Janna Shoultz: Hello, I’m Jana Faith and welcome to episode 41 of Faith Talks. And yes, I’m flying solo today. Anna Faith is actually in Fiji right now. So she’ll be doing the next podcast from there. And she went on, I believe, like a three-month trip to work with the church over there. They’re going to be doing music and discipleship and just a whole bunch of things helping out the church there. And she went with my sister-in-law, Charity Schultz. So they both are there, and I know they made it safely. So you can just pray for them as they minister these next couple months. And I know there’s going to be a lot of stretching things for them. So just keep them in your prayers. And today I was going to do this podcast with my sister. But then the way it worked out, she spoke at a teen rally that we had here at the church in Martinsville here. And so I decided it might be easier just to record her actual session. So I’m going to be playing part of that today. But before we get started, just a little life update. The last podcast we did was a day before my due date. And yes, I had the baby. So Evan Martin Schultz was born on, I always want to say October, but that’s my husband’s birthday. It was March 13th, 2025. And just a little bit about it. I will share more in another podcast where we’re going to do kind of a theme that I thought I’d share. Just some of the different things the Lord taught me. But just a brief overview for you who are curious out there. It was a Wednesday and I was teaching some music lessons at church and finished up those around 4.30. And we were talking in the lobby and we got home around 5 p.m. and started to realize things were kind of happening, and started having contractions and different things, and realized I was going into labor. So that was exciting, because I was four days past my due date, so I was excited and ready. So we ate dinner, and things started getting a little more intense. We took a walk. It was kind of funny. There was a garage sale we actually came across so we were looking at some puppies there and stopping for contractions and such and that was around 7 p.m and then we got home around 8 and took a shower got ready packed our bags and then we labored at home for several hours and that’s something I wanted to do so was grateful for that um labored at home till around 11 and we were timing the contractions, but they were very, very intense, but sometimes they wouldn’t always last a minute. It would be like 50 seconds or something like that. And we’re like, you know, should we go in? We were trying to wait till they lasted a minute, but then, you know, they had started and were then about five minutes apart. And then they were about four minutes apart and then three minutes apart and getting very intense. And so I said, you know, I think we should just go in. So we got in the car and it was about 25-30 minute drive to the hospital. Got to the hospital around 11.30 p.m. And they were coming every two minutes and rushed me into the emergency room door because that’s what was open at that time. And it was kind of a wild ride, but they checked me and I was at a 7 centimeters and 100% effaced and they wheeled me pretty quick right into that delivery room. And he was born just about an hour later. So that was kind of a little crazy. I thought it would be longer than that. But we were grateful that it was short. So he came, Evan Martin came at 1246 a.m. on Thursday the 13th. And he was a healthy little boy. He came out kicking and screaming and hasn’t really stopped since. No, he’s doing pretty good. So it’s been, this past month has been a lot of adjustments and a lot of just new lessons in this life stage. And again, I’ll share a little more in another podcast. But that was the exciting addition to our family that we’ve had this past month. So I’m just going to now share this clip from my sister’s session. And just to give you a little bit of an overview, she was speaking on gifts and specifically God’s gifts that he gives to us. And sometimes God’s gifts don’t always come in maybe the size or shape or wrapping paper that we would anticipate. Sometimes they don’t look like gifts. They might look like trials. And I was just really touched by her session in several ways. And I know you guys are going to enjoy it as well. I am skipping the game at the beginning. So something she might reference might, she had chocolate kisses and a gift. And so different people were shaking it and trying to figure out what was inside the gift. And then she opened it up and it was chocolate kisses. And then gave kind of the illustration of wondering what’s inside of a gift. And so then I’m going to play it so it will make more sense with that little intro. And then I’m also just going to read these verses. She had girls look up the verses. But you couldn’t really hear them because of the way the mic situation was. So I’m just going to read them ahead of time. And then I went ahead and cut them out of when she had people read them, just so you weren’t listening to silence. Okay, so here’s the gifts, or not the gifts, here’s the verses. James 1.17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Matthew 7.11, if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, How much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good gifts to him that ask him? Isaiah 55, 8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Ephesians 3, 20, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Romans 8, 28, For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. James 1, 2, My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Then the last one here, Job 23, 10, But he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Okay, enjoy.

