Faith Talks host: Hello, I’m Jana Faith, and welcome to episode 13 of Faith Talks.

And yes, it’s another one of those weeks without Anna Faith, and there’s actually a big group on a corral trip and I’m down in South Carolina with my sister so I thought it would be neat.

I know I’ve been really blessed by just hearing her story through different stuff that she’s gone through growing up obviously and then more recently too and I thought the listeners out there would really enjoy just getting to hear a little bit from my sister Stephanie.

So Stephanie why don’t you just tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do, what hobbies

Faith Talks host: you might enjoy?

So currently we are living in South Carolina as Jana mentioned.

So Ryan Swanson who does the Satisfied podcast, he is my husband and we live here in South Carolina, Taylor’s kind of Greenville area and our primary reason for being here is youth leaders here at Fellowship Baptist Church and Ryan also works in the office and we do some different music stuff.

I also teach at a music store in the area, violin and piano.

And when we first moved here, we were staying in a travel trailer for three months.

So that was very much like what I grew up in.

So that was kind of neat, except there wasn’t five people crammed into it.

It was just us two.

So it actually felt pretty spacious.

So that was that was fun.

And now we’re currently in the Parsonage, which is a very large house and enjoy having people stay with us.

And yeah, we’re just blessed by the people such as

Faith Talks host: sweet church and very much like a family feel.

And are there any hobbies you enjoy?

I know we’re in her sewing room actually right now.

Yeah, I haven’t done as much of that as I did in Wisconsin,

Faith Talks host: but I do enjoy sewing crafts.

I randomly, today, Jan and I planted a garden.

Yes, we are not sure

Faith Talks host: if anything will come up, but we planted it by faith.

They say if you put seeds in the ground, something will come up.

So we’re hoping.

So we planted that and we planted a little spice

Faith Talks host: garden inside.

So we’re not quite sure.

We’ve never done anything like that before, but we had fun at

Faith Talks host: least.

We did.

It’s been fun to visit down here.

So Stephanie, why don’t you start out just telling us about your childhood?

Obviously don’t tell us too much about your siblings, but just tell us a little bit about your childhood and your growing up years before college.

Yeah, so my parents had me

Faith Talks host: after 11 years of marriage and five miscarriages.

So they were fully going into evangelism when I was born.

So it was either a few weeks or a few months after I was born.

I was basically just right on the road traveling with them in their trailer.

So that was my life that I knew and gradually added siblings along the way every two years after that.

So Jan and Annalise.

We had a lot of fun just traveling together and getting to know different people.

They worked a lot with just Christian school kids and at a young age they would be very upfront with us about the different struggles teenagers were having.

We’d listen to the testimony services every week and that was just I just remember at a young age just realizing what what sin can do to your life and whether it was rock music the internet was coming into play at that point it wasn’t as popular as it is now and not so many people were using it but it definitely was a struggle for teens so I very much warned about that.

There’s the guy and girl interaction.

I was very, very determined not to have anything like that happen in my life where you’d, you just have that heartbreak, anything that I saw how, how, how things can go down.

So there was just a lot of those different warnings.

It was just very helpful growing up in that, that atmosphere that was unique for us.

Faith Talks host: And I would agree with that.

It was helpful to see what sin can do to your life and how it can destroy it.

Now, moving on to talking about college, I know this was far different than traveling in a lot of ways.

And, um, Steph was kind of the first to bridge the gap, take the plunge, you might say, going into college.

So Steph, do you want to just tell us a little bit about what was different about college or just different things that God taught you?

Yeah.

So,

Faith Talks host: um, as you said, I wasn’t traveling anymore, so it was definitely a different, a different thing than I had ever done before and staying in one place.

And so that was difficult, just getting used to not being around family as well as just a whole lifestyle change and academics and all of that.

But God taught me a lot through that.

Depending on him, I really hadn’t had any difficult, super difficult things in my life, but that was a whole new level of trusting him.

And so that was just the basic part of just entering college.

