Religion or Relationship? - #014

In this episode, we're having a conversation about religion versus a real relationship with Jesus Christ—the difference between checking the spiritual boxes and truly knowing Him personally. We talk about performance, grace, and what it actually means to walk with Jesus beyond appearances. Whether you've grown up in church or are questioning your faith entirely, this episode is a reminder that God wants your heart, not just your habits.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:22

What's up, America? Hello, America. We're back live with a broadcast of I forgot the name. Why did we forget the name of the podcast? I was about to say every other podcast I know. Anyways, hello. That's the name of the podcast. Did you already say that? Yeah, I did. Welcome back to In Good Faith. I'm Amber. And I'm Alyssa. And we're sisters. And we love each other and we love you. We love you. What's up? Let's dive right into it. Shoot, what isn't up? You're already on something, bro. Get it together. I'm uncomfortable. Your pants got wet. Guys, it's raining so, so hard right now. Well, not anymore. Well, at my house, when I like was walking out, it was pouring like really, really hard. And I'm wearing barrel jeans. That's not comfortable right now. Like I'm sitting like a stiff board. I don't, my feet aren't even touching. Look at under the table. How are we that wet from walking with it? Yeah, I'm just soaking wet. I feel really uncomfortable. Well, I got rained on in my car. What's the don't know. Don't know. So whenever it's raining, and it if I make a certain turn in my car, I'll just get water poured on me from outside. That makes zero sense. It's a new car. Yeah. I've never taken the roof off. Oh no. Update on my car. You remember how I said that my AC did work? Well, it's not working again. Hot girl summer. Hot girl summer. Here we come, baby. 2026. Sweaty girl summer. It's just like comical at this point. At work, Sabrina was like, what's with you in all the car troubles? Don't know. Because we were talking about me and the Avenger. Oh heavens. And all those car issues. But yeah, so if anyone knows a mechanic, let me know. I well, we know plenty, but anyone who will do it for free. Not true. Did anything fun happen to you today? I went to the vet and spent an arm and a leg. That is fun. Mm-hmm. Yeah, super fun. Yeah. Yeah. Almost $1,000 for annual vaccines. That's stupid. I love animals. Being a pet owner is so fun. I love having dogs. That's a lot. That's a lot of money to drop on a to get them boarded at another facility for probably another bunch of money. What are you talking about? For them to go to boarding whenever we're away. Oh. They had to be updated on their vaccines. Uh oh. Are you sure? That's gonna be a pretty penny. That is so dumb. So they are scheduled though? Mm-hmm. How much is that? A lot. Mm-hmm. Yes, because Maverick has to have medical boarding. Did I already say this? Or was was I just talking to you? No, I don't know any of this. Yeah, he has met he has to have medical boarding. He has a a nurse with him 24-7. His night nurse. His night nurse. That sucks. Yeah, but they're doing well. That's good. Considering their mother is in poverty. Yeah. Essentially. I something weird happened today at work. So my coworker walked outside. She was I forgot what she was doing. Walks outside, sees something smoking, sees a flame. And in the distance? Sure. In the distance, maybe like a hundred feet away, maybe like 50 feet away. In your area. In our facility. Not inside, but out in the parking lot. So I I don't even I think she was outside. But anyway, so like she comes running back inside, or I hear her walking fast. I was like, what's up? And then through all of the hubbub, that like there was a a fence post on fire. Hmm? There was a fence post, like the end, like the post, the end of the fence. Somebody did that. I don't know. It was like not like blazing, but there was a flame coming out of one fence post, and it was like smoking in a flame. My car was parked right next to it. So I looked out the window, saw the flame, immediately grabbed my keys. Gotta save my baby. I'm just kidding. Grabbed my keys, walked out there. Katie grabbed the fire hydrant error extinguisher. She grabbed the fire extinguisher and she ran out there and extinguished the fire that was on this one flaming fence post. And we all just like sat out there huddled. We're like, what is going on? Like, was it lightning? Because it was like very black, but like there