beginning of film day every day, and I would say, like, what we're about to create is gonna translate in this way for our kids. And I want you to experience that too and carry it yourself. Because if you can actually get a heartbeat for what God's doing in this moment, you're gonna authentically carry this story and it's gonna translate. And it there are things that like for the budget, for the for the skill, like there's times when people are like, How did you know how to write that? And I'm like, I had a G I had a quiet time with the Lord, and He just gives me stories in my quiet time. Like, I absolutely don't deserve it, but there's grace when you're willing to engage with God. I just am consistently amazed by how God is so deep and so good. We don't treat our kids' content like, oh, it's just for the kids. Like, we are getting fed from the Lord in these moments. And these breakthroughs are not just breakthroughs for them, it's in us, it's building our faith as well. So I love it.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

I love it. Okay, so you just mentioned being on set and some of the things that you do. I know when I kick my days off, you know, I've been working with the Kendrix for some time, and we are very much about we get in in the morning, we pray, we do devotional, we honor some, you know, some folks that have been on set doing the work. Talk a little bit about being on set. And then I had said earlier about you get to work with your husband and your son. You might work with all of your kiddos, I'm not sure, but talk a little bit about that and how that is something as you come together as a family and the stories that you're telling, like what does that look like for you as a family? And will that continue to go on? Talk a little bit about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Well, it's an absolute gift to rally together as a family. We have this vision statement that God gave us years ago, which is our family is best friends on mission together, passionately climbing mountains and having worldwide impact and Jesus adventures. And this little phrase that God gave me years ago, like that Luke and I just started praying out, started to happen. Like my kids were toddlers when he gave me this word. So it's kind of like, but we've truly become best friends. We love, we love putting our hands together and and we just like all click in place as a team, which is really cool. Obviously, there's so many more on the team beyond just my little family unit. But it's it's actually a cool thing to see. Like my husband stepped onto a film set because he was like, Your shots are bad. I'm sure I can run camera better. And I was like, perfect. And so he just like stepped in and slowly got better and better at it. Now he's like a really, really strong steady cam operator. And I'm just like, wow, I can just dream up shots and winners and long extended. Like he's done, we we did a five-minute wonder in one scene, and it was like, cause you can do it, because only you can do it, honey. But then he, as a dad, would have vision and he said, I think Noah can pull focus. And so it was like, I mean, Noah's so young, and he was like, I think he can just stay right by me. And Noah has been running focus as a teenager for six years now. Like he's he's a senior in high school and he's sharp, like he's so strong. Like we could make really complicated, detailed shots, and he could like rack here, rack there, hit the focus, follow this person. One time we we were filming off site, his connection to his focus puller like died in the middle of the shot, and he remembered just by memory of watching the scene. And so he was like, I he was literally pulling focus blind, and we did not have to take another take because of focus. Like if I was just like, wow, my daughter is she's a uh teenager and she's been our our second AC for a while, so she's always up there, and I actually was super impressed with her. I have this phrase on film set that I'll say with my team, which is this film set is not boring, nothing but it's boring. And I I feel like I've had to convince people sometimes, like, hey, I shouldn't have to try so hard to convince you to be excited about what's going on in a film set. But some people say, you know, it's like hurry up and wait, and you're sitting around or whatever, but like I just don't think it's boring at all. And she's been so good because she's she doesn't see anything as boring, so which means she doesn't miss a beat. We could be like moving fast and she doesn't miss a shot, she doesn't miss like mismark anything, and she's very intentional. She's been an actress a bunch of times for me, and then my youngest has also been an actress a bunch of times as well. Wow, and it's just fun. They get excited. We hone together as a family, we go on trips together for filming. It's been quite a joy. And I don't even know necessarily if that's gonna be like, are they gonna be creating films for the rest of their lives? I don't know, but I do know that we love doing this together as a family. And so God is is forming something together with us, and then as they continue to grow up, we're just gonna keep celebrating their gifts. Um, but it but it's been a really fun adventure, really, really fun.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

I love that. I love the partnership in that too, you know, how you guys work together and especially you and your husband. It's such a great, I just love that model. Matt and I, we work together in our other companies and we really enjoy the process of that and doing business together and being partners. Like that is something. We feel even biblically, we're called to be partners. You know, we sharpen one another. And, you know, I love Matt always comes to me and he says, I think the Holy Spirit speaks to you more. So could you tell me if this is a good idea or a bad idea?

