Surrendering to God: Mastering the Art of Letting Go and Trusting in Him w/ Tara Sun

As Christians, we can often keep ourselves in bondage by trying to control our lives, but when we surrender, Christ offers us freedom.

We will discuss:

• practical steps to letting go of control
• strategies
• biblically rich insight for letting go of control and moving forward in faith

I would imagine there is someone listening today who struggles with control and fully trusting God in every area of their lives. Our guest today, Tara Sun author of the book, Surrender Your Story: Ditch the Myth of Control and Discover Freedom in Trusting God, knows very well the burdensome and ultimately empty myth of control. She will share with us how to surrender it all to God to experience lives filled with joy, peace, and meaning.

Book: Surrender Your Story
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Transcript

Mentor Mama 

I'm Mentor Mama and today we are going to be talking about how we keep ourselves in bondage by trying to control our lives. But when we surrender, Christ offers us freedom. We're going to discuss some practical steps and strategies and just give you some biblically rich insight for letting go of control and moving forward in faith, even in the face of setbacks and disappointments. You know, I would imagine that there is someone listening today who struggles with control. I being one of them, and fully trusting God in every area of their lives. Well, wanting complete control of our lives often can take on the disguise of many different things, such as being self-sufficient or having our lives and schedules just so completely organized that there's no room for anything. Well, oftentimes what lies on the other side of those traits are frustration, disappointment and exhaustion. No matter how well we plan or how much we'd like to be in control. We know that life always seems to throw something at us that is beyond our control. Well, our guest today, Tara Sun, author of the book,  
“Surrender Your Story: Ditch the Myth of Control and Discover Freedom in Trusting God,” knows very well the burdensome and ultimately empty myth of control. She's going to share with us how to surrender it all to God, to experience lives filled with joy, peace and meaning. Tara passionately teaches women of all ages how to know, love and live God's word for themselves. She does this through her podcast “Truth Talks with Tara,” and her Instagram community and many other things. She shows how to break down God’s word into understandable pieces while also adding an artistic flair through her digital art. Tara is married to her high school sweetheart, Michael, and is a mom to their newest edition Hunter. You'll find them living and serving the Lord in Oregon. Again, please welcome Tara. 

Tara Sun 

Thank you so much for having me here. I could listen to you all day. Thank you so much for that sweet introduction. I am so honored to be on the podcast today. So, thank you. 

Mentor Mama 

Such a joy to have you and I saw Hunter’s picture. He's so cute. How are you adjusting to motherhood? 

Tara Sun 

Ohh my goodness. Well, so he's 14 months old, so we've had him obviously for over a year and, oh, I'm sure you remember as if it was like yesterday. What a whirlwind the first year is and how many changes there are, and it feels like you've already lived a lifetime because there's just so much that happens in that first year, but, you know, honestly, we're adjusting really well by the grace of God, and Hunter is just the sweetest, funniest and chillest baby. So it's been such a sweet adjustment. I mean, not without its difficulties, but ... 

Mentor Mama 

Sure. Yes, most definitely. Well, Tara, I just am excited to have you here because I just love that your authentic nature and you really share that in your book and you chose to write your first book on control and surrendering to God, which for all of us, I'm sure in one way or another can be a challenge. So, tell us, how have you personally found freedom and learn to trust God's timing for your life? 

Tara Sun 

Yeah, I love this question because you know, it's a huge part of my story about learning to let go of control, but it's an everyone problem. It's a human problem, and so I've already seen people relate so much, no matter their walk of life, their relationship status, their whether they're a type or not and. So I've learned through my life through a chronic illness diagnosis, through not fulfilling the career I thought for my life. All of these. Things I learned, it was hard, a hard lesson to learn. It felt like a slap in the face from God that I wasn't in control because Ellen, you know, growing up had a really easy life. I, you know, knew the Lord at a very young age. Incredible family, blessings upon blessings. And I'm so thankful. But in the same way I think that made me start to believe the illusion that life was just kind of going my way, and then I didn't need to trust God, and there wasn't any hardships. And so I kind of felt like, mou know, I'm the boss of my life. I'm in control and things are kind of rolling out the way I wanted to, but that's all until things kind of came crashing down and I started to become disappointed in God because things were completely off the rails. I started to question God's goodness. I think a lot of times in the middle of broken dreams and disappointments and realizing you're not in control and you start to question God's goodness and you start to question if He truly loves you. And so, “Surrender Your Story,” in my book is that journey through not only my story, but humanities story of what it looks like from ever since the fall, having to surrender our lives. But I think my biggest hope I know my biggest hope is just to help people see like surrender when it's illustrated in movies or when you hear it. It feels bad. It feels like you're giving up. It feels like a loss. It feels like you're waving the white flag and your life is over. The countercultural reality in Jesus Christ is that, like you said earlier in the intro, that we're actually keeping ourselves in bondage when we try to control. And Jesus came to bring a better way. That's what he meant when he said in John 10:10. I came to give you abundant life, full life. So that's just a little synopsis. 