Something that was just different was that we were homeschooled so I wasn’t around the same people all the time in a classroom setting and also wasn’t around people that had the same ministry focus and goal in life and so that was really encouraging just being around different peers in college that could encourage you and you just didn’t feel like you were on a different page you were very like-minded so that was that was really good making some good quality friends and as far as things that were different we had guys that traveled with us but they were older than us sometimes jerks not all of them no they they treated us like brothers basically so um but it was unique being around guys my same age and a lot of guys my same age so that was that was just a a new experience for me and I knew I had to think that through how that was gonna affect how I reacted to people so

Faith Talks host: and I remember you sharing a couple months ago actually just some different decisions you made to kind of purpose in your heart to save your heart for your future spouse.

Do you mind just

Faith Talks host: sharing a few of those?

Yeah, so I obviously just recently got married and it’s definitely something I look back upon and realize how God protected in the college years just decisions he brought me to and it wasn’t even of myself.

It wasn’t like I was necessarily trying to think of these steps to take, but he just led me to that there really needed to be steps like that and barriers in my life.

So as I was beginning to get in college, you know, you kind of notice people’s interactions and things.

And as a girl, most girls, you know, you want to get married.

And I generally probably thought I wanted to get married.

It still seems impossible.

But I saw girls that were definitely making advances towards the guys and just their comments.

And as a girl, you can pick up on it.

Definitely.

Knowing yourself and knowing the temptations there is there.

So as I was thinking and praying about it, I realized I had the temptation to want to just talk to certain guys more or put yourself in positions where guys could notice you.

But I was just thinking about how I so wanted God to be the author of the relationship I got into.

And I never wanted to look back and say, oh, I know why I married my husband because I made it so we were in the same group and different things. or I went and talked to him at his lunch table a lot or just I manipulated anything.

And that’s what I just didn’t want to ever look back and see that as the reason for a relationship starting.

And so I just made the decision that that wasn’t going to be my focus.

And I was going to trust the Lord totally to bring up to pass basically the relationship.

And it wasn’t going to be anything of me because I totally wanted to be him.

I wanted to know for sure, you know, you can never trust yourself, but you can always trust God and

Faith Talks host: see what he did.

So that was something I super admired about Steph during college.

Um, I had other friends who had older sisters and they would be like, Oh, I think my older sister likes so-and-so, or I think this is so-and-so.

And I was like, you know what?

Steph doesn’t even really talk about that.

Like I know she’s saving herself for who she’s going to marry and she’s just a genuine, I don’t know, genuine person to be around at all times.

So that was something I super appreciated and looked up to and tried to emulate even in you.

Now, then when you graduated from college, you weren’t married.

So any steps or different things God showed you

Faith Talks host: through that time of waiting?

Well, it kind of, I guess, would intensify in a little way, because people kind of put pressure on you, like, when are you getting married after you graduate? you know and I honestly didn’t feel any pressure myself designing marriage is more just the other people is like asking you all the time you’re just like okay so should I be getting married what’s up with this but um the main thing was just it was that still that just determination that I wanted God to totally totally do it and there was a key moment um I guess it would have been a year after basically a year after I graduated a little less but I um was just crying out before the Lord just feeling so overwhelmed with just the decision if it were to ever come to that of how I would even discern his will and was ready to discern as well for such a big step in life and God just gave me such a peace that he was going to totally do it and he was going to prepare me not like not only do it but prepare me so I was able to see his will and all of that and that that was just something I was able to rest upon at different times you know you have different doubts and different things come up, but that was something I was able to look back on many times and just know that I had heard from God and that he was, he was going to guide in that situation.

So, and then moving on to the more

Faith Talks host: recent history, um, can you just tell us a little bit about finding out about Ryan and just, um, how you approached it and walked through it?

So every courtship’s different.

Let me just say that.

Faith Talks host: And so it’s complicated, but I’ll try to keep it succinct and so you can hopefully understand it.

But I guess it would have been two years or, you know, a year and a half or so after I graduated.

It was the fall of 2019.

My parents let me know that there had been a guy that had asked to pursue a relationship.

And they told me who it was.

They told me it was Ryan and told me a little bit about his journey through it and why he was convinced that we should start a relationship and I was potentially the one for him.

And they shared just also some other things in his life that would make it impossible for us to start a relationship at that point.

So when you hear all that news, you’re just like, okay, that’s great.