was no bang. There was no. Yeah, you probably would have heard that. Yeah, yeah, with it being that close. But it was just like the smoking, and it smelled like a campfire. Like, so it was like hot. And Sabrina called the non-emergency line. And they're like, no, girl, you need to call the emergency line. She's like, okay. And so like they connected her. And then the fire was out. It was out, but then it flamed again. So it was like hot and it was like really windy. And there was also a burn band. Which maybe that's done now that it rained so hard today. Maybe. But yeah, the fire department came, their whole big fire truck, the whole wedding party came out. For one post. For the flaming post. The wedding party came out. They're like, what's going on? It's like, it's okay. Go back inside. Nothing to see. And yeah, we were embarrassed. The the fire people were like, You got a water bottle you can pour on it? Like. I'm sorry. I called the non-emergency line and they told me to call you. Exactly. And she made sure to say that. She's like, let me make it clear. I called the non-emergency line. Because there's like us four ladies like standing with this fence post, and Katie just has like a fire extinguisher in her hand. And the lady, I think it was the lady that walked up. She's like, you use that to put it out? Or maybe it was the man. Like, yeah, there was a flame. Let me be clear. There was a flame here, y'all. So I just felt stupid. I had like, I didn't say a word in the whole transaction interaction, whatever that word is. But I just felt dumb when I walked inside. Guys, be nice, okay? We thought it was gonna fire up. But the wedding party or the groom or whoever it was, somebody got a cute picture in front of the fire truck. The photographer ran out and they were like in front of the fire truck. It was funny. But that was like my big event. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. That is awesome. I actually didn't write down not one life update for this week. Did you? No, not really. My most life update was just like at the vet. That was pretty much it. Whenever I was checking out, because I have to do like a fecal test for them. And she's like, okay, so, and then I also have to do like a pee thing for Bodie. And she's like, Alright, so you can drop the poop and the pee off anytime. We're open 7 to 5, so you can just drop the the poop and the pee. My life is absolutely not right. So I have to drop off some poop and pee this week. I won't be able to make a dinner because I have to go drop off. Oh no, I can't. I have to drop off the poop and the pee. Dang, I went to the ball. I can't go to brunch. Oh, dang it. Maybe on the way. And in the passenger seat, you just have the bag. Can I drop off uh this poop real quick? Y'all mind if I uh swing by? Well, I don't really know the last time we recorded. I don't know what I updated last time. Ooh, I gotta update my phone story. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, guys. This is like This is Amber's New Testament. No, it's so unserious. I even like shared it in my Bible study. Like I felt a little embarrassed after because it was unserious, but it just was so impactful to me, y'all. So I have who listens to this podcast? I'm trying to think. I don't want to get in trouble. Everything is fine. Everything's hypothetical in this story. This is all alleged. Yeah. So I have this alleged work phone that me and a coworker share. And so I got to work. Like we usually like either like drop it off to each other or like leave it at work. So the next person has it the next day. Like if one of us isn't gonna be here the next day. So I got to work. I was like, oh, I don't see it in my desk. Don't see it in her desk. Like, where's where's the work phone? So I went, I grabbed my phone to text this coworker, and I'm like, oh, there's a text message from her. It was from la the night before at like 11 something, and I was already asleep. She's like, hey, like I draw, I I dropped the phone off at your like car. Hopefully, no thieves or robbers are listening to this story. She's like, if you're a robber, please turn this off or skip forward. Yeah, skip 45 seconds. And she's like, hey, left the phone on your side view mirror. And I was like, oh, really? That's odd because I'm at work. Like, I did not check my side view mirror. And I started freaking out Amber's. At my condo. Okay, I think that was where I missed. Like whenever I was telling this story to my Baba study, there was some confusion that I think I was a bad