Mentor Mama 

Oh yeah, and I was so fascinated by reading your story just about how you were, you know, such a good student and you were a Biology major and your planning on going to Med school, right? Can you give our listeners just a little bit of a glimpse into how that just turned upside down, if you will? 

Tara Sun 

Yes, such a crazy story, but I'll give you a few of the details. Yeah, you know, middle school and then in high school I had a desire to go into the medical field and it's an incredible desire and I love that profession. It's needed. I know many people in that profession. But you know, I went about seeking, it was a good day. But there was a moment in a biology lecture when a lecturer came to talk about all the careers you could have in the medical field. And I'm like, this is actually what I should be paying attention to the most. This is when I should really be paying attention. I remember just sitting there like not engaged. Something felt strange in my spirit. And I remember the Lord telling me and nudging me that just wasn't where I was supposed to be. And from someone who loves to plan and, you know, thinks, oh, this is a good plan, you know, it's not sitting against you. God it all. It all was falling into place. I got accepted into school like it just seemed right, but to me, I'm like, how is that even possible? And so through weeks of wrestling, talking to people in my life that are wise counsel and all those things, I came to the conclusion of the really hard conclusion that I wasn't supposed to be there. And so, I Ended up withdrawing from that whole program and from the perfect college setup about three to four weeks into the semester, and let me tell you how much shame, how much embarrassment, how much disappointment was wrapped around that? I came home and didn't want to tell anyone. I moved back home with my parents. I love them, but that was, you know, still not great to be like. I failed at something and so. It was my whole process of being like, OK, Lord, will you called me away from this? You told me to let go. But what now? And so then that kind of continued my journey of for the first time in my life, really depending on God and being like, OK, I don't know what's next. So keep me close to you. Because honestly, before I think I wasn't close to God. To hear him, I wasn't listening. I wasn't depending on him, and if we're trying to do life out of self-sufficiency and not dependence on God, we're going to miss a lot of the things he's trying to tell us. The path along the way is going to be foggy. And So what was a really hard? Thing made way for a really, really good thing. 

Mentor Mama 

Ah, absolutely. And it's so hard to see that in the moment, isn't it, when we have all our plans and we think we're going in this one particular direction. 

Mentor Mama 

Well, you kind of alluded to, you know, just this whole topic of control is kind of countercultural. But in the book, you say that it really letting go of control is just central to the Christian life, tell us a little bit more about what you mean about that. 