You know, you feel very privileged that a guy noticed you and that he felt that God was leading him towards you, but yet there’s this whole other issue and it’s potentially never going to happen or it would be a long time. so I knew for myself that I definitely had to set up some precautions because once again as a girl you know the tendency to want to if you know a guy likes you you want to talk to him more you want to try to just put yourself where he can see you more just certain things you know your brain just goes towards and the devil tries to tempt you with tempt you with um so I at that point Ryan didn’t know that I knew anything about it either and I really wanted him to be able to focus on growing And then I knew I had a lot of growth still in my walk with the Lord and growing deeper that I know God wanted to do in my life.

So I wanted to be very careful in that he wouldn’t know it as well.

So I told my parents even I knew they had put a ton of trust in me by telling me that information and then they’re gone.

You know, I’m home and I could be doing anything.

And so I told them that any conversation that I ever had with Ryan, I would immediately tell them exactly what transpired and keep nothing from them.

I wasn’t going to do anything hidden, not any little comments there, you know, trying to flirt in any way.

I just knew that would protect me if I told them that I would tell them everything.

And I also just made the decision not to go out of my way to try to talk to him or be around him at all.

And just back on that theme of what I decided in college, just wanting God to do it all.

Like this situation, you know a guy likes you and You know there’s already a spark there.

It’d be so easy to just try to make something happen or make your parents try to go faster because you want to get married or want your parents…

Faith Talks host: And you could somehow, you could in some ways justify it too.

Yes, yeah.

Because like he’s legitimately…

Yes.

The marriage might be in the future so you could think it’s actually going to be okay but that’s a great decision to…

Faith Talks host: You could compromise very easily in your mind.

So God just led me to those different steps and they really did protect my heart because that’s another thing.

You can do all those action steps, but your heart is such a thing that can just go so, so fast.

And I remember there’s times I just, I felt like my heart is this castle, you know, and all the guards were just like escaping and leaving.

I was like, no.

And I’m just praying to the Lord so many times that he would help me keep my heart because a lot of times our flesh wants to, you know, go that opposite direction.

So I knew I couldn’t do that in and of myself.

Faith Talks host: and I super appreciate that I’ve thought of that many times that castle approach and it really is a battle every of course guys have the battle for purity but I think girls just as much have that emotional battle for purity to keep your emotions in your heart and just your thinking and everything just for that one that God has for you someday so we’ve seen how you trusted God to write your story in the area of a relationship or just even throughout your life.

But I’m sure since then, it’s not like your life is over when you get married.

There’s a lot of stuff you still have to seek the Lord for, for his direction, even more so as a couple.

Do you mind just sharing about that?

Yes.

So at the beginning of this year, well, we got engaged in January and then a few

Faith Talks host: months later, Pastor Pardee from down here in South Carolina came up to Falls Baptist just to kind of interview some different potential couples and we didn’t know he was coming until he was there and he asked to meet with us and just shared his bit his vision for the church and what he was looking for and somebody to come down and ask us to pray about it so at first I was kind of you know like I know the church it’s a really sweet church um we’ve been there a lot it’s almost it’s a very family-oriented church and I could sense the Lord there’s being some like light in it and the Lord was giving light um for Ryan it was like he’d never been there it was a totally different thing for him he didn’t really feel led that way at all um so I remember just we were praying together and then separately and um it was just a weird thing to me because yes we put so much um prayer and stuff into our relationship and um knowing that we were the right ones for each other but then there’s this whole another thing to think about I said anticipated that um right off the bat and it that would ultimately determine a big direction change because we were planning on staying in Wisconsin and maybe pursuing some evangelism work and stuff like that.

But, um, so, um, we both were fasting and praying about it and, um, just seeking the Lord’s direction in that.

And it was, it was amazing how God just changed, changed Ryan’s heart to totally be for coming here.

And then, um, just helped come from a lot of things in my, in my life, just about, um, coming here, you know, my heart.

Um, I remember right at the beginning, kind of along the lines of the other things the Lord showed me in college with not trying to push for something, I remember Ryan was more hesitant towards it, and I knew that if God was going to do it, he was going to have to be more for it than I was.

And so just that principle of not pushing for anything and just following the Lord and trusting the Lord that if it’s his will, he will make it happen.

And there’s such a peace and rest in that.

As girls, I think especially we like to control things and we like to know what’s happening, especially me.