Stephanie Swanson: So we all know that feeling of just wanting to know what’s in a gift. And like, we are so curious. And I am like the most impatient person you probably have ever met. You probably have ever met. You probably all are. But I just, I want to know everything and like right away. So we all kind of know how that works in our practical life. But as I’ve grown and God’s shown me different things, he’s really shown me how often we actually act that way to gifts God is going to try to give us and the plan God has for life. So if you think about like how many times we think, okay, where am I going to be in five years? Or who’s my husband going to be? Or how many kids will I have? What kind of job will I have? There’s just so many things we would just love to know. right now. And, um, I, one time as I was doing my emotions, the Lord just really impressed upon me. He’s like, I have as much purpose in what I’m going to give you as in the timing of when I’m going to give that to you. So, um, as we think about gifts and we have that perfect time where we’re supposed to open then, um, can we, we’re going to kind of parallel that a little bit to, um, what with God and his gifts that he wants to give us. Um, when we think about that, we’re trying to rush, you know, wanting to open God’s gifts that he’s going to give us, it ultimately our focus then becomes on that gift right instead of on jesus the giver and that’s what the whole theme here too is just pursuing god and knowing him and so oftentimes we start just our focus just gets shifted off of him into just what he can give us um i was really struck by a quote that my cousin posted on some social media and um i just want you guys i’m going to read it to you but before i read it to you i want you all to think i’m gonna do a minute here of silence to just think of the biggest prayer request or the biggest burden you have on your heart right now so just think of that in your own head give you a second to think that through okay so i hope you’ll have it in your head okay so i’m gonna read this quote and i want you to envision that request, we’re going to put it into this picture, okay? So when we squint our eyes to see the Lord walking over that hill with that which we have prayed for in tow, so he’s holding that gift, that request that we have wanted to see, to where will we run first? To who will we embrace first? That which we have prayed for or he who heard our prayer? And that really struck me because like so many times I’ve had to answer the prayer and I was like, yes, an answer to prayer. I just like, I’m so, um, like whatever the answer was, I’m just so infatuated with that. And you just almost just like, just, yeah, you just go right to that. But rather than going right to Jesus and thanking him for who he is and he is the giver, gave it to you. Um, you think of that similar situation with the 10 lepers, you know, Jesus healed them and how many came back? Just one, which is pretty crazy out of 10. So, so often we’re just like that. You see like little kids do the same thing, you know, that you hit, give them a toy and they’re all about that toy. I totally forget about you. But that’s just an important picture to think of as we receive those gifts from Jesus. And so we’re going to go over two points. You kind of have them on your little card there. We’re going to talk about God’s gifts, and then we’re going to talk about God’s timing of his gifts, because sometimes our perspective of both of those can get just kind of warped by our own selfishness and impatience. So I need some volunteers to look up some Bible passages. I’ll read them off in a minute. But so first we’re going to be talking about God’s gifts and these verses are about what kind of gifts God gives to us. Okay. Could I have somebody read James 1 17? Okay. Over there. And then Matthew 7 11. Would you do that one? Okay. Those are the first two. We’ll have more later on. All right. Once you got turned to those, just you can start reading James 117 when she got it. Good. Okay. So those are pretty, it’s like the same adjective. What’s the adjective it uses? Good gifts. Okay. So we all have probably heard those verses a lot. And so we see that from those verses that God is going to give us good gifts. And he even talks more about the character of God in giving that good gifts. And he’s no variableness, no shadow of turning. He’s going to be faithful. He’s going to do the same good gifts to us every single time. Okay. So we all know that feeling of trying to pick out a good gift for somebody. Now, how many of you would just would say that you are really good at shopping for gifts for people? I feel like, yeah. Oh, that’s pretty good. There’s some people there. That’s awesome. I know I have some friends that, yes, they like get me stuff. I’m like, wow, like I needed that. And then how’d they know? Or they just picked up on like a little tiny thing I said. And I’m really bad at getting gifts for people. I can’t think of anything and then whatever. But I thought of the picture often of God shopping for a gift for us. And think about God, how much he knows compared to like little us who’s trying to guess what this person needs and we’re like ethically failing. But he knows exactly what’s the perfect gift for us. He even knows what the best gift is for us more than we know. Like we might go to the store and pick out the thing that we think is the best for us, but God knows it’s a totally different thing and he’s going to pick out that perfect and good gift for us. So that’s just a very comforting thought. He’s always going to pick out the thing that is best for us. Okay, Then I need somebody to do Isaiah 55, 8. 