"How Prayer Sustains You in a Financial Waiting Season"

What do you do when you’re praying for provision but the answer hasn’t come yet?

Financial waiting seasons can test our faith in ways we never expect. When provision feels delayed and uncertainty grows, prayer becomes more than a habit — it becomes our lifeline.

In this episode of Spirit Sisters, Jenn and Kayla have an honest and faith-filled conversation about how prayer sustains us during seasons of financial uncertainty. They are joined by one of their Spirit Sisters who shares her personal testimony of walking through a difficult financial season and how God met her in the waiting.

Together, they discuss trusting God’s timing, finding peace in the unknown, and recognizing His provision even when it looks different than expected.

If you are in a season of waiting, this episode will remind you that you are not alone — and that God is still working behind the scenes.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Welcome back to the Spirit Sisters, where we share real stories, real faith, and real encouragement for real life. I'm Jen. And I'm Kayla. And we're so happy you're joining us today. Today we're going to be talking about something many people experience but don't always talk about out loud.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Today we're going to be talking about something that most people experience, but we're not just talking about it. We have one of our amazing sisters with us today who's going to share her testimony and her moments where she found herself trusting God with finances that looked pretty. I'm assuming grim. That's a great word.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

That is, that is. Because sometimes the most powerful encouragement comes from hearing how God showed up in someone else's story. Financial waiting seasons can feel overwhelming. It's not just about numbers on paper, it affects peace, relationships, and our faith. Yeah. Yeah. And today we want you to know if you're in that place, you are not alone.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

Scripture reminds us then of Philippians 4.19, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yes. So sometimes the hardest part, as we were talking before we started, is trusting God and the prayer and the provision. So we're so honored today to welcome our very own spirit sister, Casey. Thanks for coming. Thanks for joining with us honor to be here and with you all today. We appreciate that. Give us a little bit of background before we kind of go into your testimony. Yeah. Okay. Who is Casey?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

That's a question I'm asking myself lately. Who am I? What is my identity? Who am I? Well, you know, I'm a wife and I'm a mom of two little girls. And I'm an entrepreneur in the homeschool. Wonderful. And yeah, I don't know. I'm still figuring out the rest of it. Right?

SPEAKER_03 2:55

I think all things are entrepreneur in home in school means.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

What does that mean? So my husband and I have two businesses. We have an advertising agency. That's something that I started when I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2017. So we've been doing that for about eight years. And then part of our story that I'll be sharing today is our second second business that came out, has come out of the season that we've been in, which is a coaching community where we coach Christian entrepreneurs how to advertise them themselves and their businesses.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

That's wonderful. Yeah. So what has the financial season looked like for you guys?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

So we, you know, when I started my business or our business, I started that on the side of working full-time. I I did the hustling and the grinding and worked 60, 70 hours a week and built it up to the point that it allowed both of us to leave our full-time jobs, to leave corporate. And we had a really nice season where we just were growing and growing and growing in our advertising agency without ever having to advertise for ourselves. Like simply word of mouth and referral. It just grew. Yeah. Year over year. And when I started it, I had no plan. My plan was just I don't want to send my child to daycare. Yeah. So and to pay, like basically work to pay for daycare. Right. Yeah. Because at the time I was, I mean, making just enough that it was like just gonna hand my check over to daycare. Right, yeah. You know, and so I had had this thought for a while that I could have my own business. I've been in marketing for a few years, and I saw it as a flexible career to be able to work around life. Yeah. And so got to the point, you know, went through the grind of growing it, got myself out of my full-time job. Chris came out of his full-time job a year later, and it just grew. And we were in a really nice, comfortable place. We upgraded our we bought our first house and then we upgraded our house. And yeah, we were like, we can put our kids in private school. And we, you know, we were just spending, we were spending on things, and we were just enjoying the freedom that it brought for a while. And like I said, didn't have to work very hard to get work. Like it just it just kept growing. And in 2024, I felt God kind of whispering to me that he wanted us to be bold about him and our business. And I'll I'll admit that up until this point, I left God pretty much out of it. Like, besides praying when things would go wrong or a client would be difficult. I was not involving him in strategy, I was not involving him in in decisions. So we weren't praying over our business, we weren't praying over our finances, we weren't doing any of that stuff. We were just doing what everybody else does. Will we do anyway? You know, just going through it, doing it, and learning. And so God was like, I want you to be bold about me and my business. And I said, first of all, no. Second of all, what does that mean? What do you mean be bold about you? Because this was 2024, it's like election year, and we saw a lot of brands and businesses put their stake in the ground one way or the other, like and start really being outspoken about their values and their faith. And you know, I'm in the social media world, so I'm like, I don't know if I can handle all the Karen's in the comments, you know, coming at me and all of that. And I was like, Lord, you didn't give me that thick of a skin, you know. And so he just kept and we wrest I wrestled with him for like a year. Wow. And I never told Chris about it. Yeah, and was just like, I don't think so. I don't think that I don't, I'm not the person for that. Like, I don't think that that's what I'm supposed to be doing, and I don't want to.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Yeah. So why did you think that you weren't the person? Just because of the way you felt, like how you were like, you didn't give me the thick skin to do so. Yeah. Not the fact that what happens if you are obedient and trust in him because he's calling you to do it.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I was just too much in the I wasn't designed for that kind of thing, God. You didn't you didn't design me that way to handle the the opposition that could come. I was thinking about what could happen, the negative implications, right? Yeah. And also the fear of if we start being because we were, we were, I've always had morals and values with who we sign on as clients. If they're like, if I could if they're outwardly against my beliefs, yeah, I would say no. But not every client was a Christian, right? Right, right. I don't even know if our clients knew that we were, and so I'm like, if we are gonna put ourselves out there, we're gonna lose clients.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