Tara Sun 

Yeah, you know, like I said, I grew up knowing Jesus grew up doing Bible clubs. I knew the word, did all the things, and I knew God's word, but it wasn't really until I was older that I knew God's word like I understood God's word and it actually penetrated my heart. And I actually sought to understand the biblical depth of it. And so I was reading in Luke 9, I was reading through the Gospels. Luke is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I love how detailed Luke was in his account, and I remember reading Luke 9 the whole chapter where Jesus was talking to his disciples. And there's a popular verse  that I'm sure many of us know, but if you don't know, it's when Jesus told his disciples if anyone wants to come after me, they must take up their cross, deny themselves, or die to themselves and follow me. And I had read that so many times I had heard it so many times, but for some reason the spirit was like, dig a little deeper and I found the one phrase, die to yourself or deny yourself actually means to let go of personal control of your life and instead trust God to have his way. So Jesus said the formula is to take up your cross, meaning count the cost. Is it worth it? Do you believe it's worth it to follow me through the persecution and the suffering die to yourself, so let go of what you think the world is going to be like and instead follow me. Like literally imitate my steps and walk with me. And my mind was just blown, realizing that that was what it meant and so. Well, when I say that it's countercultural and upside down, it's because Jesus came, he said. A lot of things that didn't make sense to people because people's hearts weren't ready yet, or maybe they were closed off to it, but he came to reveal to fulfill the law, and he did that by kind of shocking people and that was a shocking thing to hear. But here's the good news about it is that people had been living in darkness. They had been living without an intimate relationship with the father until Jesus came to manifest himself,  to leave his spirit and then it was possible it was finally possible to do all these hard things that Jesus said. And so when I say countercultural, the world will tell us like, to manifest your destiny. You're in control. You're a boss, babe. Hustle. Don't ever stop you. You're powerful enough. There's so many messages. That's why it doesn't make sense to the world. But when we find when the spirit helps us, when we find the beauty in the word we realize this is actually what we were created for. And that's why Jesus said it. 

Mentor Mama 

I can think of times where you know I've struggled with this whole concept of control and letting it go and I'm and even looking back in my own life of times where I didn't even realize that I was under, you know. Having to control my life. And I'm sure there's people listening that might also be like I know I should be doing this, but it's just so hard for me to surrender. What advice would you have for someone to really let God can take control of their life? 

Tara Sun 

I believe there are two fundamental truths that I always have to come back to when we think about just how hard surrender is, and they may not be, like super practical, but they lead us into the practical. So, stick with me. So, the first thing I always tell people is to know the character of God, so that is practical. You can get into the word. But here's the thing. I always make this analogy. If you don't know, let's say your husband or a best friend, or your parent. If you don't actually know them, if you haven't spent time with them, if you haven't spent enough time to understand their character and how they act and how they live, then how are you supposed to trust them? I wouldn't have married my husband, I wouldn't trust him. If I didn't know him, same thing with my parents or my friend. So the same thing goes for God. Surrender is basically we can see if we have a control problem, by the way we view God. Because if we don't view God as who he says he is. Loving all powerful. All kind gracious, merciful, all these things. Then we're just going to bear down and not want to give up control because we don't understand that he is  Lord. We try to make ourselves lord, and so practically I always tell people, I’m like, how do you view God like, do you know God? And then second of all, I always just bring us back to the fact that if God is God, then we need to realize that he is so much wiser, so much better and so much more loving than we are and this isn't to put you guys down. This isn't to be self-deprecating and say you're not, you're not smart or talented or, you know, have good dreams, but, our dreams and our desires and our spiritual gifts, coupled with the power of God. That's when we find the most fulfillment in our lives. That's when we find the greatest stories for our lives written. We just try to do it without him. And so if you're struggling and saying this is too hard, I want you to look to the One that calls you to surrender. Do you trust him? Do you have an accurate view of who he is? Because if you don't, then it's going to be an incredible hurdle or an impossible hurdle to overcome. And then just final tidbit of wisdom I talk about in one of the chapters, it's hard, yes, but you don't have to do it alone. We're in a culture where people tell us that you have to do everything on your own, that somehow we have it ingrained in. Our minds that help is. Weakness that asking for someone to help us. I mean, I'm a new mom. I'm sure you know. Ellen, it's really hard for us to ask for help. And so we just live in a culture like that. But Jesus sent the helper, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, and you don't have to do it on your own. You just need to rely on him and ask him so I pray that those big theological truths can also be practical. 

Mentor Mama 

Oh, definitely. And they sure are. In fact, I love how you titled one of the chapters in there, “God's Resume because I thought that was so clever because, I've never thought I mean, God's resume would just be indefinite, wouldn't it? But I love, you know. Obviously pulling out the concrete things that the Bible tells us about him and when people do that, or I always encourage people to do that using the Book of Psalms and you can find, you know, just if you take that time to get to know God through his word, you will just be blown away and realize his control far surpasses anything that we could have control over ourselves. 

Tara Sun 

Yes, yes. 

Mentor Mama 

Well, in Chapter 2 you started to talk about your diagnosis with fibromyalgia and how you blamed God. Tell us about that time in your life. But you know what was the hardest part about it and how did it help your relationship with the Lord? 