SPEAKER_00 44:15

That's like a husband right there. Right. That's a God-fearing man who's like, I want to hone in on what God's saying to you. That's the keeper.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

It's fun to see how the Lord uses us together, uses our strengths. And, you know, he's an incredible businessman. I mean, really, really incredible businessman. I think, gosh, you know, I just love how the Lord brings us together because he's able to go, This is the talents and gifts I've given to him or to her. And now watch how I'm going to use you guys together to do something for my kingdom to glorify my name. As we start to wrap up, the women who are listening, I think so often there the question always is, you know, I don't think that I have a story to tell, or my story might not matter, or my talent might not be at this level. You know, what would you say to a woman who's listening or watching that she feels like her creative calling is maybe too small, or maybe it's even too late in the season of her life? What would you say to her?

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Number one message the Lord's been saying to me for several years is you didn't miss it. So I'll just say that to whoever's listening right now. You didn't miss it. God is so much bigger than the timeline and the schedule that we think we can see right now. He's so much bigger than that. So you didn't miss it. He's weaving these things together. He's gonna utilize you, and I believe you're right on time. Uh God will open windows of opportunity and they might look different. And as long as you stay humble, you will be right where you need to be. Like stay humble. Stop worrying about building yourself as much as you are just like hearing from God consistently, consistently obey him, consistently seek him, and then he might just be the one who just like gives you that little nudge at that time. I think there've been times when it would be easy to compare and say, Well, if my gift isn't this or I don't look like this, or I don't have all the amazing things that Sherry Rigby has, we could all look at someone else and like compare. It's such a waste of time. It's such a time. And it and it will hide, like it will like steal from and hide the actual inner thing the Lord wants to say through you. So typically the great things he wants to do through you are just that. They have to make their way through you. It's similar to what you said, Sherry. Like you you had this book and or this devotional, and it was like it had to come through you, which meant it had to be felt through you, experienced through you in a raw way, in a woman way. Like it had to come. And so I just really know that there's actually something deeper and bigger. Our God is that big. If if you think you're too late, your God is too small right now. He's he is not bound by time, he can turn water into wine in a second. He can he can manage and move and shift things. It's just start start somewhere, begin with a first step. And I would say my first step was not even because I was seeking it out. Like I literally became a kids pastor because someone quit. Yep. Like I'm doing what I'm doing right now because someone else resigned. And and someone said to me, Hey, can you run kids church in in a week? And I was like, sure. I had no idea that like later they would be like, Well, who do you think is the kids pastor? And I was like, Well, somebody who can love the kids more than me. Like, I started getting defensive when they were gonna like look at hiring someone, and I was like, Ah, this accidentally became something that I love deeply. But it was just because I said yes once. I just said yes. And it can be that simple. It can be as simple as saying, Hey, let's start this podcast and we'll start it small, or we will begin journaling these things, or there's so many creative ways to let the Lord speak through you. And again, when there's fruit, then there's gonna be like a kingdom impact, an eternal impact that the Lord has. It's worth it. It's worth it.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

It's so worth it. I think that what I always want to make sure that I don't do is leave anybody kind of sitting here going, huh? Well, how can I do that? What would you tell someone that thought, man, I'd love to be able to create a kid's curriculum? Or I would love to take a kid's curriculum and turn it visually. What would be three points that you would say to the person who's listening right now, this is where you can start. Here's three ways that you can do this.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