And it's also like easy, it's it was easy for you to stay there and not like challenge yourself. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Why would I let it go? Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

That's that's where we get is like we tend to stay in the easy lane.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

Easy in the comfort. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

We're like, well, I know where I'm at, I know my place, I know what works for me. Me, me, not not the big picture, right? But me. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I'm selfish.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Yeah, yeah.

unknown 8:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

I looked around and I'm like, I don't want to lose all this.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

So how like yeah, where was your mind whenever you what what was the moment that you were like, I it's I gotta get it chance.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

So I came across this brand and this founder. Her name's Paula, and she has a skincare brand. And she just showed up in my Instagram feed one day. I was actually thinking that I need some new skincare products, and she had a reel that was like, it was so simple, but it just said we're this kind of skincare brand and not this kind of skincare brand. And she had like emojis that talked about like America and ProGun and Pro Jesus, and we're not, we're not like the witchcraft of new age. Wow. And I started following her, and I was like, wow, and she was very open, she still is just very open about how much she's been attacked for being just so bold in her faith and her values and being a conservative Christian and being a military family and just all the things. And I thought, if she can do it, yeah, I can do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's a client now. Wow. That's so good. That was the moment. That was the moment. And I that was I after I saw that reel and I started following her, and I I came to Chris and I said, Okay, I gotta tell you something about Scott's good assembly for over a year. I mean, what did he say? He said, Let's do it. Why wouldn't we? Yeah, so I feel like doing that, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:06

Don't you like I would have also loved it?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because obviously God puts you together with someone who is different than you.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Yeah, but sometimes I want I want my husband to be just like I am. I want him to be like, sure, I can't believe that. And I'm like, I know, right?

SPEAKER_04 10:24

You know, no, he's the logical one. It's like, of course we would do this.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah, he was like, of course we would. Why wouldn't we? I was like, Because at times we're like, Well, yeah, yeah, God's telling us to do it, we have to do it. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

And I think, so do you feel like with Paula coming into your feed? Do you think that that was a God-given wink for you? Because you weren't answering him. So he was like, All right, this is the only way I'm gonna get you to understand. Is I'm gonna throw this person in front of you. Oh, yeah. You're gonna see this and read this, you're gonna see the success that they have. And maybe if I shove this right here, but can she say something about she looked successful on the outside?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah, she came to me. We we got connected, and she came to me, and she was actually on the verge of bankruptcy with her business. Yeah, she had just had a conversation with her husband about I don't think that I can keep they've been a business for nine years, and she's just like, I can't make payroll. I I can't I can't make it. I need something to happen. And she told me the Holy Spirit woke her up in the middle of the night and prompted her to reach out to me. Wow, and we have we were in the background working on creating this program to coach Christian entrepreneurs with their advertising, right? But we hadn't put it out there for the public yet to know to she had no idea. Yeah, and she just slid into my DMs and was like, Hey, can I just book a call with you? You know, can I just pay you for your time? I'm I'm running ads. This is what we focus on is running paid ads. And she was like, I'm running ads and I'm spending a lot of money, and I can't figure it out. I mean, it's not working. And so we had one coaching call and it turned everything around from her for her. And in 2025, she literally went from bankrupt to viral. Wow. In 2025. She her business is up 58%. She made an extra $100,000 last year. The year that I lost $100,000.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

She gained. She gained.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

So tell me about it. Tell me your emotions. I mean, I'm gonna not gonna lie, like the flesh gets a little jealous of you, right? Oh, yeah, Lord's like where's my hundred?

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Why why her and not me?