storyteller. But so she left it on my car, like at my condo. And so I must have I drove here, like to work the whole way, 15-minute drive, going like 60 miles an hour, like with this phone. Or not with this phone. You'll see in a second. Stay tuned. Listen to the phone. Stay tuned. So, anyways, I uh Alyssa stayed the night at my house the night that night, and I was like, Can you please go outside to my this is at my condo, back in my condo at my house. I was like, Can you please go outside in the parking lot? Like, please look for this phone, like make sure it's not cracked. Like, I don't want to get fired, like I'm gonna get in trouble. And she's like, bro, it's not anywhere. And she like walked out to the road, like in her pajamas, but an angel. She's like, the phone's nowhere here. I'm like, where could it be? Because the way that it was set on my car, like it would have fallen in like two seconds, is where my mind immediately went. Anyways, long story short, Alyssa's like, go outside. This is me at work. She's like, go outside and go check and see if it's like by your car, like parked at work. I was like, there's no way it's gonna be there. And I walked out to the parking lot, and by the grace of my almighty father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, he or it was laying on the ground, unscathed. That's crazy. I just think that's the craziest thing because like it should have eve like whenever you got in the cart, should have fallen. Exactly. When I opened the car door, it should have fallen off the side. Whenever you pulled out of your neighborhood, should have fallen off. I turned, should have fallen, should have fallen when I turned off nest day or whatever. Anytime that you stopped and then went, like you should have to see. Yes, or it should have fallen. And then like when I was crossing 60, like I go over a bump. I'm like, how is it not in the middle of 60? He did. So proud. But I was so, I was like, what in the world? Uh but that was, I was like, the takeaway I got from that is because I've just been like kind of stressed out. And the takeaway I got from that is like, even in the little things, even in the things that you think are so like silly, like God is God has his hands. It's such a silly little story, but I'm like that bone, man. Anyways, I have a whole thing about a coffee table. I don't know if I'll get way into it. I don't know how much I talked about it last time. I think I told them that I got a pine coffee table, right? Anyways, I got that. I worked for the nob. Maybe I did tell them this, but I worked so hard on this coffee table, guys. And I'll have to post a picture in the dump because hours You should post a picture when you bought it and then when you redid it. Yes, because it looks maybe one shade different. Maybe pretty much. That's a stretch. I will say the only thing. Yes, the only thing that's missing is well, yeah, the integrity of the entire table. I have what's a good word for that? Desecrated? What does that mean? I think demolished. The whole like the wood is like tore up, for lack of a better term. Like it feels like fuzz. And I tried to sand, but I think I sanded two mass inches off this table. Like I had to have lost a full inch. Did you seal it yet? No. I think that would help. Too lazy. Yeah, so I still have to seal it, but coffee table. Coffee never good. Coffee table, kind of bad. Phone, good. I saw a sandhill crane looking in. I'm just like going through my camera roll right now. These aren't even life updates. I my mom's gonna get mad if she hears this. She's gonna be like, what in the world are you guys talking about? Yeah. I saw a sandhill crane, like, it was the cutest little thing. It was looking in a car side view mirror. And it was like this little Toyota Corolla parked at work, and it was like just its height. So it would like peek in and like see its reflection, be like, what? And then like go around and try to like peck it. It thought it was darling. I just remembered this mor last night and this morning, I saw a peacock in the neighborhood. I saw that the other day. And it let me get pretty close to it today. So I took a beautiful photo of it. I wanted to like I wanted to wanted it to get a little bit spooked so it would flare its tail, but it didn't. But last night, whenever I saw it, it flew up into a tree. What? And I just like stopped my car in the road and looked at it for a little bit because I've never seen this can fly? I don't know if it flies well, but it like flew enough to get up into a tree.