55, 8. Isaiah 55, 8. And then Ephesians 3, 20. Somebody can do that one. Okay, Ephesians 3, 20. And then we’ll have more. So whenever you got Isaiah 55, 8, go for it. Okay, Ephesians 3, 20. Yeah, so both of these verses are talking about how God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. and also that he’s going to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. So it doesn’t follow our pattern of thinking, our human pattern of thinking, our human view of what’s good. It might not follow that. And our human nature just like always wants to figure out, kind of like we’re talking about if we want to figure out what’s in the gift, we always want to figure out what God’s going to do. I remember I was praying about like a very intense request for me and I read that verse like where he’s going to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. And I was like, great, that’s awesome. Like he’s going to do way bigger than I can even think. Like this is really awesome. Like what I’m asking him for right now is I’m praying, but he’s going to do even bigger and better than that. And then I started thinking, so what’s bigger and better? Like, what could he do? I was just like, that’s not the point of the verse. Like it’s that I’m not going to ever be able to understand exactly what he’s going to do. So it’s not, it’s not our point to try to figure out what he’s going to do. It’s a matter of trusting God to be God and he’s going to give the good and best for us. Okay. I need somebody to do Romans 8, 28. over there thank you Romans 8 28 and then I’ll have some other verses ready James 1 2 yep in pink shirt James 1 2 and then Job 23 10 okay Job 23 10 you guys are good volunteers good work being involved okay once we got Romans 8 28 yes good so it talks about things working together for good. So working together kind of has the idea of where it doesn’t look good. It might like the pieces don’t quite fit at first. God’s working it together for good. I like to think of a practical example of this because I do sewing. How many of you guys do like a craft, a sort of craft? Okay, good. How many of you guys do like knitting or some type of, okay. What other crafts do we have going on here? What do you do? Paint rocks. Oh, that’s really cool. That’s awesome. Any other crafts we have going on here no some people still have time for crafts but yeah I do sewing I recently while I was here I was helping a girl with her wedding dress and um as you go through the process a lot of times it does not look good it looks kind of random and um especially like the project can look random but then the house looks even more random because like stuff everywhere my mom was so patient with me growing up because I would like the whole basement would be like a wreck because I’m like doing some sewing project I would do like costumes I did like a starfish costume one time. I did like a British soldier. I did a robot. I did a bunch of random things. So you have like all these pieces of everything everywhere. And if you look down there, sometimes you wouldn’t even know what I’m trying to make. At some point, you’re like, this is craziness. But it’s kind of that same idea. If you’re painting or crocheting, like it just doesn’t look like what it’s going to be at your end goal. So that’s kind of what that verse is talking about is that all things work together for good. So God might be doing something in your life that just doesn’t seem to make sense but he’s working that together through different circumstances and it will be good in your life so that’s the encouragement to us okay James um one two yes so count it all joy which joy is a good thing um when you fall into diverse temptations so that same kind of contradiction where like it’s joy but like um the diverse temptations are not a good thing so sometimes God can be working your life through different temptations or different things like that. And he’s growing you through that. All right. Job 23, 10. Yes. Okay. So trying, we don’t necessarily think of that as a good thing for sure. But then that end result, he’ll shall come forth as gold and he’s perfecting you through those different trials. So all these verses we’ve just talked about, just further reiterate how God’s sense of good often goes in direct opposition to what we think is as good. So we see that we’ve heard those verses, we know all that. But for me, it’s always helpful to hear like a personal example. I remember a lady spoke and she’s speaking on marriage or something and she just gave like a just real like life situation. It made everything just make so much sense. So I’m just going to share an instance where God used this principle in my life and it was a hard time. It was, it did not seem good at all. And even to this day, there’s some things like I don’t fully see how God was good in it. But I have seen a lot of his goodness through this trial and I’ll warn you I am I’m not like a very cry person but somehow when I talk about this I have tears slip out so we’re all girls we all understand but um yeah it happens so um we had as you probably saw he ran down the aisle here a little minute ago but we have a little boy and his name is Parker and I’m a very proud mom of him and so I’ll show you a picture because who what mom does not like want to show