SPEAKER_05 12:41

Yeah, can I at least have it back? You know, can I have half? Yeah. A quarter? A hundred dollars?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

But you know, I'm I've realized through the season that God has had to break me of a lot of things, but the biggest thing is pride.

SPEAKER_03 12:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Which we were just studying our life group or set in James and talking about pride, pride is the sin that God hates He hates the most. And it's the thing, it's the sin that leads to other sins.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, sometimes you don't need it's the sin that hides, like hides what it really is, and it looks like something else. But when you bow it down and you like break your mold, it's pride.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

I mean, my our business, and I I keep hearing me keep correcting myself, and that's because I've called it my business, my business, my business. And part of you know, the process is realizing it's not just mine. It's shared with my husband, one, but it's got. Yeah, it's got business. That's good. Um, but for me, like I am I'm an achiever. Okay, and I'm award to affirmation. And I like it when people are like, look at you!

SPEAKER_05 13:54

Look what you built, look what you did, girl.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

You did that raising a baby, you did that working, you know, another dog on the side. Like, wow, you are your mom. Wow, look at Bob. You can't I came from blue collar. I mean, my parents live paycheck to paycheck. I'm the only one in my family with a college degree. Yeah, you know, so it's like, look at me. I come from a real small town, and I want people to see me, right? I want people to see like what I've done. That's where I came from. So I'm you know, God's like, girl, no, no, it's not about you. Yeah, because you're into the city. Why is that this whole success story up until this point has been me all along? And the our financial situation is because God has put us here. Yeah, He showed us that He purposely has pruned our business, yeah. He purposely stripped and it all it was like a domino effect when it all went out. It started with our biggest client that we'd had for several years, like went in a different direction, and then they all just started going in a different direction. And in like three months, we went from making $25,000 a month to five thousand dollars a month. Just like that. It was just crumbling, it was just everything around me was falling apart, all of it, and I'm like, what the heck is happening? Right, what is going on? And and we were getting amazing results for our clients too. It wasn't like we were not, you know, things weren't happening for them. And this was all after we like finally, like, I said, Okay, God, I'll be obedient. Okay, selling me thought obedience meant like blessing was just gonna fall down. Yeah. I finally said yes, Lord, so So you're gonna bless me. So you're gonna bless me now because I finally I know I've been arguing.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

I say yes, and you're automatically gonna do whatever.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

As soon as I say yes, that's all you needed. It wasn't you just need to say yes, and now it's just gonna beflick it. Because you went from a believer to a disciple, yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Two different things, yeah. Yeah, believer, external or internal, disciple, external. Yeah. So you went from, oh, I believe we have faith we're going to do, we do this, to following, obeying, doing what he's called you to do to now leadership, discipling, showing what we're doing. Our business is God centered. So now these people are gonna be like, eh, we don't nope, nope, but he is essentially slowly changing circumstances, putting people on the path that you need to have, and rebuilding everything that you essentially had.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Yeah. When everything started crumbling, I really was like a child on the floor having a temperature on.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

It's hard for a couple of weeks. Yeah. Lord, why? You know, I I I mean, I said yes, and and I get it, but like also why like everything all at once? Do you just have to like take it all at once? Yeah. Like it couldn't just be this like like slow thing, you know? Yeah and it we're still okay and we're building something else. I mean, and at this point we didn't even know we were gonna be building something else.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

So we didn't know what was coming out of it. All it was just everything was crumbling, and that tests every area of your life, not just your personal faith, it our marriage. Okay, it's gonna actually be.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Yeah, how did it change the dynamic in the household?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

I mean, it was hard, it was very stressful. You know, it was stressful until I came to the point of surrender, but getting to that point was hard. Yeah, and there was just so much, so much fear, so much anxiety, so many emotions on both sides. I mean, even Chris, you know, he struggled with it too, was just like you know, yeah, and I'm like, you're the one who's only gonna do it.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