Tara Sun 

I love that you ended that question with how did it help your relationship with God because it's really easy to see those hard times as detriments and discouragements to your relationship with God and things that can often and possibly bring a wedge between our relationship with God but, when I was 14, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I still have it, but it's so much better. Praise the Lord. 10 years removed. All you know almost 11 years removed now. But I remember the hardest thing was probably maybe two fold #1 just the surprising shock of being so young and being like, OK, now literally everything changes. It's not like you have a cold for a week and then you get over it. And you can resume life as normal. I had to leave my freshman year of high school the whole year because I couldn't get out of bed. I had to attend physical therapy, occupational therapy, multiple times a week, and so that changed everything. I started to realize that my physical limitations were going to change the way I did school, the way I, you know, because I grew up dancing from 4:00 to 8:00. So that was going to change that. It was going to change relationships. It was going to change careers. All these things I realized. They need to come to terms with the fact that things aren't going to be the same anymore, so that was really hard because none of us like changed. None of us like limitations. And then also it was just really challenging to just still believe in the goodness of God throughout it, and still believe versus like Romans 8:28 that God still works everything for good. And I was actually confronted for the first time ever about what that meant and trying to figure that out. And I would say the biggest thing that my relationship with God taught me was to depend on him because like I said the Lord convicted me in that season that I had a pride problem, meaning that I thought that I could do it all on my own and I didn't need anyone and that I was an island, but he taught me that he's like you are so weak and needy right now and you need me. And you can't do it without me. You can try to do it without me, but you're not going to get anywhere. You might get somewhere, but you're not going to get everywhere, so that was probably the biggest thing I learned and just accepting the fact that weakness is. Not a bad thing, it just brings us to neediness. And that's actually where we need to live all the time as believers. 

Mentor Mama 

You know, I've found myself in that situation. I mean, two times that I can think of where it was dramatic. Once when I was ill and literally bedridden like you described, it took forever to figure out what was wrong. But then another time when I was at a brand new job and it was like the worst year of my life. But then, because my mom had died that year, too, and just looking back, though, I see. And I honestly have not been able to do that until like 15 years later to see how God really did use that to help in what we're doing now. And so sometimes it just takes time. How would you encourage someone who's just living a life that they didn't expect it would. 

Tara Sun 

You know, I love that question. I've been thinking a lot about expectations lately. And when you said expect the life that you didn't expect just triggered something. Just a passion in me. Because I've been talking with a lot of friends ever since the book came out. Real life and online about expectations. Because I think expectations, although not inherently bad. And really, sucker us, for lack of a better term, they can really put us in a hole and not work with us, but actually against us because we are we were born, we start seeing the way life works. We have these passions and dreams and we start expecting things to turn out the way that we thought and this might be a harsh reality, but it's a reality that we have to remember where we came from. Our origin story. That we really came from, we came from God and we're nothing without him. We're nothing without his salvation and his regeneration. And so if you remember our home base, that there's nothing good apart from God, there's nothing about us about our lives that can be good without him. We are brought to a humble reality and a humble mercy that everything is from God and to God and through God. So we don't actually, you know, we don't actually earn anything, we're not automatically given anything except for the gift of God when we receive it. So I have to come back to that reality that God doesn't owe me anything, but he actually gives me abundantly more than I realize. Not abundantly more is sometimes painful, and it's something that we don't always expect. Like you were saying. Sometimes the timing of our lives is longer than we thought. We didn't expect that sometimes the people and the circumstances are not what we expected, but I think we can rest in the fact that God doesn't waste anything, that God is a Redeemer, and that if you're living through circumstances, you didn't expect that number one they’re maybe not always going to last forever, but then most of all, that God is going to redeem that. God has a plan for it. And God's ways, like Isaiah, I believe it's 55, I think like God's ways are higher. His thoughts are better and higher and wiser so He sees things that you don't see. But I want you to know that He sees things you don't see out of a love that he can't do anything that's apart from love. So if you're tempted to believe that God's not good because life is not going the way you thought. Expect that God is going to do something better. It might be hard going through it and you have the promise and the hope from God's word that he is going to do something good from it. 