you a picture of their kid okay hopefully you can kind of see it so this is him that was just recently those blue eyes you know will get you it’s so funny like you become a mom and like you hear everybody like my kids like the best and whatever I’m like I am not so deceived that my kid I’ll think that my kid’s like the most amazing ever and then I get a kid I’m like I just got the most amazing kid and it’s just amazing but um he is very a sweet boy he’s been a great blessing to us but um when my pregnancy was all great and then I went into labor and a lot of things happened and he um he I had a 32 36 hour labor and then I ended up at c-section it’s just stuff just wasn’t making sense like why did that happen and um he actually when he came out in the c-section the doctor the scalpel like cut his eyebrow so he has this little scar right there it’s not very visible but there’s just like one thing after another it’s your first kid and you’re like what in the world everything’s not what I unexpected so that was a whole journey just wrestling through that and trusting the lord through that whole um unexpectedness but then when he was one month old me and my husband were getting ready he was like sitting in the bassinet and um my husband says he’s like do you think his like forehead looks weird it kind of looks like it’s like protruding and i’m like no it’s he’s a weird head like he has a weird back of my head and your family has big foreheads so it’s it’s that so i was like it’s just a weird mix like even before i was born like this kid’s head is going to be so weird shape because we both have very odd shaped heads in our family so I was just like just chalk it up to that so he leaves for work and I’m just like you know what maybe there’s something wrong you know it’s an intertime mom you have to research everything on google so I google it and I start hearing this term called sagittal craniosynostosis huge term and it’s like this awful thing and I was like what I’m like okay I’m just a mom that’s like super paranoid and um just you know you hear about that happening all the time but I kept researching and kept researching and then I um found some just like the symptoms of it and like the picture like was exactly my kid’s head and there’s like a ridge on the top so basically what happens with that condition is one other your head is like in different bone plates when you’re born and so one of those had fused early so his head would only grow like long ways so he had like a big forehead and then a big back of his head so he looked like a little football and then his head was very hard like you could barely feel the hot the hot spot the soft spot um so I was like basically 100% sure he had it and my husband comes home and I’m like crying and it was very traumatic but we got into a neurosurgeon and he confirmed it he said it’s that and there’s so many different things we had to wrestle through like where are we going to go for surgery because if you don’t do the right kind of surgery then they could have surgeries later on or just and you have to do the surgery because you don’t want their brain to be under pressure and then you have brain damage and And it’s just like all these things you’re wrestling through, you’re making decisions for the first time for like somebody other than yourself, this little person that you’re so responsible for. So through all that, me and my husband, it really drew us closer. God used that in our lives. And then we were able to get on a Facebook group that had a bunch of information and different doctors. And so long story short, God led us to El Paso, Texas. So we live in South Carolina. So God led us to El Paso, Texas, which is like if you drove, it’d be like 24 hours or so. We flew. But all throughout that, even just while we were going through that, I couldn’t see God’s goodness all basically in it. He did just give us little things like where there was a foundation that covered our flights. There was a place that covered our gas and our food and our lodging like at an Airbnb. And just pieces started coming together. And it was very clear that God was in that move of going to there for surgery. And there were even like sweet people in our church, like a lady that had like no money. But she’s like, hey, I want you to get the best care for your son. She’s like, I’ll write you a thousand dollar check. And there are a few different people that just did that because my husband was going to be out of work. And like literally my husband and I, after it all happened, we kind of like tallied up all the money that we had to use in that. And it basically came like we broke even with the people that had given us stuff and everything. So God just took care of us even in that when it was just like you’re in this cloud of sadness and like everything that was going on. He took care of those little details. And his surgery was like the best. um, those best success that you could ever hope for the lady in the recovery room. We’d specifically play, prayed that God would show us just like something that somebody would say that would say his recovery is like the best they’d seen. So we get into the recovery room. The first thing the lady says is I’ve never seen a kid respond better to this than your kid is doing right now. Usually the kids can be like screaming and all this stuff. And he was just there like kind of whimpering and sleeping. And like, like really he, he had like the flu a few, like a month later and he, the flu hit him harder than that surgery did where the surgery they take out like