If you would have just been on my club, ask me the baby.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Yeah, but you know, it's funny, we were talking about it. I I've been having a you know, leading up to today, I would say, like the last few weeks have been really hard. Yeah, and I've been just in a real like mental space of struggling and just talking to God and and taking it to him and and had some emotional moments and I was like crying the other night to Chris, just whining, just being whiny, you know, like I don't want to like feel I don't want to seem like I'm ungrateful or like I don't, you know, that we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing. But do you ever just kind of miss what life was like before? Right, you know, when like we just had money to spend and we can we didn't have to think yeah about it. Can I literally had to make this decision in the day? Like, can I afford to buy my kids new underwear? Yeah, is it in the butt channel? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like yeah, can every single expense we have to think about and we have to really like can we do it? And before it was like, yeah, sure, you know, and like we we weren't putting things on the credit card. I mean, we weren't irresponsible. We just had the cash flow, right? You know, and I said, Do you ever just like miss it? Because it was fun, you know, to have the money. He's like, Yeah, he said, But you know what? Everything that this season has has changed in our life, like our marriage is stronger than it's ever been. We're closer than we've ever been. Our family is closer than we've ever been, our kids, you know, just like our faith and what God has done. He said, I wouldn't trade it. Yeah. For all the money in the world. Yeah. And I said, I know you're right. I wouldn't either, but like it would be nice to just go buy something for fun. Exactly. Yeah. He's like, no, I he's like, I've I would like to, but I wouldn't I wouldn't want to be back in that place. Right. Because we were succeeding in our business and we were financially just in a great place, but I was my health was hard. I mean, it was bad. Yeah. Our marriage was on the rocks. My kids were fighting all the time, they were having nightmares. I mean, there was just like so much stuff happening in our house that has changed because of this season.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

And so even now, like this month, we're in the red. Yeah. I thought we were coming out of it and we're back in it. And it's like we have to trust.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Yeah. Yeah. But I can look back at the last year and I can see, and I and I wrote things down every single time that God showed up and made it happen.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

That was gonna be my next thing is like where what where's the praise? Like, where do you see his god links and those small little blessings along the way? Because you know right now that I know there are so many listeners, Kayla and I included, and you know our circumstance. Sort lost his job, shy of Jeff's 30-year career. Everything we've had, built, done, poof, gone. You know, and you're rebuilding, you're rebranding, you're looking at things, you're being called up to do more. So you're like, okay, God, all right, that's the thing. All right, that's it. We agreed to be hauled, we agreed to do this, we know. But but finding, you know, like I can sit back to you and go, okay, this was a godling. This was a god wing. And you have to like, I feel like, don't you feel like you just have to hold on to those moments? Like hold on to that phrase just as much as you can because that next week is like not really sure where we're No, I'm not really sure what's gonna happen. You know, wedding to still pay for and college to still pay for, and things that still happen. Life still happens. Yeah. Doesn't stop. But you know, so what were those? What were those for you guys? What was that for you and Chris to look back and go?

SPEAKER_01 22:17

There were so many, there were so many things. I mean, just so many. But you know every month we would look at the budget, and it was so depressing. Because we're like, yeah, okay. And we we cut everything. We cut private school. I know. I mean, immediately it was like you're homeschooling now, there was no plan, you know. So we cut everything out that we could. And this still wasn't enough. Yeah. And we actually met with Pastor Diana in the beginning phase because I was just desperate. And I felt like the Lord was telling me I needed to seek wise counsel. And he put Pastor Diana on my heart because they, you know, her and her husband have a business in their ministry and they're successful. And and I just needed someone to like tell me what to do. Tell me what to do. Like, what am I supposed to do? And she reminded me, you know, God's economy is not the world's economy. Right. And she said, Don't shrink back. No, be smart, but don't, because I went into panic mode. We were like, do we sell the house? Do we move into an RV? You know, like we're looking at the different states of America you can live. We're all done the same thing.

SPEAKER_05 23:43

Nine months in whatever money.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Literally like texting my friends that I that live in Arkansas, like, what's the lots of living there? What a good place to live, what are schools like? And just like trying to figure it out on my own. Yeah. But God, you know, he's so good. And he he pays the bills every time. You know, in some. He always does. We had we just we had a check come in the mail from IRS saying that they owed us money. When does IRS ever spend the money?

SPEAKER_04 24:22

If it's germ psychic, I'm not arguing.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