I’m more perfectionistic and things like that in life and like to know what’s happening.

But there is such a rest in just trusting the Lord and what he you know, he has a will and he’s going to accomplish that.

And you don’t have to manipulate everything to happen.

So it was really neat to see how God even did that in Ryan’s heart.

And then also in my heart, just confirming that through that and even through some authorities and different things.

So that’s that’s one of the biggest ways.

And we know there’s going to be, you know, future ministry steps.

And that’s that same.

When you see God do it once, you are so encouraged and have so much more faith to be able to believe in for more in the future.

Faith Talks host: That’s great.

And I was reading the other day in My Atmosphere is Highest.

And it’s a quote that just reminded me of something you said.

But it was talking about how there’s times in life where you can’t really understand why you can’t do what you want to do.

And I remember part of it was saying, never run before God gives you direction. and when concerning the will of God if you have the slightest doubt then he’s not guiding but just to wait for his timing and he’s going to do it without heartache or disappointment and I remember I wrote down that quote when it is a question of the will of God wait for God to move and just that idea of I’m not going to manipulate I’m not going to try to do things on my own but I’m just going to trust trust that God’s big enough that he can do it and then there is that rest just knowing that you weren’t a part of manipulating anything um moving on we’ve been doing our bible characters so I think we were talking before and I think we might have some actually bible characters that are on the negative side that didn’t show what trusting and waiting on the lord is like but what have been some bible characters that have stood out to you

Faith Talks host: whether positive or negative so I remember when um I was praying about Ryan and that whole situation It ended up like it was it was a unique situation because we didn’t know how long.

There was no like exact timeline, like come back in a year and see if you’re ready to get married or whatever.

So it was very much a waiting waiting period.

And I remember there’s just three different messages, three different books, people talking, just random things.

Lord just kept impressing my heart about bringing me examples in scripture, people that didn’t wait for God and how wrong that like their situations got messed, so messed up because of that.

And then on the other side, seeing people that did wait on God and how perfect their story was because they waited on God to do it and they didn’t try to manipulate things.

I’ll just give you a few.

But for the negative side, there’s Saul and the burnt offering where he just sacrificed when Samuel wasn’t there.

And that impulsive decision not to wait, that resulted in him not being king.

Faith Talks host: And he was even doing a good thing.

Like he was doing a sacrifice and you can sometimes think, oh, well, I’m doing a good thing.

You know, I’m just maybe God hasn’t shown me that exactly, but I’m just going to take this step and not wait on God.

Faith Talks host: Yeah, especially if you’re justifying it because it is a good thing.

So just realizing that you have to wait on the right time and God to be in it.

There’s also Jacob and his birthright and blessing and all that, how he forced things.

And there’s just so many aspects to that in his life that were with him having to flee with his parents and all that was just because he didn’t wait for God’s timing because God had told him, you know, that there would be.

He even had that promise to rest on, but he tried to make it happen in and of his own self.

So those were two.

There’s a lot more.

Faith Talks host: Yes.

That would satisfy him.

And I think that even ties into like saving your heart.

It would be easy.

Yes, that’s true. in the moment to be like, oh, this feels good.

Like, let me just do this.

Yeah.

Getting attention

Faith Talks host: from the opposite gender.

You know, you feel, you feel good about that.

You’re like, okay, I’m worthy of that or something like that.

So, but just saving it for the, for the birth rate at the end.

Yeah.

So the biggest fulfillment, like don’t, oh, there’s a example I often thought of when you have like a present wrapped up and you have that big surprise of opening it all.

But what if you were there and you’re just like a little bit taking little pieces off, little pieces off and you’re kind of seeing you’re trying to take get like little bits of what you think is it’s going to be and you ruin that surprise of what God’s going to do and so that’s that’s one thing I I was impressed upon me as I was going through that journey just like I don’t

Faith Talks host: want to take away any but from what God’s big thing is he’s going to give me so I think of the Gilmore’s house we would here we go here’s a Gilmore story to commemorate Anna Fates and she’s not here but they would wrap up their presents and have them under the tree like all of them even if they were oddly shaped which ours we mainly didn’t have some more boxes yeah but they I remember once coming in and there was somebody had a ball and they were bouncing it all around the room but it was in wrapping paper and they’re like I don’t know what this is obviously joking because it’s like a basketball but it was in the wrapping paper and they were bouncing it around the room but anyway kind of goes along with that did you have any more Bible characters

Faith Talks host: So that was the negative, but some positive ones.