Mentor Mama 

And that really just gets back to the whole trust issue are we can we trust God enough that even if this is really hard time that it is his plan and part of the purpose that he has us here. He will make that work come right completion. 

Tara Sun 

Right, and I don't want to discount how hard that is. It’s super hard and you can mourn the things that didn't go your way. Lament. That's biblical to lament over the things. David did that so much in the Psalms. We see a lot of people in the Old Testament especially do that. Lament. Let that lamenting draw you to Christ, independence and trust and hope. Knowing that Lord, even if I can't see, I’m stiill going to believe. I just don't want anyone to think that it's not. It's not hard. In that I  wrote a book on surrender. But let me tell you I am trying to let go of control every single day and surrender is a daily thing that I have to do every single day too. Like we don't have it figured out, but we do have the one who's laid it all out for us. To see us through. 

Mentor Mama 

Yes, we sure do. We sure do. This whole concept kind of like a diamond, multifaceted, like another aspect of this could be independence and how you know, again another cultural thing where we're taught that, you know, we should be. It's better to be, you know, independent. And you talk about kind of the reverse, right? Help us understand. This whole concept of being independent and dependent on who, yes, what? 

Tara Sun 

Yes, I love that this chapter has been one of my favorites to talk about because I feel like I've struggled the most with. And it's very like you said, cultural. It's very in this moment and you know, I know you would say, you know, I raised my daughters to be independent. I raised them to be hard working. I raised them to be able to someday, whether they're married in a relationship or not. To be able to live and work and all these things. As a new mom, I can also see that as like. I want to instill that in my child , but I think sometimes we can take as a spiritual reality. We can take independence a little too far. And I talked about this earlier where we start to believe that I am independent, apart from God. How does this look? This means that I make plans without consulting the Lord, or I am strong enough. I have no boundaries or limitations. And I, you know, don't need the sovereign hand of God or I don't need to trust God. And so independence, like I said, in actually the chapter is entitled, “Independence is Overrated,” and so we talk about how that actually looks like letting go of that control, I think independence and self-sufficiency is a form of control. And instead of depending on God so not being independent from God, but being dependent on God because surrender is acknowledging that there's someone greater that holds our lives. And so that actually means we need to depend on God, because control is independence. But surrender is dependence. I don't know if that made sense, but OK, good. 

Mentor Mama 

And I think when I look at this, one of the things that come to my mind is just that letting others go first or this whole concept of, you know, us being independent, relying on God that we need to have this perspective that only God is who we can trust to fully put our lives and our our future into our eternal hope. So, to be grounded in that and to sort of try to step back from our own sense of independence. Although we do have to be in. You know, obviously financially independent and all. These other things. 

Tara Sun 

But it's right. 

Mentor Mama 

Considering the bigger picture of who am I really relying on? 

Tara Sun 

I love that. 

Mentor Mama 

Concept of God's will can be confusing to a lot of people, but you really go in depth, and you explain it. Help us understand how do we figure out God's will for our lives and make decisions that glorify him without taking back control of our life? 