And didn't even tell me he was gonna do it. And he texted me, he's like, Are you sure? He's like, Yep. I'm supposed to give this to you. When we launched our, we started running ads for our coaching program, you know, to get clients for that. And the very first I was running like intro calls for that, free calls. The very first call we had was with this woman. Um her name's Caitlin, and it was just like God was, I mean, the Holy Spirit shot up in that conversation. She texted me, I don't know, sometime after we had talked, and she said, What's your Venmo? And I'm like, Oh, well, we don't we don't take Venmo for like clients. She was like, No, what's your Venmo? I'll send you something that same week. Okay, we go to the beach every year, at least once, you know. And Chris had we kind of got in this pattern of being negative and like, oh, I really wish we could go to the beach, really wish that you know, it's really a bummer. We can't go to beach. I said, you know what? We need to turn around how you talk about this. And I said, I'm not gonna put a lid on what God can do. Who's to say the Holy Spirit doesn't tell somebody there's plenty of people at church who have beach houses, there's plenty of people. Who's to say the Holy Spirit doesn't tell someone go give the Brinkmans a vacation because they went through the rain or me? The next day we go to his parents' house, and his mom basically is like, I think we all need to go to the beach, and my dad and I are paying. And we and we got to go to the beach for free. They gave us gas money, they gave us grocery money, and we got to go to the beach for free with our family for a week. And Caitlin, as I was saying, was she also sent us money. She didn't know what we were going through. We were we were needing to find a situation for our dog to board our dog, which you it's expensive, it's expensive, yeah. Yeah, she sent us the exact amount we needed to board because I was stressed, and again, I'm like, well, what are we gonna do with Molly? Like, where's she gonna go? What are we gonna do? You know, Chris was like, just let go, like it'll figure it'll figure it'll all work out, you know. And and that night, she's texting at 10 o'clock at night. I'm supposed to send you something. Those are the things that just kept on happening through this whole season. You know, yeah. And then there were times where things like that weren't happening. We had to make decisions. We had to sell our really nice John Deere, brand new John Deere on lower, so you can pay the forgiveness. Yeah, so you can pay. Yeah, the mortgage was late. We were behind on the mortgage, we were behind on my car payments. Uh-huh. We've sold everything we can sell without like, you know, gutkeeper furniture. So the place to sit and place to sleep, but there's nothing left to sell. We don't feel like God's telling us to sell our house. And it just yeah, it's just enough.

SPEAKER_02 27:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

It's not abundance, but it's just enough.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

Yeah. We we've been very blessed to be able to have family to be able to do that and help and do house-wise. I'm right there with you though. Because that was like my immediate thing a few months ago. I'm like, I don't know if we're gonna have Thanksgiving in house. I don't know if we're gonna be here. We're I don't know what we're gonna do. And Sarah and I praying, praying, praying, and then he's like, we can't sell the house because I have a feeling you know, your aunt is gonna be living with us. I'm telling you, your aunt's gonna be living with us. Sure enough, that's what we did New Year's Eve. Moved her aunt. So we wouldn't have been able to do that had we sold the house, right, you know, and live somewhere else or an apartment where she can't walk upstairs, right? You know, yeah. So I I I'm right there with you with those little things that happen in the Greece and that he's doing and he's helping and providing in every way that he possibly can. It's just it's a matter of that we need to just sit back and trust and know and and rely, but it's so hard. It's so hard because that's I feel like that's the first thing that Christians do is throw their faith away instead of pulling that in and really grasping it and leaning in on that and stopping and just praying over all circumstance, praying over your finances, praying over that check that needs to come, praying over the job that needs to happen.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

Not just praying, it's not just praying either. Yeah, it's taking hold of the authority that we have in Christ. That's good. Yeah, yeah. You know, God, like and reminding God what his word says. God, your word says, look at the lilies, look at the sparrows. Yeah, they do know that lack, they lack for nothing.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

You know, your word says that those who are who are righteous that we are gonna be taken care of on parenting, but basically, you know, like yeah, you know, we're we don't have to worry, right? And how many times does the Bible say do not worry or do not fear?

SPEAKER_02 29:32

Yeah, all these things, try and disobey, you know, and it is hard because we are human and we live in our flesh, yes, yes, and the world around us and the world around us that's loud, yes, but also we fall into that comparison.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

We we look at what other look at them, look at what they have, look at how their business is going, look at how their kids are dressed, yeah, you know, and and we just go down the list, but like we don't know if their word God wants them to be or not. Yeah, we don't know what their story is, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and I think God wants us to stop looking around at everybody else and look up.

SPEAKER_02 30:23

Right. Oh, yeah, for sure. I can't agree with that word.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

That's the season that you know my husband and I have been in for probably what, two years now? Probably two years, I'd say or take. So, like when we moved here in 23, the whole reason we moved because my husband got a promotion. Praise God for that. Amazing. I for the first time got to be a stay-at-home wife. Like I didn't know what that, you know, I didn't know how not to work.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:49

But God was providing like a way for him to to financially, we were we were fine taking multiple trips a year. If we wanted to go to the beach, he would be like, hey, Friday night, pack around, let's go. Like, no, no ifs, ands, or buts. Taking two dogs with us. Like finding us, you know, like that's a financial burden. Yeah, but we didn't have to worry about it. You know, eat, takeout, never, never, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 31:19

Exact, exactly. Even if it's the Lord's chicken, he doesn't want you to eat another one.

