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Hello my friends, and welcome to Everyday God for Your Everyday with Kathy. A space where we'll discuss real practical ways for lifing with God, especially for those days when life is hard, complicated, and messy. How do we apply biblical principles such as God's love, mercy, grace, and wisdom to our daily grind? Well, join me each week as we do just that together. So wherever you may find yourself today, please know that you are seen, held, accepted, loved, never alone. So let's get to it. Welcome, friends, to the very first episode of Everyday God for Your Everyday. I am your host, Kathy. I am both excited and terrified to be starting this venture. So I want to thank you. I want to thank you, those of you who have chosen to listen. I certainly hope that this will be the beginning of a beautiful and long-term relationship. So let's get right into it. Everyday God for your everyday is really exactly that. It's meant to be a practical conversation about faith, a faith that's woven into daily life, one that really helps us to bring the divine into our ordinary moments. I think oftentimes we overcomplicate faith. We overcomplicate how to do life with God. And the hope is that we would experience faith in ways that maybe, you know, you haven't thought about. It's one that I think through a thousand lifetimes we could never fully comprehend. I had this saying when I was um younger, I would write poems that would say that words could never do justice to the type of love that God has for us. Words could never do justice and they could never suffice. Because it is a love that quite frankly dwarfs the vastness of the universe. The purpose, the why of this podcast is really to remind us of that love. It is to encourage people like me, like you, who are living our lives and sometimes, quite frankly, can be overwhelmed by it all. It's for those of us who often feel unseen, unheard, and forgotten. There has been no greater gift in my life than knowing, truly knowing that I am loved by God. So I do think that there's this notion by many that God is a God of judgment. He is a God who is distant, who looks down upon us and wants us to follow very specific rules and just sits in judgment of everything that we do. We believe this, and as a result of that, we don't call on him. We don't think that we can. We don't think that he cares about our daily struggles. And the sad part is that there are even those of us who attend church every Sunday, and we even read our Bibles, but yet we do not think that God cares for the ordinary and mundane parts of our lives. And my friend, that is the farthest thing from the truth. The Bible tells us tells us differently, that God wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. As a matter of fact, he asks us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us. Can you imagine the maker of the universe, the God of everything, the Alpha and the Omega, says that. You know, John 3.17 says that God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. I don't know that we understand that enough. That God didn't send Christ to condemn the world, but he sent his son to die so that you and I would be saved. What that means, my friend, is that Jesus came to this world for you and for me to rescue us from whatever pit and mire and sins and shame that we might be feeling. He did not come to point his finger at you, to condemn you, to make you feel shame or guilt, but instead to wrap you in his arms and remind you of your royal identity in God. See, Jesus came so that we would not only have eternal life with him in heaven, but he also came that we would have life and have it abundantly. That means in this world, in this life. Yes, I know that life is often hard, full of struggle and challenges. Believe me, I understand that all too well. But nonetheless, through Christ, joy and hope are yours and mine for the having. So I will explain kind of the genesis of this podcast, like why? Why do a podcast? I'll talk about a bit of my journey and who I am and why I can speak about this and speak about it with passion and authenticity, because quite frankly, I'm a living testament of how good God is. I am a living and breathing testimony of how God's love can rescue someone. So I am 49 years old. I am a flawed, obviously, Christ follower. I am a mother of three, and I am very much an introvert. So to create a podcast and to bear my soul and to be vulnerable, needless to say, is really something that I would not choose to do. This journey through this podcast really has been a long time coming. Um I felt called to, you know, share and to impart kind of this knowledge that I have about God, this relationship that I've been able to have with Him, this intimacy that I call it, it's really simple. I try not to overcomplicate faith because, quite frankly, I don't operate that way. I am someone who knows how flawed I am. I know how much I deeply need God. I know how much He loves me. And the desire of my heart truly is that everyone would know that. Because I honestly believe that if you know how much you are loved by God, it does create a foundation for confidence and trust and faith and just a richness in life that even though I face struggles, even though I have challenges, my challenges and my trials and my tribulations, they do not define who I am, and they do not define my life. My life is defined by the grace of God, and that is an amazing thing. So I have been blessed enough that in the last, how about I just say, for the bulk of my adult life, I have had a really great relationship with God. I have walked with God faithfully and I have seen his hand at work in my life. So most recently, about a year ago, actually a year ago today, because today is March 14th, I left my 22-year career. I was blessed enough to really do something that I loved and I was really good at it. Um, I was passionate about it, and I was surrounded by people that quite frankly I cared for deeply, and in turn cared for me as well, and really gave me and created a space for me to be the very best version of myself. I was, you know, I I know that in those 22 years, I didn't take it for granted that I was honestly like uniquely blessed. That I said it many times, that I've lived a charmed life. My 22 years was not without, obviously, its own challenges and um issues and you know obstacles in corporate America. But nonetheless, I thrived and I succeeded in in ways and in places that quite frankly I shouldn't have, but for God's grace. And I was blessed enough for 22 years to have worked, did life with folks that I cared for, that I called family. Um, and for the most part, was really, you know, lived and breathed my job. I didn't have a problem doing that because it was more than a job. It was more than a career, it was a passion, it was a calling, it was an assignment, it was all of that wrapped in one. And then came the call from God that it was time to leave. It was time to exit, stage right, as they say. And that was that was hard for me because it was hard to