Tara Sun 

Right. That's a good caveat. You know that's from, I believe it's chapter. I don't know, maybe 8, maybe it's not. I know I'm. I'm forgetting the numbers and it's my own book. I should know. But we have a chapter all about God's will 101 and we break it down and that was the most deep chapter. Where I'm like, obviously there are books and God's word on this, but we're just going to scratch the surface, but I felt it so important to include that chapter because when we talk about surrendering our will and taking on God's will, I mean it sounds good. But then it's like, well, then, what's God's will for my life? And that's the big question. Like when Jesus said not my will, but yours. OK, well, what is God’s will and how am I supposed to do it? You know, how do I take steps in faith that don't you know, take back control. It's all intertwined, but. When we talk about God's will and what God's will is for our lives, he actually has laid out so much more than we realize in the word. And so I think I'm kind of giving it away already, but it's found in God's word, God's will is God's word, God's Word is God's will. And second, Peter, I love this verse in the first chapter it says that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. So if you're wandering around thinking, OK, what does God want me to do with my life? I don't know. I need a neon sign. I feel like he's hiding things from me. I feel like it's a it's a ladder to climb. God is giving you the word of God right in front of you. It's pretty incredible if you think about it, because the people when the Bible was first starting to be written, they didn't have the full thing lumped together and bound like we do. They had fragments. Sometimes people didn't even have access to it. So it was just read to them and so it's pretty incredible that we have the full thing in front us. We have versus like in John where it says God's wills for you to believe in the one he sent we have versus in Thessalonians. Like God's will for you is to be is to be thankful. And so even just those base level things, I think we're looking for the big neon letters that say. This is what? You should go to or you should go do this at this time. Like I think sometimes we're too specific. I don't know. I think we need to be grounded in God's word with the big picture, and then that will help us make some of those smaller picture decisions so. Just knowing that God's will is for you in the word, and we also have a chapter in there about how to study God's word. So hand in hand when you learn how to study God's word, then you can follow God's word for your life and for one quick tip, as I wrap up, if you're trying to figure out what God's will is for your life, what, how to make a decision that is out. Of surrender, not control. Does God's word say it's a sin and your spirit? Do you feel a check? Is it a blatant sin for you to make that decision for you to follow that so-called will? Because if it is, then you shouldn't do it, and that's God's will for you. I think we can over complicate it and I just want to set the record straight that. It's maybe a little more simple than that. 

Mentor Mama 

Well, I'm sure that takes kind of some pressure off of people because I think, like you said, they do tend to over complicate it. And that's when you get a little crazy thinking. Oh my gosh, God's not talking to me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do and right, but when you're consistently and daily in God's word, it's amazing how. Whatever you're reading that morning or afternoon, whenever you're reading. You'll find something that is so applicable like that that God is working and showing you. So yeah, those are great tips. 

Tara Sun 

Yes, yes. 

Mentor Mama 

Thank you for that. Well, as we start to to wrap things up here, I want to talk about how sometimes it's easy for us to forget that we're walking at God's pace and sometimes right we speed ahead. Said what does the role of being patient play in this and the benefits of waiting on God? 

Tara Sun 

Yes, patience. I like to describe in the book as a supporting character. There are a lot of supporting characters like God's will and trust. In all these things. But if you want to learn how to surrender your life to God, you also need to have the supporting. Character of patients that builds it up. So, surrender or sorry. Excuse me. Control often looks like rushing ahead of God. Being unwilling to wait, wanting to just go after what it is and not consult his word or his will, so we need to learn. How to walk? At God's pace or to be patient? We talk about some biblical characters in the book that knew that God had promised them something, knew that it was better to trust God. But instead, they rush ahead of God's timing. I mean, they didn't pray, they didn't wait on the Lord and they didn't even stop to consider that. Waiting was OK. I think we need to get it out of our minds that waiting is a poison and that patient is a poison. When patience is a divine gift from God, because we're told in Romans, we're told in a lot of scriptures that you know perseverance gives way to hope and you know to character and all these things that God wants to do for us. And so. I think when it comes to waiting on God's timing and walking at his pace, it really means being OK with sitting in some of the uncomfortable silence and some of the uncomfortable moments where we're like, I just want to do it like this. Seems good. I'm going to do it. I'm just going to tell you right now that even some of the good decisions you could make. Not necessarily. Some things that God wants you. To do like. Just because it's blatantly good and it's not a sin, it doesn't mean that it's always where God wants you to go. But I also think when we talk about this, we all rush ahead of God's timing and we all take things into our own hands sometimes. And so, I want to kind of give you a permission slip to know that even if you do that not as a I guess not as a way to say. Just do whatever you want. But I do want you to know that there's hope that if you do take things into your own hands, if you do Rush head of God, if you do forget to pray and consult. Him that God. Is so good to redirect us, and he's so good to convict us through the Holy Spirit to be like, slow down, to walk at my pace. And I think. Something that's really good to kind of keep you content in that season of maybe waiting or walking at God's pace when it seems low is to remember God's promise for your life. Remember God's promise of salvation and God's promise to sanctify you. God's promise and hope of heaven. When we keep our eyes fixed on what's ahead of us. I think that can help us stay where we are. It can be like, OK, I know that God is going to use even this, even the slow time. I mean for his good and or for my good. And his glory. 