SPEAKER_05 31:25

We ordered that. Yeah, or more just to have a little bit more.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Just so you can sit on the couch.

unknown 31:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

It's not to go anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 31:37

And one day gone. All the yeah, completely. Yeah. We bought this house, we never bought, like, we were based the house that we bought on his previous salary. Yeah. And like I didn't work, didn't I mean, didn't even think about working. And you know, I got really upset. Like, I'm I mean, like, I'm still dealing with it, I'm not afraid to admit that, that the time that I was home, we didn't have any children. You know. So you're like, what? Why? So you take that away, you take it away, and I say that. Yeah. And then you bless me with a child. That outside the home now, both of us are working our high ends off to make ends up. Not we are far more blessed than what we were many months ago. Do not get me wrong. Are we where we want to be? No. But God really, really had to say, you are not stewards of your money.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Like I asked you to that's one of the biggest things that we learned to assume.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

Like, you did not do what what I asked of you. I blessed you with this. You didn't act, so now I have to take it away, and you're gonna have to earn this back. And if it takes you 40 years, like you're in the wilderness, it will take you 40 years till you learn. We're we're getting there. Are we are we of this financial guru mind? No, but every mistake is a lesson, yeah. And every moment that we're like, oh, we shouldn't have done that. Crap. God's grace always meets us. Like when we overspend, he's like, I got you. I got you, but you're gonna have this is you're gonna have to learn a lesson. You're gonna this is a little bit longer that you've got to learn because you haven't fully.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

And it delays, it delays it. Yeah, the thing on the other side, and that's been my thing with God lately, is like, God, I feel like I've I've surrendered this whole thing to you. I feel like I'm doing I'm involving you in everything. I mean, every time I sit down to work, I'm inviting the Holy Spirit in. Like everything that we're doing, we're praying. So is there something that I'm doing that's delaying? Are you keeping me here for a reason? You know, like am I doing something to or is like, or is the breakthrough is close. Like, where's it at? You know, like how close am I to it? And and yeah, but learning that that's what we have so many things have come out of it. Of course, yeah. But the actual financial part is like, you had all this and you did not, we didn't budget, right? We were we had savings, but it wasn't like what should be, and right, you know, we were not being responsible at the same time. You know, our deepest heart is to want to be generous, exactly. Yeah, yeah. But like, if you're not stewarding your money well, you want how can you be generous if you're not stewarding it well? So, you know, when we went through financial beast, again, like I just laugh through the whole through the whole experience because I'm like dove force for eater, yeah. Like God's wanting, you know, love, day, ringsy or hating like the man, yeah, it's it's gonna work.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Well, that was gonna be my cause, like I feel like that's one of our fake lessons is one, the stewardship. Like that's part of, I think, where the circumstances change. When you agree to obey and be at the next level, there's gonna be a little bit of a trial. You you don't God doesn't say, you know, walk with me is easy, you know, we're walking there. Right, exactly. You need to learn how to trust in me for me to be able to provide for you. So you have, you know, the stewardship, the financial piece, you know, we were in that as well. And so learning a lot from that and being better stewards of your finances, and I agree, like you love them, you hate them, whatever. It's good. It's good. Yeah, you know, discipline, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

It's the discipline, which is what our leader talked about in that life group was lack of discipline. Yeah, and I'm seeing that, you know, I I've had a lack of discipline in almost every area of my life. God chilled me now. Yeah. Through this season, I have become I'm in my work every single day. It's the first thing I do before I get out of bed. Yeah, you know, yeah. I have been working out consistently for over a year. Never in my life. Yeah. I mean, I've played sports, but like I was, I just played, I just did whatever the coach told me to do. You know, I wasn't doing stuff in the offseason. Like, what if I'm just like discipline in every area, discipline in our parenting? Yeah, it's hard. It's hard, you know, and just like you have to be disciplined if you're gonna homeschool. Yeah, just nilly it. No, no, you gotta have a plan.

SPEAKER_03 36:50

Yeah, and you have to be like discipline, like with your husband, with yourself.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yes, that's another thing that's come out of this is we have every Friday night is date night. Now, date night right in the season is date nights at home in our bedroom, you know, we're gonna get real creative, but it's on the calendar. It's every Friday night. But that's what you remember the most about.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Yeah, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Like DJ and I like we have we have a one-year-old, so like date nights are well, I don't even know what that is. But previously, you know, when during the transition time, date nights look like all right, I made ice cream Sundays at home. We're sitting on the back porch with the fire pit. Yeah, we're taking a walk with the dogs. Like it's just simple. It's just and like I like people ask me, like, what do you remember the most about when you were pregnant or before Maverick? And I'm like, the moment felt like it was just me and DJ, we didn't have two tick and two nickles to rub together, but like we had ice cream and we were outside and had the best time.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

Yeah, we've gotten really creative with date nights. And before Dina was like, we would just go out and eat at a restaurant with her mom. Right. We were doing anything. No, you're right. Right, right. We have way more fun now, exactly. Yeah, but I mean, just discipline in that yeah of putting our marriage, you know, me learning to put my husband before my kids, him learning how to be weird. It was so funny.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

It was like this is such a weird thing, but like one of the things that God like has taught me, like, I would just buy, like, buy everything. Like, if I won didn't want to cook or whatever, I would just like buy it. And you know, I had to get creative in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

I've learned to cook. Yes, like I love it.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

So I love I love baking. I love prov and there's something very fulfilling about providing your a a meal for your family that you cooked, that you made for your family, you know, like making bread. Yeah, I'm not a sourdough girl.