unknown 17:03

Flying.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

I just thought that was crazy. I don't know where this peacock came from. I saw it. There's two. Two? Yes. You saw two of them at the same time? Yes. Me and mom were driving through. And she's like, what was that? And then we reversed. Two peacocks. But they were both male because they both had huge. They had their tails out. Yes. They had them like fluffed out. Yes. It was huge. Like honestly, probably the width of that desk right there. Dang. I'm not even joking. In like probably about like seven foot high. Probably like eight to ten feet high. I have no megalodon peacocks. We actually bring them back in the neighborhood. It's crazy. The must concept of from that one place with the exotic animals. Maybe. That makes sense. I watched a whole video on that the other day. I don't know if they have peacocks there, but they have exotic like stuff. There's peacocks over in St. Augustine though that day. So maybe they just like what day? That day that we were in St. Augustine. That one day you know that day. That one day. I think it was like maybe like kind of hot out. That one day. Every day in Florida then? No, whenever we went there for Colby's wedding. Colby's wedding? Wasn't that Saint Pete? Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up. Yeah, no, I'm thinking of a lot of different things right now. Remember, we got the house. Oh, wait, that wasn't St. Pete. Oh. No, yeah, that was St. Pete, but it was a white peacock and a regular peacock, I think. Wait, why was it a white peacock? Why am I thinking? I'm getting that house mixed up. I feel like we would go out and then did we rent a house in St. Augustine? Yes. Okay, I'm thinking of the interior of that house, but then like the neighborhood of the St. Augustine house. St. Pete. Wait, what did I just say? I think you said St. Augustine twice. Idiot. Don't know. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Anyways, there was a white peacock in St. Petersburg. I'm sorry. I lost the entire pot there for a few seconds. I forgot we were even talking about peacocks. No one knows where we stayed. Nobody cares. Anyways, peacocks are they're out. They're out this summer. I think that's on my in list for this summer. Peacocks. Peacocks. Oh, I this is so stupid. I don't even know. I saw a pheasant not too long ago, which they are not native to Florida. Now I have to look up what a pheasant is. So I don't know where it came from, and I don't imagine it's doing well. Let me see. Like this. Yeah, I was like, is there such a thing as like a bottleneck pheasant? How do you know the terminology? Because I looked it up. Bottleneck. Frazant? I don't know. Anyways, I saw a pheasant, which they're not native to Florida, I don't think, like at all, really. There's not no bottleneck. So birds are coming to Florida. Everyone's moving to Florida, man. We already got too many. We're full. As they say. But really, though. I know we are full in Polk County, so I think we're full everywhere. That's really it for the mediocre life updates. We got a little bit more. Yeah. Little bird segment. Exotic birds, if you will. The meat and potates. What are we chatting about today? We're chatting about relationship versus religion. Or religion versus relationship if you'd rather. It means the same thing. So yeah. We need we need video in here. No, we don't because y'all would see my itching, flaking face right now. So what are your thoughts on that initially? Yeah, I have a few. I'm getting too comfortable here and I forget. I forget that my peers that I see are gonna hear this. And then I start the voices. Yeah, I know some people are um what's that word? Embarrassed. Okay, so my thoughts. As we know, I'm just kidding. I don't I don't even know. I have my notes, but I'm just kind of riffing here. Yeah, I have like some bassline jazz. So at its core, let's kind of dive into like what would fall under religion and what would fall under relationship. And I'll preface this whole podcast by saying this is my personal, like I don't think there's anything wrong with religion. No. But I think there's like a like in the realm of Christianity, like there is like religious versus having a relationship. Yeah. And I do think that's different. But I do think like I feel like you can have religion and have a relationship with Jesus. Hold on. I think you should have both. You can't have religion without a relationship. But can can you have relationship without a religion? Wait. I don't know. We might need to cut that part out. I know what I'm trying to say in my head, but it's not coming out. Pastor Jackie's this is gonna be. You girls are off the air. Pack your stuff and go. And for that reason, you're out. No, okay, so religion. I feel like that's like you're following all of these rules, legalities, legalities. It's all about like performance and earning your your keep. Yes. I wrote religion is a works-based salvation, whereas a relationship is faith-based salvation. Yeah. In works-based too. I feel like personally, sometimes I feel like I get caught up in like the works sometimes. And going through the motions. Yes. Oh, I'm reading my Bible. Oh, I'm going in church. Yeah. Okay, but where's your heart? Yeah. Mama. Yeah. I feel that way sometimes. Yeah. And I think that's like I feel like that's probably everybody. But then like sometimes I feel the