a clump of the bone like that much bone out of a little baby’s head so you imagine like you’re scared of baby’s heads because of a soft spot but imagine your baby having like that big of a soft spot you’re like I can’t even touch you um so he then had a helmet for about 14 months and that all went well there was no skin issues there’s just like answer prayer after answer prayer and we have people praying during surgery I have a little book I made him and it has like all the names like all the individual’s names, like some church names. And there’s like over 200 names and there’s more people like we need to put a church name. That’s like another hundred people. Um, so it was just incredible to see God’s people rise to that and be a blessing to us and, um, just encouragement there. Now the crazy thing is, so a month later after Parker’s surgery, the surgeon, this is a world-renowned surgeon. That’s why we went to this. He developed this type of surgery. He’d done it for the longest. He trains people. He passed away. He was only 69, and we had been able to give him the gospel. He said he was like a recovering Catholic is how he put it. He was searching for God, but he knew the Catholic Church wasn’t giving him what he needed. It wasn’t real. So he gave lip service to God. He told us that, you know, he trusts God as he does the surgery, like that God’s giving him those kids in his responsibility. And it’s a really sweet time with him, but my husband was burden to give him the gospel. I thought we’d see him multiple times as you go back for checkups. I’m like, it’s not as desperate if we give him the gospel now, but husband gave him a track and then briefly gave him an overview of the gospel then. And when I saw that pop up like a month later after my baby surgery, I was just shocked. And God just like showed me right then. He’s like, that’s why. That’s why you had this trial. And if God reached him through that, it was all worth it, even if that was the only thing. But God sent me even so much more through that. But It’s such a sweet doctor too. So it just, it hits heartstrings there too. So I just told you that story just to illustrate how God’s gifts didn’t look good. It seemed like the worst thing that had ever happened to me. And like, it didn’t look good when I saw he’d have like extensive surgery, like thinking of your little baby having his head cut open. It’s just like the worst thing to think of. And so obviously I’m still emotionally, like it still hits me, but I was emotionally struggling so much then. And then we have to decide all those decisions and that was really hard. And then I, like, as a mom, you’re like, you want that little fuzzy head to snuggle with. And knowing I’d be covered in this, like, helmet, this huge helmet, it was kind of a traumatic thing for me, too. And then, like, having to leave home goes so far for that surgery as well. I was going to try to see if I had a picture of his helmet so you could see, but I don’t think I have it on here. But so it was just so many different things that were really, really hard at that time. It’s one thing after another. But now even just, it’s been, it’ll be almost two years now since he had the surgery. um but I can just see how God was so good in so many ways like all the way through it he held her hand and showed us um what was the right steps to take and the surgeon which I explained about like that we got to give him the gospel and then um quite a few moms um through Facebook groups and stuff I was able to reach out to and just be a blessing and pray with them and um help them just do the details of different stuff with their kids are going through the exact same thing my cousin actually knew somebody that had a kid with the same exact thing as Parker so we FaceTimed, we did different things. So seeing God use that to be a blessing to other people was just really encouraging at the time. And then there was actually a missionary that I was able to help with financial, like going through the financial process, like the foundations that helped us. I was able to share that and they were able to get help to that. And then just even the fact of sympathizing with other mothers that are going through things with their kids. If you have perfectly healthy kids, you just don’t understand what some moms go through when they’re struggling. So that’s been helpful. And a verse that was just helpful to me during the whole thing is 2 Corinthians 1, 4. Who comforted us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are any trouble by the comfort wherewith we all ourselves are comforted by God. So just that comfort he gave me and able to just share that. And just even now sharing with you guys, that’s another answer to prayer. To share what God’s done. And any time you can say God did this and give praise to him is a blessing. So that gift, which totally didn’t look like a gift at first, was very, very instrumental in our lives. And I can see now and I’m sure I’ll see more in the future. And I don’t even probably won’t even know until I get to heaven. Sometimes we have things we go through hard. We don’t see anything until we get to heaven and know exactly what God had through that trial. but just trusting God for each of those different things that happen, that He will be glorified. And our ultimate goal is to glorify God. We hear that all the time, but it just comes down to just our daily decisions to put aside our selfishness, what we want, our impatience, just to want to see God be glorified in any way He can. If that means it’s something hard for