Mentor Mama 

Yes, absolutely. I know for me, I tend to be a little bit impulsive because I have ADHD and  I just have done so many Bible studies over the years that have helped me so much to remember to pray first. And another thing too that I remember kind of being redirected on was I would oftentimes seek other people, which it is good to get other people's advice, but I would do that before I really spent quality time with God. And so I kind of I had that reversed. And so just over time and the spiritual growth process I think is something that that helps you do better at this part of the process, absolutely. Well, Tara, what's your hope for readers of your book?  

Tara Sun 

Oh, I love this question. Thank you for asking. I think it's kind of what we talked about in the beginning. Ellen, what you said that I just want to break all of us free from the bondage that the world is keeping us in because we are inundated with messages that control is not a bad thing, like it's marketed and masked as different things like independence. And you know that it's your story. It like it's just. It's very deceptive nowadays and I just want to open our eyes. People that are new to the faith or have been in the faith forever, just like I have been to see that. Like, that's actually not going to get you where you want it to go. And that if we do the hard thing, we can be released from bondage and we can find freedom, purpose, joy, safety, security. I think that's why we control because we want to be safe, we want to have purpose, we want to line everything up the way we think. But surrender is actually where we find the most freedom and fulfillment. So I guess that's my biggest hope for you. To see how beautiful it actually is to surrender. 

Mentor Mama 

Amen to that. Well, where can people find out more information about you and pick up a copy of the book. 

Tara Sun 

Oh, I would love if you guys could grab a copy of the book. If you were encouraged by this. “Surrender Your Story,” is the title. You can get it at surrenderyourstory.com or Amazon is kind of where people love to get. It's so easy nowadays, and it's on platforms, hardback, audible, Kindle, all the things. And then you can follow me along on Instagram @misstarasun and then I have a podcast. It's called, “Truth Talks with Tara,” and I would just love to see you guys there. 

Mentor Mama 

OK. We will put your links in our show notes before we go. We need to ask you a couple of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What is your go to Bible and what translation is it? 

Tara Sun 

Oh OK, I have a current one. I'm loving, but I think my go to always tried and true is an ESV Bible and I like the study Bible just because it makes it so simple for you and mine is huge. It's meaty. It's my really big study one when I'm writing or when I just want to dive deep. 

Mentor Mama 

That's my go to. Yes, that's a great one. Do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience? 

Tara Sun 

Yes, OK. Recently after trying to figure out a new routine after having a baby. Now I'm like, you know, time is different now. I treated myself to and I bought myself some new Bible highlighters, and I discovered this brand. I've known about this brand. But it's the Mr. Pen brand. But they have new highlighters that are like, no bleed, and they're in really pretty pastels. Like square. I don't know. They're great, they don't bleed and they're really pretty. And so for me, that's not the main reason why I studied the Bible, but it's really been helping me. So I've. Been like in that. 

Mentor Mama 

Ooh, excellent tip. OK, we'll put a link to those. How about lastly, your favorite app or website for Bible study tools? 

Tara Sun 

Oh yes. I love the Logos Bible software, but also their app, so they have a free app. Their software is spendy, so if you have for school or if you are a pastor or anything like that, but they have a free app. And it has amazing commentaries and dictionaries and study tools and it's just a wealth of wisdom. I don't know if you could ever fully understand all of its features because it's so comprehensive. But it's also super. Easy to use. So, I've been loving that one. 

Mentor Mama 

Great tip. Yeah, it's pretty phenomenal. Well, Tara, thank you so much for just taking the time to talk to our audience today to be so authentic and the topic I know is just relevant for all of us. We are trying to surrender control to God every single day. So, thank you so much. 

Tara Sun 

Thank you. You're a blessing. I love this conversation. 

Mentor Mama 

Thank you. And for our listeners, be sure and pick up a copy of Tara's book, “Surrender Your Story.” I know that you are going to find it so helpful. Also, there's great questions at the end of each chapter, so you could even do it together with a small group. So, one more tip there. Lastly, head over to the coffee and Bible time website for our prayer journals, which will help guide and document your prayer life at coffeeandbibletime.com, thank you so much for joining us on our podcast today. We love you all. Have a blessed day.