opposite, where like I'm not doing this stuff, and but I'm just like in constant communication with God. So it's like it it sometimes I feel like I can be in the middle. But obviously, like you don't like, it's not all like you cannot earn your way to heaven. Bottom line. Like, there's no earning your way. You have to accept Jesus in your heart. He is your Lord and Savior. I can't say that seriously without laughing because I think of that one girl on Instagram. Crisis King. Don't care, crisis king. Crisis King. Jesus is Lord. But in all seriousness, like having that like deep relationship like with him is like number one. I don't want to say like your ticket to heaven. But but they do say nobody comes through, or I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Yeah. So there is no other way. No, I didn't. Yeah. And like I was saying, like having a relationship is like faith-based salvation. And it says we are saved by grace through faith. We're not saved by our works. We're not saved by reading the Bible. Or I mean like you can be, but like online. Yeah, yeah. Just by doing it, though. Yes. Yes. As they say, you gotta walk the walk and talk the talk. Do both. Do both. Sometimes I'm doing one or the other. Debbie's calling me right now. And so with like a relationship, it's obviously like connection-based, like connection like with the Lord, like being in constant prayer, like having that deep like intimacy. I'm laughing at the way I spelled intimacy. Intimace. With a K? Intimacy A Y. Intimaca. That's how I spelled intimacy. Intimacy. Intimacy. And finding your identity like in Christ, not in the things like you do. Yeah. That's rich. Yeah. And like you're focused on knowing God, learning his character. Yeah, you can think of it as like a lot of people. Oh yeah, I'm a Christian. I believe in God. I believe in a lot of people. I know a lot of people, but I'm not friends with a lot of people. Yeah. Like you don't have, I don't have a relationship with like Sally. Yeah. But once I spend time with Sally and like get to know her, I know what she likes. I like Sally. And Sally's gonna want to invite me to her house. Yeah. And like I want to do things that I know Sally will like because Sally's a good friend to me. Yeah. Exactly. It's a relationship. It's not one way. And yeah. And on the other hand, if you're acting like you're Sally's friend, but you're talking to Sally or talking about Sally behind her back, she doesn't want to be your friend. I'm just kidding. So I also wrote being in a relationship, like having that relationship with Christ, is driven by love, trust, and closeness. And you see God as a father and not just as authority and final boss. And the comparison I have is religion is again earning approval. And having that relationship with Jesus is living like in the approval that you already have, like from Jesus. Yeah. Like he welcomes everybody, the sinners, like Christianity isn't just for good people, like it is for everybody. Like everybody's invited to the table. Like he wants us all. Like he created us all. He wants that relationship with all of us. He is our father. We are his she children. Yeah, I wrote religion focuses on performance, like doing things for God, which is great. But it's like I obey, so God accepts me. Yeah. Whereas the relationship with Christ focuses on love, grace, fruits of the spirit, and it's like God accepts me, so I obey. Yeah. It's like you want to do these things. It's not like I feel like a lot of people, like if they're maybe like they know God, but they're not really in their faith like that. And they're doing things like partying and whatnot, they know that they shouldn't be, but they're kind of like they don't want to make that next step because they don't want to give that up. But it's not like, oh, you have to give that up. You have to, you can't do this, you can't do that. It's once you have that relationship, it becomes like, I don't want to do that because I know that doesn't make my father happy. Yeah. And like he he wants what's best for us. You know how we were disciplined when we were young? I'm disappointed in you. Oh. And that is how I think of like that whole thing. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Like, oh, are you? Oh. Well, yeah. And so it's like then you feel all of that and you don't want to do it again. Like you get that shame. And it's like you just this sounds so shallow and vague because I just like can't get the right words out. But it's like, yeah, I I don't want to disappoint my parents. I don't want to disappoint my friends. I don't want to disappoint all these people whom I love and have this relationship with. It works the same with Jesus. It's not that he, well, yes, there are certain commandments. Yes, there are certain rules, but he is such a forgiving father. Like, we all sin. And he's asking you to like come to him and have that relationship. Just the way like our parents love us so much and forgive us when we do something stupid. Like he is the same, he loves times a million bajillion. Yeah. Like, imagine if you have a good father or mother in your life, how much they love you and how much they want you to do good in life and help you. God wants that even more for you. And sometimes, like you're saying, like, I feel like God is like this guy in the sky. Like, he doesn't care about my tiny little things in but he does. I a couple of stories that I think represent this idea well, is the first one being the prodigal son. And let me flip to it. Oh, okay. Thank goodness I had that still open. Okay, so like the story of the prodigal son, we all know it, but it's like the lost son who wants his inheritance now, leaves, goes off, does his own thing, and there was the other brother. And I'll read this part. So the the the product or the son who wanted his inheritance, he's gone at this point. And then he comes back. And this says, Now his older son, ew, there's a bug on my Bible. Where did you come from? It was tiny. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. This is the other brother. So he called one of the servants and asked what things these meant. And he said to him, the servant, Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. And I was like, I was egg. Just kidding. But I just feel like that's the perfect example of relationship versus religion. Like that other brother, he stayed, he followed the rules, he did everything right, seemingly. But it's like we're rejoicing for like this lost person who is now found again. And I just feel like that's the perfect example of that. Like it's not always about like following those rules. Like, did that other brother have a relationship with his dad? Like, let me see if this says anything in my commentary. Oh, yeah. The older brother or the older son complained and felt it was an insult to his obedience and faithfulness. In each of these parables, the message to, well, the tax collectors and sinners, this is what the who the parable was like originally said to, was clear. Repent and come to the father. Repent and come home to the father. The message to the religious leaders was also clear. Be happy when the lost are found when they repent and come home to the father. Man. Yeah, I just I don't know. I feel like sometimes I can be an older son. Oh, yes. Oh, it's like, okay. Yes. Thank you for that. Um, thank you for agreeing with me so fast. No, but like I think it's easy, like as these Christians, like, I'm not saying I am not saying I do everything right, but it's like there are certain things that I've followed, like in my faith, and I'm like, yo, why that's weird. Why am I not being rewarded with what I want? And they are. And so I feel like I can be an older brother sometimes. But you know what? Take this as an example. And let it be encouragement. Like if you you're not too ever too far gone to come back. Yeah. And no matter what you've done, he's always gonna welcome you back with open arms. For show. The other example that I have is Mary and Martha. Boy, oh boy, do I freaking relate to Martha. Let me flip over here. But Mary and Martha basically are two sisters. Where is it? I like the sound of those pages flipping. ASMR. ASMR. A little ASMR. Here we go. Why is this? Oh, okay. I was like, am I missing something? Where is this? I'll read it quickly because it is very short. So it's it says, Now it happened as they went that he entered a certain village. Jesus. And a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus's feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her. So basically, like Jesus was coming, Jesus is there. Martha's preparing, she's working, she's cleaning all the things, doing all the things to just like prepare, prepare for him. And Mary just sees him, she just starts like falling at his feet and like just serving Jesus. And it's always siblings, the brothers and the sisters. But I wrote, Martha worked hard to prepare the meal, and she was distracted with much serving. She was frustrated with her sister not helping. Mary simply sat at Jesus' feet. When Martha asked Jesus basically to tell Mary to help, he said, You're worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. It's easy to strive to impress the Lord with all the right things, but Mary chose the presence of Jesus before anything else. And I said, We don't need to check all the boxes before we come to the Lord. He wants us to come to Him as we are. He wants us to be in close relationship. That's good. Yeah. So to examine as you are. And I encourage you to go read those stories to get your own encouragement from those. Yeah. Um and a few questions that I can leave us with. Should I answer them? You don't have to. It's just like reflection questions. Okay, for sure. So I said questions to ask yourself. Do I talk to God as a father or perform for him like a boss? That just like kind of spoke to me. Because remember when I was saying in Bible study about like what I feel like God is like teaching me right now is performance and like striving. Yeah, like striving. Like I just feel like sometimes I try so hard and I'm a perfectionist. And like when it's not working out, I just get extremely frustrated. And I just feel like God right now is teaching me to just like let go. It is in his hands. Like he is working all things out the way they need to be. And I just need to like lay it down and trust him. But I don't know, that sentence just like triggered something. But yeah, so to think about do I talk to God as a father or perform for him? I do say, like, I personally I have to talk to him as a father because I'll just be crying.

unknown 40:54

Please.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Daddy, please. Daddy. Daddy God. Daddy God. Okay, second question is do I spend time with God to know him or to just feel like I've checked a box?

