SPEAKER_00 0:05

Today I have a very special guest here with me in the studio today. My aunt Katie Hawkins. Go ahead and say hi and introduce yourself. Hi, everybody. I'm Katie. I'm Joy's favorite aunt, I like to believe. And uh yeah. So she's in town with her husband and my uncle Michael watching us. So my parents could go on a little weekend getaway for their anniversary. So it's been really fun. Right now, I'm actually, um, by the time you listen to this, I'm at camp. So it's pre-recorded, but I'm going again because I'm a counselor for junior camp. So um, yeah. So in this episode, we're gonna be playing a game. Um, and then we'll do our highs and lows, and then we'll just ask Katie some questions and try to get to know her a little bit better. So this is a 10-second challenge. So I'm gonna say, like, name five hymns, and you have to try to say five hymns in ten seconds and see if you can do it, okay? Okay. Okay. So the first one.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Wait, do I have five seconds or ten seconds for each one? Yes. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

The first one, name five books of the Bible.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Go. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. That was too.

unknown 1:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

The next one, five fruits, go. Mangoes, pineapple, peaches, strawberries, blueberries. Okay, good job.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

The next one, five animals in the Bible. What?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Oh my goodness. Okay, cows, uh, dogs, pigs, birds. Can I say like a dove and like a crow?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yeah. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

The next one, five ice cream flavors, go. Oh, um, mocha, cotton candy, chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla, chocolate.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Oh, good job.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

The next one, five things you see at church, go. Hymn books, pens, the pastor, uh, a notebook, and the Bible.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Oh, you might have time to use the Bible. Okay, next one. Five things you pack for camp.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Go. Ooh, a toothbrush, a towel, a swimsuit, sunscreen, and bug spray. Good job. The next one, five Bible girls or women. Ooh, okay. Um, Ruth, Esther. Oh my goodness. Eve. Out of time. My brain is slow today. The next one, five hymns go. Oh my goodness. Okay. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. Trust and obey. Uh, amazing grace. Uh out of time. Oh my goodness, I'm doing terribly. Well, you got the first ones good.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

I did. The next one, five desserts go.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Okay. Banana pudding, chocolate cake, ice cream, popsicles, uh, birthday cake.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Good job. Next one, five colors go. Orange, yellow, green, blue, pink. Good job. Okay. So now we can do our highs and lows for the week. So my high was that Katie and Michael got to come and watch us, and we had a fun time. And me, Katie, and my sister Noel actually got to have a girls' day on Friday, and we went to Starbucks and Ulsa and Target, and it was really fun. And my love is that I forgot I was actually going to camp this week. So I was like rushing to get everything I needed and stuff. So yeah, what about you? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Um, my high, oh man, I'm a copycat. My high is probably that we were able to come visit you this weekend because we've had so much fun, and I feel like we've gotten to know you and your siblings so much better, too. So that's been fun. And my love is that I miss my dog. I miss my my precious little golden retriever, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

I'm gonna see him later. Okay, so um, right now we're just gonna try to get to know Katie a little better for the rest of the podcast and ask her some questions. So, number one, tell us a little bit about yourself in three words.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Ooh, okay. Um, talkative, bubbly, and introverted. Introverted. I always see it as like an out, like what's it called? Extroverted. Yeah, I'm like in the middle, I think. It just depends. I have to be really comfortable, and then I like to talk.

unknown 4:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Next one. When did you accept Christ as your savior and what led you to that decision?

SPEAKER_01 4:14

So when I was four, um, I in a Sunday school class heard the gospel, and I went to my mom that night, like after she put me to bed and said, Mom, I think I need to ask Jesus to be in my heart. But I actually don't really remember that. And so as a kid, my parents always told me that I was a Christian and I like tried to believe them, but I sort of doubted. And so when I was in high school, actually, um, I was in ninth grade, I had a really, really rough week at school. And I remember being just so confused about so many things. And I ended up just like sitting down with my parents and just talking about everything because I went to Christian school, I grew up going to church, and you know, when you're used to that, it's really easy to start tuning some of it out. So I talked to my parents, and that's when I got my assurance of my salvation. So I always consider my date in October of 2014. That's the date that I consider the day I got saved.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

That's nice. The next one, what's your favorite way to spend a free Saturday?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Ooh, um, oh man, there are so many things I like to do. I always start my day with a walk. So I take my dog out. I love to be outside. Um, I love shopping too. So I like go to the mall. Um, and then I love spending time with Michael because he's my best friend.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Um, what's one Bible verse that has been especially meaningful to you lately and why?