us, whatever it is that God will be glorified. And I’ve seen God be glorified through this hard thing. And sometimes the hardest things in our life glorify Him the most. I met a couple that was like a missionary in, I think it was Canada or some northern place. It was cold when I was, oh, I know. But they had just moved into like a condo and the condo went up in flames, like not even a month, I think, after they moved in. But she shared with me, and it’s like the passion in her voice, which you think, I thank God so much for that child and how much she did through it in our lives and like how she didn’t even say it was a bad thing. Like she just kept giving glory to God that it was his will. And I was just very struck by that. Her faith and response to that was just very encouraging to me and encouraged me when I went through these times. There’s another family in our church that had a baby that was like, I don’t think it was stillborn. I think it might have died right after birth. But same thing, like they’re just very like God had that as a plan and they’ve seen so much good come from it. So those hardest times can be the best times. And it’s just that surrendering of our ideas of what we think is perfect and what is the best gifts and what’s the best thing for our lives. Just surrendering it to God and trusting him for that. And there’s just so much freedom in that when you just release your expectations in what you think is the best and solely rely on God and that he will give you exactly what’s going to be best for you. And it will also be exactly what will glorify him the most. So that was the first point of that. I’m talking about God’s gifts. And then let’s talk about this a little bit on the side of God’s timing. I’ll have to go through this fast. I went slower than I thought. So now I feel like I experienced like the biggest waiting time in my life when I was waiting to get married. So I went through college, took five years in college. And then it was about like three years after college before I got married. I know some people have longer times of waiting, but it seemed long for me at that point. When I went to college, I knew I’d be around a lot of guys. So I’ve been homeschooled before. So you’re just around my sisters, just us. And we were pretty crazy at homeschooling our poor teachers. I don’t know how they made it with us. But then we, so I know I’d be going to college. I know they’d be around guys. These would be good guys. They’d be studying for ministry. And I just know there’d be that temptation to want to make something happen in and of myself. And to be flirtatious or whatever. just, I knew it could be a challenge. So I just committed to the Lord that I did not want, when I looked at my future husband and us getting together, whoever that was going to be, I didn’t want to see any human fingerprints along the process. Like, oh, I went over there and talked to him and then I connived. So I was like in the same group as him for this or whatever. And that’s why we’re together. I wanted it to be totally God. And like, that’s why we’re together. I knew we’d go through hard things in marriage. And, um, I was like, I can’t be relying on like, okay, I made this happen. I together and that will that’s the only thing that will really get us through those hard things and um so I was at like three years out of or two two and a half years out of college basically and um my parents came to me and there’s like they told me that there was a guy that approached them about wanting to start a relationship they told me it was Ryan Swanson and I I really liked him at the time I thought he was handsome I thought I liked like his personality I talked with him you know we worked a little bit together at a um retirement home so I knew him pretty well he’s actually our knit cross the street neighbor so we knew each other um and I was really excited about it but they told me that there was something in his life that um there was no way this relationship maybe would ever happen or if it was going to happen it’d be a super long road and it was just very emotionally devastating because I was I was still wanting to be married and I wanted to um you know get to the good stuff and get get get married and have that you know the fun romantic side of things, but it possibly wasn’t going to happen or it was going to be a super long time. So I knew like humanly, I want to rush this along. I want to like, I’m going to just be impatient. As I already said, I’m very impatient. So, um, I just, Lord really worked in my heart though. He was like, you have to give this, this guy time enough to, you know, write those things in his own life, grow. You can’t be a distraction. I already know he’s attracted to me. Um, and I can’t be hindering him from his relationship to the Lord. So I just made a commitment to the Lord that I was going to just be as careful as I could and I wasn’t going to try to open parts of the presence or present early. So if you think of marriage and the relationship as a present, I wasn’t going to try to like tear the corner and like see if I could see a little bit. So paralleling that to life, like trying to get his attention, trying to get him to say something about me or just get any of those little pieces early. I was just going to wait, keep that present intact. And when God’s time came. We’ll open that and we’ll have a great time and it will be, it’ll be great if, if that was his will. So I prayed, um, really that whole situation, draw, you’ll be closer to the Lord, like more than anything else