There’s just Joseph and all he went through.

That was a lot of waiting on his part.

I think we don’t realize how much time elapsed between each phase of his story.

But there is that time where he’s before the king.

He could have tried to pull strings for himself, you know.

And he had the same thing as Jacob, really.

Faith Talks host: He knew that he was one day going to have a birthright or you’re going to be in charge.

But he didn’t try to manipulate things.

And in fact, his story seemed to almost go worse at times.

Faith Talks host: it’s true then better yeah just kept getting getting worse and like how after time how could you keep the faith in god through that but um god worked in his life miracle through that um then another big one was david um you think of the times where he knew he was gonna be king he was anointed king and there’s time where he’s like saul was laying in front of him he could have stabbed him with that spear and he could have taken that in his own hands and been theoretically been king right then but he’s like nope it’s not my my place to do that so just over and over there’s a lot more we could go into, but that’s what, um, in my devotions and so many times that would come up.

Faith Talks host: Now, were there any verses that stood out to you just in your journey of waiting on God?

Yes, there are a lot of verses about, um, waiting on God and I encourage, um, listeners just to

Faith Talks host: really focus on that.

In the hour with God, there was that waiting on God section.

I feel like that, through that whole journey, there was so many things the Lord taught me in that, that specific section.

Um, one, I actually have written like right at the top of that section.

Every time I pray, I see it in Psalms.

It’s, My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation.

He is my defense.

I shall not be moved.

So especially the first part where it talks about my soul wait thou only upon God.

And sometimes we see, we think we’re waiting on a person.

We think we’re waiting on different things.

But just waiting on God and what he’s going to do and seeking him in that when you’re distressed about things not moving along as you think they should.

And also at the end, it talks about I shall not be moved.

If we’re resting and trusting in God, we’re not going to be up and down with emotions and all of that.

But when we come back to our rock and our salvation there, that’s our ticket to not being tossed to and fro.

Faith Talks host: And I think, too, if you trust in the Lord and just wait on Him, you’re never going to be ashamed.

And that’s one thing in Isaiah 50 that the Lord’s really done in my heart.

Like anyone who, it says, let me just read this part.

Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant that walks in darkness and has no light.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.

And just, you’re not going to be ashamed.

God’s going to take care of you if you just choose to wait on him.

And really that waiting is a matter of faith.

Faith in God that he is who he says he is.

And that he will do, fulfill the promises he’s giving you.

Faith Talks host: And all through the journey, just with waiting on, especially a spouse and all of that, the Lord just impressed upon my heart that I will never regret a step of faith.

I will always regret a step of my own making.

And so sometimes when you take those steps of faith, it’s hard.

And you’re not sure what’s going to happen.

But I realized I never would regret that.

And I can look back.

I am so grateful for the steps he led me to and the steps of faith I took.

Faith Talks host: And even just an application, I know you were talking about how when you made a step of faith, just what you would do with writing it down.

Faith Talks host: Yes, that was very helpful because, you know, when you write it down, that just solidifies it so much more.

And if you tell somebody, that’s even the next step.

So whenever God shows you something, especially if you’re struggling in that area with guy-girl relationships, sometimes we just live in the struggle and we never take steps to try to remedy that struggle and get victory in it before marriage.

So I would just encourage the listeners, if that is a struggle in your life, Just if God shows you a step or even seeking him, asking him for steps, you can take, write it down as well.

Just so you have that like written in stone in a way so you can keep yourself accountable.

Faith Talks host: Well, thank you so much for coming in today.

Or I guess it was more me coming flying down here.

But that has been so helpful.

And I know just as a younger sister, I’ve been truly blessed and just so grateful for her heart of faith and heart to just trust and wait on God.

And I asked her to share this part because I was blessed by it myself.

So I hope you listeners out there enjoyed this story and just her really steps of faith that she took just choosing to wait on God.

And just remember this week as you go throughout your lives, faith doesn’t just talk, faith walks.

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