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Um, oh man, there are so many good ones. Probably Nehemiah 8.10. The joy of the Lord is my strength, because that I am a very happy, bubbly person. And so I used to feel insecure about that. But the older I get, the more I realize there are so many people that don't have joy. Joy right here. Yeah, so that one is especially meaningful to me.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yeah. Okay, if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Ooh, I love this question. Um Switzerland. I want to see the mountains. Oh my goodness. And I heard the chocolate there is really good.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Oh, really? That's a good reason to go. Yeah. What's one lesson God has taught you that you'll never forget? Ooh. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Um, I think that especially lately, a lesson that God has taught me is that his ways are always better and his timing is always perfect. Yeah. Um, because there have been so many things that have happened in my life that I wish they happened sooner. But then I had to wait for a long time for them to happen. And then when they finally did happen, I could look back and see, oh, like, okay, God, I get it. I understand why you made me wait and go through all this stuff to get where I am.

unknown 7:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Um, what's your favorite family tradition?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Oh, easy. Um, my family stays up until midnight on Christmas Eve. Oh, yeah. And we open presents at midnight.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

So we don't have to wait till Christmas morning. I don't have to sleep.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Do you still do that with Michael?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Um sometimes. We stay up till midnight. I usually wait until I'm with my family to open presents, but yeah, we stay up till midnight and it's fun because you like hug everybody in your family and wish them Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Um, what's been one of the biggest spiritual or who has been one of the biggest spiritual influences in your life? Oh man, I have a lot.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Um, I would say my dad. Yeah, my dad is very consistent. Every morning since I was a kid, I would come down like in my school uniform, ready to go to school, and he would be like in his study reading his Bible every day. And even now I'm married, you know, it's been many years since I was that age, and I'll still go to visit my parents. And when I come down the stairs in the morning to say hi to them, my dad will be in his study reading his Bible. So I love that.

unknown 8:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Um, coffee, tea, or neither. What and yeah, coffee do you like coffee, tea, or neither? And what's your favorite treat to go with it? I actually like both.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I think I'm more of a coffee girl though. Yeah. Um, like I like a good latte. And then, or if it's tea, I like like a chai. That's pretty good too. Yeah. And then my favorite treat is probably like a chocolate chip cookie.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Because weren't you saying something like yes, the mucky.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

I was telling you about that. Guys, if you're listening to this podcast, you need to look up what a mookie is. M-O-O-K-I-E. It's a chocolate chip cookie in a mug. That's why we call it a mucky. And it's delicious. It's single serve, so you can just like make a little dessert whenever you want. It's the best.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Okay. Um, what's something people might have been surprised to learn about you? Um, I'm Canadian.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Oh, yeah. That is that. Yeah, everyone forgets. I think people often think, I mean, if you're listening to the podcast, you can't see me. I don't know if you post a picture or anything, but I you if you want to, you can. I am, I have brown skin, and so I'm not like your typical American-looking person when you first look at me, I guess. Um, but people always think I'm from somewhere like really exotic. So like I've had people ask me if I'm from India before, and I'm like, no, I'm not from India. My parents are from Sri Lanka, which is like a little island right under India, and they immigrated to Canada. But I and my sister were born and raised in Canada, which is why I have like really good English and like I can read and write and everything is great, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Um, how do you stay encouraged when your faith feels challenged or you're going through a difficult season?

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Oh, I talk to the people in my life who have a strong faith. People who are encouraging. Like I have really good best friends. Like our family is so encouraging. I talk to Michael, and then I also like really try to get in my Bible. I read my Bible at night actually, because that I try to be a morning girl, but I'm just sleepy and there's just so much on my mind at the start of the day that I have found that reading my Bible in the evening before bed is like just a good quiet time for me to meditate. That might change one day. But yeah, yeah, those are like the two things that I try to do.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah. Um, if you could have dinner with any Bible character besides Jesus, who would you choose and what would you ask them? Oh man, that's such a good question.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Um Rahab.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Yeah. I think I love that there are so many amazing women in the Bible who were in the line of Jesus. And Rahab is someone who is just so blatantly a sinner who had a huge part in helping. And so I would love to just pick her brain about what that was like for her and how Jesus like changed her life. Because I mean, if she was willing to do everything that she did, I know like God is powerful.

unknown 11:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Okay. And then the last one, what's one piece of advice you would give to a teenage girl who wants to grow closer to God? Oh man, there are so many things I would say.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

I remember being a teenage girl and really struggling with my faith. Um, I think something that I struggled with a lot was standards, knowing, you know, it's just so easy. You want to be like your friends, and then you also want to follow God. And so I think finding that balance is really hard. But what I would encourage, if I could talk to a teenage version of myself, I would say, look for somebody who is someone you want to be like, you know, whether that's your mom or your super cool Aunt Katie or you know, your youth pastor's wife, look for someone like them and get to know them and have a good relationship with them so that when you are going through, you know, times where you have questions about things, you can talk to them. Because there were so many times when I was a teenager where I felt like very confused and I had no one like that to go to. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yeah, that was good. Okay, so that's all for this week. Make sure to check out our Instagram page at Facely HerPodcast. This has been Joyce Danzel and Katie Hawkins. I'll see you next time on the Face Lee Her podcast, and you have to say it like bye with me, please. Okay. Okay. Ready? Bye.