So for kids, I would say get to know your kids. Like, do you know children really well? Know your audience, which is true for probably any story. Really know your audience. Look at what you have to work with and praise so hard. So much praise. And maybe point number four, give yourself a deadline. Like, I think that's one reason people are like, How did you accomplish so much? And I'm like, Because Sunday's always coming. Like, there was always a new Sunday. I always needed a new message, I always needed a new video. So we just kept going. So I do believe the very best creativity is built out of solid deadlines. Give yourself a deadline. Tell someone right now, hey, I'm thinking about doing this. I have several friends who are like, I'm thinking about writing this, or I'm thinking about throwing, and I just let them they I hold them accountable. How's that going? But if you don't have anybody in your world who knows you have a dream or knows to ask what's coming up next, you might not even make those first steps. There's so many resources out there for sure. But start start small, start with wherever you can, and it will grow. If it, if the Lord wants to bless it and you can keep your heart right, he will start growing it and it'll prove itself.

SPEAKER_01 50:05

I always love that one thing post supervisors do really well is they give you a really rough, tough calendar to adhere to, to turn in your deliverables. And so you always have to stay. The course, and I always say to everybody, put that post-production calendar in for yourself so that you can hit the deadlines that you need to, because there is always distraction. There is always things that will come up in life. And so, yes, you can give yourself some grace, but you do have to adhere to a timeline. As we're wrapping up, what is some of the things that Tiffany wants to do? What are you putting your hands to right now? And how can people find you and support you and watch this journey that you're on?

SPEAKER_00 50:48

Well, I'm on Instagram, so you can, I'd love to say hi to whoever wants to reach out, meet me in the DMs. I'd be happy to say hello and connect and whatever. You can see a ton of clips and things like that I've created there on Instagram. So that's at Tiffany Pastor. That's probably an easy way to connect. And I do love that. I love, I just love sharing ideas. I love celebrating each other. My website is just gonna give you a grand, like big picture, zoom out picture of just some of the things we've done, which is fun. Um, I'm working on some upcoming projects, some that are for faith and family, some kids, some more kind of just leaning into some holiday stuff. So still in development, still dreaming and writing. Um, if you wanted to work on a future project, you're like, hey, I would love to meet you. I actually know there's some bigger projects ahead, and I am looking for like who are the people God wants me to work with, whether they're like high-level leadership, creative leaders or producers, or people who just want to be on the crew with me and looking for actors. I know there'll be a collection in the next upcoming season of new people I haven't met yet. And God is super faithful. Like, I remember one time I was doing an Easter project and we were all set to film, and it was a week out, and I still didn't have a Jesus, which you need a Jesus for your Easter project. I was like, The one that you have to get. I need a Jesus, and I just really was like, Lord, and I remember I was literally eating pancakes with my family, and the Lord just said, check this post on Instagram with this person I had thought of. And I found my my Jesus actor who threw an like a trail, you know, an Instagram trail, and it went all through. And I was like, I'm just gonna reach out to this guy, literally reached out to him, and he had just flown in from like Lebanon that day, like and was in was in LA and was like, I can actually do this project. And I was like, wow, only God. If you're feeling a prompting or a nudge to connect with someone who's doing kingdom work, just reach out because you you are probably hearing from the Lord. It's not the devil that told you to go work on a kingdom project. It's the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

That's really that's amazing. Well, I'm I'm really excited for you. And I just know that you're right. There's a lot coming in your season, into this season, a lot of people, a lot of plans. I always say people plan and provision. And as we see those build, we know that we're stepping into something that God is ordaining. So well, I I just want to thank you for joining me today and sharing your heart and your faith and just your art of storytelling and how you've been just really following heart after the Lord and really shepherding his little lambs. And man, I'm so excited, Tiffany, to see what God is gonna do with you and through you. And thank you for just being his hands and his feet through all of these years. And I am really looking forward also to seeing Saints and what you have for that and what's getting ready to go through suddenly films. I think that's gonna be exciting and just so many things. So, anyway, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being a woman in my world. Thank you for just sharing your heart and your ministry. And I know that so many women will be blessed by this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 53:53

Amen. Thank you for making room. You're so intentional about making room for women. I'm honored to be in your world.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

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