SPEAKER_04 38:57

Yeah, I guess, please. My husband is. Yeah, yes, I think.

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Listen, I've joked with KC. I'm like, girl, you just need to come to the house and tell me because that is just one thing with my baking skills. I'm just not getting down.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

It took me three years to build the courage to even try it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm like the laziest sourdough person ever.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

So with our for our listeners, and the ladies are gonna be listening, and and you know, I know there it's gonna touch somebody's life because that's mine. Right. We've we we've walked through it. We're we're still walking through it. We are in it. We are in it, we are in it way deep. Um, what can you like, what would you tell them? What would be your thing that you want to like leave them with?

SPEAKER_01 39:48

The biggest thing that I've been sharing with others through this season is to surrender. Yeah, it's easier said than that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

What does that what does that sound like though? I know. So if you were yeah, if you were talking to Casey 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

I know I would rather do, you know, you worry about, I used to be such a worrier. And and when I was growing up, it was like that. I just got that from my from my grandma. You know, it was just like a trait. It was just like that's just part of me. Like I'm just a worrier, just a worrier. Yeah. And I've just also been the type of person that would live in the past, just like rehash things in my mind. Like just, you know, like have you ever do this? You like have a conversation with someone, you get in the car and be like, I wish I would have said this or this or this, you know, every day of my life.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Every day.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Yes, every day. And I used to just live in that, just constantly relive moments in my past, things people said, you know, negative things, whatever. And and I would pray like, Lord, I surrender. But I didn't really let it go. Like I was saying the words, but my heart was like holding holding on to it. And I guess, you know, for me, and I've raised different, but for me, like God had to take everything away. Yeah, He had to make it all just it was so out of my control because I am normally, you know, able to just make things happen. We lose a client, I can get another one. Right, right, right. Yeah, like one door. You need to make more money, I'll find like I'm very entrepreneurial. I've got 50 different business ideas in my mind right now that you know I could so and the Lord was like, it's not about what you can do, you know, it's it's just let it go. Yeah. And I actually was on this Bible study with a bunch of entrepreneur, Christian entrepreneurs, and I don't remember everything that was said. I just remember the guy who's leading it said, Some of you guys need to just tap out. Just tap out. This was in the midst of my I I think it was about two weeks that I was like wrestling with God. Yeah, yeah, angry, yelling at him, yeah, not afraid to admit, cussed him out. He can handle it. Yeah. And you know, and I was one morning, Chris was taking the girls to school just before we started homeschooling, and I was in my bed reading my Bible reluctantly. And the the Lord just met me in that little minute. Yeah. And he was like, You need to tap out, just tap out. You can't do anything. There's nothing that you can do is gonna change your search myth. I had you here on purpose. Yeah, you're here on purpose. I did this, yeah. And I lost it. Like the ugly crying, like it's not just like coming out, you know, and I was just like, okay, like I give it to you.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

That's all I want.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Yeah, I give, I don't know, I don't know what you're doing. Yeah, I don't know what's gonna happen. Yeah, but I give it to you because I don't want to fight you anymore. Yeah, I don't want to be out of your will. I don't want to be disobedient. I want to be blessed.

SPEAKER_03 43:14

Yeah, and I not not my blessed, your blessed. What that looks like you want to do for me.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

You know, and just you wanna use me? I I mean use me. Yeah, because what I'm what I'm doing isn't working, yeah. Just use me. Yeah, right, right. Yeah, I think it's so surrender, yeah, yeah. That's the biggest thing. Yeah, is it's not gonna make it's not necessarily gonna make everything just like fix.

SPEAKER_05 43:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

But in that moment, when I surrendered and I'm ugly crying and I'm just wailing, like literally, like when Psalms talks about. About lamenting, I I did that. I was wailing. I felt the peace that surpasses all understanding for the very first time. And I've been following Jesus for since I was eight years old. Yeah. And I finally had peace. Just different. Yeah. And like, and it's like burning, everything's burning around me. Yeah. But I'm not being burned. Right. No, because he's on the fire that's going to be a good thing. You never will. Right. That's right. And so that peace and those that mind issue that I dealt with my whole life of just like kind of living in the past and and re-gurgitating things. I don't think I don't do that anymore.