has. And, um, before that I was a good girl, you know, I grew up in evangelist home. I heard so many messages. I was literally like in church most of the days of my life. It’d be like church parks in the church parking lot. We’d have meetings, you know, you’re just in church a lot You hear truth so much, but that was the moment where it was like, what am I going to decide to do? Am I going to choose to serve God and follow him and trust him during this? Or am I just going to do whatever and follow my own selfish desires? So that I really got to know the Lord to that. And that was very, it was an incredible time. And as I was going through that difficult time in one of my devotional times, the Lord just impressed upon me some different examples of people in the Bible that waited, waited him and didn’t try to rush for their own timing so I’m gonna run through these really quickly but um we think about Joseph so he was 17 years old when he got taken into slavery and then it was 13 years how many of you guys are 13 years old or younger than 13 years old it’s probably like at least five or so yeah that’s a long time like I’m older than 13 but still that’s that’s a long time to be like in jail or as a servant like and like waiting that time and being patient and still like seeing that God has a plan for your life. I can’t, I can’t imagine like how, how he did that, but God was with him and God blessed him even through all that. And it looks so bleak most of the time, but you see how God used that and how he saved a whole nation because of that. Another example was David when he didn’t kill Saul, when he saw Saul was like in a cave and David was behind him and could have killed him and gotten the kingdom. And David at that point knew that God was going to make him king. So he could have been like, oh, this is my chance to make it happen. But he didn’t. He totally, like he had the most excuse of any, but I feel like I’m doing, rushing the process. But he’s like, nope, I’m gonna let God be God, do what he’s going to do. God’s promised that. I’m gonna trust him at his promise, but I’m not gonna try to make it happen in and of myself. So we see the people that waited, God blessed that. Then there’s some examples that the Lord struck me with where people didn’t wait. Think of Jacob. He tried to get the birthright. He tried to do all that. Then made all the issues with him and his brother. Their nation still fight to this day and couldn’t see his mother so that was a huge um problem and he didn’t wait then you see Saul in the offering that he um had Samuel was supposed to come and do the offering and Saul’s like oh the people are getting impatient and he was probably getting impatient too and he just does the offering and then he lost his kingdom because of that so you see the big ramifications of rushing um then Ishmael if you think of Sarah and Abraham that they were wanting a son desperately I mean they waited a long time if he was like 100 or so and then they just start making it happen he um has a son with his her servant hagar and to this day the israel palestine conflict and all that is a part of that wrong decisions you see how many generations that moment of rushing god’s will that affected to this day negatively so i just remember like those different examples i wrote in my journal and i was just really struck by that like every time somebody waited on god he blessed like more than you could ask or think like the verse says and then times where people rushed god even just some little decisions you might have Solomon thought like oh that’s not a big deal I’ll just do the offering real quick but he led so much that he lost because of that and so that just made me more and more convinced god wants me to wait on his timing for this and um so just strengthen my faith so there’s a happy end of the story you’ve probably seen Ryan around but you’ll hear him preach at three I think um but we got married about a year after I found out about it and Um, it was, yeah, it was, it was just very sweet time knowing that we both had waited and, um, gotten to know the Lord through that time that we had to wait. So, um, as we just conclude, I just want to just give you with a few points of what you can, if you’re in a waiting time or whatever’s going on in your life, just a few things that you can think of to, to do and to grow, um, as you’re going through these times. So first thing, just seek the Lord for any steps he has for you during this waiting time. When I first heard about the whole situation, the situation with my husband, I just wanted to crawl into a hole, throw a pity party and like never come out for years. But God’s put specific things in my path. There was like a Bible study that was happening in a retirement home. And he’s like, just store yourself under that. Do everything you can for that. And that was a huge blessing. And also just screw me. And then there’s some friends that were struggling with different things. And he’s like, just invest in them. Go, go all in and help them out. So both of those things were just a few examples of steps God had for me at my waiting time. And then seek to know God. This is part of the, if you get one thing out of this, just seek to know the Lord more through that waiting time. Sometimes your hardest times, as I said before, are just the best times. I think a biggest example of this is Jesus on the cross. And that was the hardest time in his life. But yet, what happened through that? We all have salvation through that. And just through looking at his example of that, your hardest