SPEAKER_00 41:10

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

Mm-hmm. And then question three is when I mess up, do I run toward God or run away from him in shame? Like, do I feel safe or am I like disappointed? So those are my three questions. I'll leave you with those. She used in, tell us your answers. And then we'll share them on the next week. Just kidding. No, we would never do that. But just a couple questions for you to reflect on. I'll be reflecting myself because, like I started this episode saying, like, as a Christian, like sometimes it's easy to think that way, like to focus on the boxes that are being checked. I'm doing all the right things, like performing, if you will. So it's kind of like a heart check here, too. Yeah. Do you have anything else to add? I don't think so. I was gonna say just like, yeah, get get your heart right. Yeah. Well, hopefully this encouraged at least one person. We're working through it too, you guys. Like we're not this is speaking to the choir or something. I don't know that for you. Preaching to the choir. But yeah, we are going through all this stuff ourselves. And this podcast is us chatting through it in real time. Like these are just notes that I've taken and like reflected on, like in preparation for the podcast. So these aren't things that I'm telling you to just like you need to do this and you need to do that so you can be good. Yeah. So you can be good like us. That's the whole purpose of the podcast. Of I mean this episode. But, anyways, I'm gonna stop rambling now. Oh wait, I did have one other update. You guys, I'm gonna end it after this. But the sweetest thing happened to me yesterday, and it made my entire possible life. Yesterday at Bible study, my friend Sam, she's like, I have something for you. I was like, Oh, what? Because like the week before she returned like some jars to me, because I like made her some whatever I made her after she had her baby. And so I was like just expecting something. I left at her house. She's like, here. And she handed me this bubble wrapped thing, and I opened it. I could cry. It was a plate. It was one of the I don't know how to pronounce it. It they're made in Portugal, so maybe it's like bordallo. I don't know, but it's the bordalo pinero plates that I I said on this podcast that I wanted to like start collecting here and there, just like little. pieces if I find them. And I opened it up and it was one of those plates. And it was like a leaf platter. It was the most beautiful piece of. I'm not even like what's the word? I don't even know what it's called. Is it China? I wouldn't I don't know. I'm not even versed enough in what I'm collecting to know what it's called. China, if you will. It's not China. Maybe like something in there. Dishware. Dishware. Yes, it's dishware. And she gave me the most beautiful piece. And it just surprised me so much. And she gave me another piece. So shout out to Rachel and Sam. Oh where they got it. Sam, she told me the story behind it. She's like, well I was listening to your podcast. You said that you like wanted to like collect these and then you mentioned that they're made in Portugal and she's like Rachel was just in Portugal. So I reached out to her. And so like Rachel like spent time on her trip looking in like little pottery shops to see if like this pottery that I was like looking for or sorry dishware that I was looking for was there. And she found it and like Portugal is literally where it is made. So it is like straight from the source. And I am so excited about it. Like words can't even describe I didn't want to cry in Bible study. But like that was like we're like it's just a lettuce plate. Yeah. It was just the most special attentive sweet thing yeah that they have ever that anyone's ever done like and I was telling Stan like gift I love to give gifts but sometimes like getting gifts I I don't it just shows that like people see you. Yes. That's exactly what it showed like I just felt so seen and heard and that's my big thing is like when when the little things were picked up on and it was just the most special thing and those are now my most special pieces. Like I bought some plates myself but like those ones aren't as special as these ones now. Like they're just the most I love them so much. And one of them it has like a little chip in it from her suitcase on the way back and I'm like that's even more special like it's part of the story. Exactly that's what I told her. Someone said oh this is shipped oh that's because that's because it's from Portugal I was from Portugal I had nothing to do with this but so again shout out to Rachel and Sam. Sam and Rachel you guys are the best. The best but anyways we love you guys. Thanks for listening to In Good Faith podcast we will see you guys. Wait what has anyone else left us a review? Let me check live time it's gonna take too long. No I got it right now in just one second. She got it right if Bodhi was listening to this he'd start digging digging in the carpet you had it. I did well while she's looking you guys no please you guys we need some five star reviews no one left any new reviews what the heck I I thought because you were so excited you were gonna say someone left a review. If you're listening to this podcast Well no it's we don't want it to be forced we're holding a gun point for a five star review. They can't see this right now for audio listeners only I do have a gun that is so terrible to say in our church. Yeah that guys we do not I'm just joking um but that'll no only if you want to like if I don't want to be forced to guys leave us a review at least just leave us a rating if you don't want to write rating leave us a comment anywhere that you can talk to us whatever text me okay if that's what it takes I'll leave you my number is 863 but we will stop blabbering now we love you. All right we'll talk next week see you next week bye bye