SPEAKER_04 44:38

It's amazing. It's amazing. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

I still have moments of stress. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Worry or whatever. But it's the recovery time. It's the recognizing it and going, nope.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Yeah. It's cutting it off.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

It's cut it way off. Yeah. You know, it's cut it way. We Chris and I talked about this the other night. It's that recovery time. Yeah. You know, that's how you know that you're healing. That's how you know that you're being transformed. It's like, how long does it take me to give this up this time?

SPEAKER_00 45:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we usually do like to end in prayer. Would you mind? Yeah. Yeah. Um leaving us in prayer. I think that would be great for you to do so just because you're walking in it. We're all walking in it, but this is more your testimony or your story. And finding knowing that prayer has been there for you and in that financial in constant prayer.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

I mean a constant, a never-ending conversation with God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You have to be. It doesn't matter what I'm doing. I'm talking to him. Yeah. It's been like so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

And learning to trust his heart for you. Yeah. Like trust his plan for you when you desperately want to grab it back and be like, I know best.

SPEAKER_02 45:51

I know myself. I know. Right.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

Can you just open the book and show me where I finally get back to, you know, best of smell how much longer I have to be here before it's going to be over?

SPEAKER_04 46:03

I know.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 46:04

One question for God. How long am I sitting here?

SPEAKER_01 46:11

I'm preparing to lead a Bible study next week. And God gave me the word like the break before the breakthrough. And will you break B-R-A-K-E? Yeah. Or will you break and let him break you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:26

And when it can be broken off.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

So good.

SPEAKER_05 46:30

So good. So good. That's our next episode. I'm the next good job.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

Well, God, I just thank you so much for this opportunity to come together and just share what you're doing in our lives. You know, so often we see the end result. We see, we see the victory. We see all of the success. And, you know, I just really feel like you're wanting, you're wanting us to share the part that nobody wants to talk about. It's the hard part. It's the pit before the palace. It's the the winter season when everything is pruned and dead and ugly. It's the silent season when it feels like you told us something and then we don't hear from you. And we're just supposed to continue to be obedient. We're just supposed to continue pressing forward. And finances is there's a reason why you talk about it so much in your word because you knew that we would grip it so tightly. You knew that we would struggle in this area. You knew that we would be so attracted to what money can do for us, what doors it opens, the success, what it looks like to have that, Lord. But you're calling us to look at provision and blessing and abundance differently. Because yes, we can be blessed and abundant financially, but are we going to have faith no matter what? Will we trust you when the bank account is exploding and when it's empty? To be mouthpieces for you, to lead when we don't want to, to continue pushing forward when we don't know why why or how long we're gonna be here. You're wanting us to build endurance, to build resilience, to persevere because you say that there will be trials. In James it says when trials come, not if they come. When they come, count it all joy. And joy, the Greek word for joy means the awareness of God's grace. So in these trials, in these financial trials, I pray that we would be able to count it joy, not just count the dollars or the lack thereof. Yeah, but we would be able to count it joy to be aware of your grace in every moment and to surrender. And surrendering is not a one-time thing, is what I'm worrying. It's a daily, sometimes minute by minute choice we have to make to surrender to you and let you work through us and work in the situation, knowing that you are working all things together for our good.

SPEAKER_04 49:39

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

So I just pray for those who are listening, God, who are going through a season like this, that you would give them peace and that you would help them, Lord, to know that you are, they may be in the fire, but you're with them, like Jen said. Right, yeah. You're with us, yeah, and the fire is good because it refines. Yes, it refines us. Gold has to be in the fire to remove all of the impurities. Yes. And don't we want to live a life without impurities? Amen. To be so pure-hearted for you, God. I just thank you and praise you for what you're doing and how our testimony, all three of us, is going to impact so many others and be able to draw them closer to you. And I just thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 50:27

Amen. Amen. That was so good. So I know. I know. So good. So good. Learned a lot. Learned a lot. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Being honest.

SPEAKER_02 50:37

Yes. Yeah. It takes a lot for people to want to be vulnerable and do and share it. You know, you are being God's vessel. You are. By sharing that. You are speaking it. You are totally speaking it.

SPEAKER_03 50:52

So this episode would encourage you. We would ask that you would share it with somebody who may be going through it. You never know what kind of situation they may be hiding. So it could be a bit of a godlink, and he's using you to be a vessel for somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 51:08

Yes, yes, yes. And always remember that prayer sustains you because God never stops working. I mean, so we will see you next time.