times can be the best times. And then just one little other practical thing is just don’t question God. Just keep choosing faith over God every time. And there are times where you can’t ask God why, but I was stuck in such a cycle of just why. As I was walking through the day, the question why would just come through my head so many times. With the Parker situation or with my husband’s situation, waiting for marriage there. Just like, why am I going through this? I didn’t do it because of service, is what you’ll tell yourself. just why like that that little word just like cycled over in my head so so many times and one time the lord just like told me something stop like just stop that he’s like you need to instead of say why say thank you every single time you’re trying to say why and that like mindset change helped me so so much because it just put that whole perspective on i’m thanking the lord for this trial i’m gonna get to know him i’m gonna take keep taking the steps i know i need to take but i’m not gonna be stuck in this why like pity party over here um you’ll never as you go through these student trials, you’ll never regret your times where you took a step of faith. You will regret those times that you had a moment of doubt. I think even just a practical thing that happened to me, I was, we had this family join our church and the mom and the girl were saved. The dad wasn’t, he was like, you get a drinking problem. It just, he was a street guy, but like, I just didn’t see any way he would get saved in a long time. And the white’s just like talking to me, he’s like, you got to pray for my husband to get saved. And I’m like, okay, yes, great. We’ll pray for him to get saved. But like, this is going to be a 10 year path. And then the next week he got saved. And I I was just like, God just like slapped me over there. I was like, you just have such little faith. Like I can do those big things. And so I regretted that I didn’t have this great faith to think of him getting saved sooner. But you also think like Keter on the water where he doubted the Lord. And can you imagine like him, he walked in the water, he saw God deliver, and he probably just beat himself up a lot of times. Like, why didn’t I just do that the first time? So just thinking about that, you always never regret your steps of faith, only your time so I doubt so all right I want you all to flip over your cards really quickly I don’t know if you all have pencils but try to share if you can um I just want you to write either that thing you thought of at the beginning or um that request or something maybe that Lord’s brought to mind during the structure of time and I want you just to write that down on the back that request and then we’ll read that quote one more time and then we’re gonna have a time of just a little moment of prayer you can pray to yourself um just committing that to the Lord okay I’m gonna read that quote still visualize that um that picture when we squint our eyes and see the Lord walking over that hill with that which we have prayed for in tow to where will we run first what will we embrace first that which we’ve prayed for or he who heard our prayer so just keep your eyes on him no matter if he’s holding that gift that you dreamed of or a trial or if you’re in a waiting period, he’s just always there holding what’s best and good for you each step of the way. And he’s going to give it to you in that best and perfect time. So just trust him to give you those gifts that are good. So in this time, I’m just going to give you a few minutes, just to commit to the Lord that you’re going to focus on him and knowing him and then surrendering those dreams and decisions of what is good for you to him. Surrender the timing and basically just telling the Lord, I’m not holding on to anything. I want to trust you to give you best for me. Okay. And then I’ll close in prayer in a few minutes. I’ll give you a few minutes of

Janna Shoultz: silence here. Well, I would encourage you to just take a few minutes and do that. And I really appreciate just her transparency and sharing those different stories. And, you know, faith is going to look different in your life than it looks in hers. And I think that’s just interesting, even hearing so many people’s testimony and such over faith talks in the past couple of years, just how God gives us each our different journeys of faith that look different, but the similar element is the idea that God is growing faith in each of us. So just as you look at your life and the different gifts that God’s given you, maybe in the form of a trial, maybe in the form of something very good, but you know you’re going to have to wait a while, just remember that faith is the key element that God is growing in your life and I just think back to um the verse that I read before and she was talking about in Job that Job just says says he knows the way that I take but when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold and just keep that end goal in mind that Jesus is putting these things in your life to try you so that you might come forth as gold so remember this month just as you go about your day and see and pray through those gifts God is giving you. Faith doesn’t just talk, faith walks.

Stephanie Swanson: Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Thee Generation Podcast. If you have an issue you need help with, we have a resource that can help you. The Battle Plan for Victory is an online resource designed to help young people deal with personal sin issues through the Word of God, and ultimately,