reconcile, right? How something that was good, something that quite frankly came from God. How could you want me to leave something like that? But in obedience, I did. And I have found myself in a season of uncertainty for the last year, a season of, quite frankly, renewal, yes, a season of grief. You know, you leave something that you did for so long, and yeah, you grieve it. It's it's a loss. Um, friendships that, quite frankly, were no longer. So it was, it's been a a really interesting, I would say, an interesting 12 months where I've had to really walk, truly walk by faith and not by sight. And what do I mean by that? That is something that if you have been around, if you've been in church, you've heard walk by faith and not by sight. That's what we're called to do. But in the last 12 months, God has really helped me to understand and to see. I would say not necessarily understand, but to see that I am a walk by sight kind of chick. You know, I I like to trust but verify. Um, I what, you know, God, you know, give me a vision, just just show me where it is I'm going and I can get there. What happens when God doesn't give you the vision? What happens when you don't understand? What happens when you don't even agree with where it is that you're going? So this has really been kind of the genesis, the I guess the reason, the motivation for this. Um, God called me to do a podcast. Now, you know, ask me to write, I can do that. I'm a writer. God has gifted me to be a writer. I have spoken publicly, terrified of that. I'm a, you know, fairly good speaker in my past life. I was a trainer and a salesperson. So sometimes I was a bit shamwow. Um, if any of you can remember that, I'm probably dating myself. But, anyways, it's, you know, I was known for just being incredibly kind of enthusiastic and just like that very animated kind of person. And I will be honest with you, uh, in the last seven months, especially seven, eight months, I've just become super zen and my voice is super calm. So as I was really thinking about doing this podcast, what came to mind was like, Lord, I each time I listened to a recording, it was like, ooh, super chill, like the voice that you would want to hear if you wanted to maybe go to sleep or kind of like meditate. I could do that. I could, you know, have such a calming voice. But I'm like, Lord, I want to be excited and I want to sound like I'm excited and I don't want to put people to sleep. I want to be successful in this. I don't even know how to do this. And it's just been an just incredibly humbling experience thinking about doing this podcast, then going from thinking to planning and to researching. And it's like the more I read, the more terrified I became. And the more terrified I became, the more I was like, Lord, are you really asking me to do this? And then it's like, okay, I'm gonna, you know, do all of these recordings and I'm going to demo this and I'm gonna ask for everyone's opinions. Um, because quite frankly, I wasn't sure of myself. This is new territory, this is a medium that I am unfamiliar with and quite frankly not too keen on. So here I am in obedience, putting myself out there. And I think that that's really the thing that as I started really thinking about it, what is my unique perspective, right? In sales, you know, you'll say, you know, what's the value proposition? And, you know, fashion, they'll talk about your POV, you know, like your point of view. It's something that is unique to you, right? Because there are so many podcasts out there, so many. Oh my gosh, so many. And it's and and I started thinking, I started, I'm gonna, you know, digress here. I started thinking about it. I'm like, oh my god, this is kind of like restaurants. There are a lot of them that fail. There are a lot of them that are just simply no longer around. And I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't like to fail. I don't like to fail at anything. So that, you know, weighed quite heavily on me. And so I I really thought about all of this. And as I was doing it, I thought maybe that is it. Maybe that is my value proposition, maybe that is the unique point of view that I have. Maybe that's the thing, that's the perspective that will make this voice unique to you. We're doing this together. I do not claim to be an expert. I am not. I'm certainly not an expert at podcasting. I am not a master at faith. I am on that faith journey with you, with y'all. I am just someone who has learned to walk with God. I said recently to someone that in this season, especially in this past 12 months, I have learned to have a defiant faith, a stubborn one. What do I mean by that? One that is saying, regardless of how frightening this might be, regardless of how uncertain things are, regardless of how much I am screaming from the inside, that I don't want to do this, that I am ill-equipped to do this, Lord, that I will do it nonetheless. That regardless of what life is saying, no matter what the news is saying, no matter what my own inner critic might be saying, that I am going to trust God, that I am gonna walk by faith and not by sight, because quite frankly, I can't see nothing. I don't, I don't see anything. So I have my faith and my trust in God. So, guys, this is what we're gonna do this together. We are going to explore everything from the mundane to the complexities and struggles of our life. We'll discuss how to parent with God. You know, I have this saying, co-parenting with God, probably the best thing to ever happen to not only me, but to my kids. I'll tell you about that later. That'd be a different episode. The concept is that we should parent with God the way that we would parent with our spouses, with our partners. I bring God into my parenting. I discuss my decisions with God. There are times I will tell you that I have done and said things that I shouldn't have said. And God has told me, you know, he's like, listen, just just be quiet, Kathy. This is not the time. And I've been foolish and I've just gone ahead, you know, and and done it. And now I would say, especially in the last um two years, I would say two years, but definitely more so this last 12 months. I'm not because I'm not working, so therefore I believe that I have been very, very intentional and purposeful to listening to God's voice, to intently um listening for um his guidance and his counsel. And I've seen changes in my kids and even in the way that we relate to one another. We'll discuss and explore how to address fear. Okay, that that's a personal one to me. And we're gonna discuss that one. As a matter of fact, that's in one of the, you know, episodes that's probably gonna be the next episode. How to move even when you're fearful, how to move in fear, regardless of fear, how to move ahead. We'll explore loneliness, loss, new beginnings. Hey, look at where I'm at. Endings. Uh, I understand chapters closing very well. Grief, doubts, questions, uncertainties, all of it. We'll explore all of it together. My goal is that as I'm sharing with you, you will experience or hear my vulnerability, how God has worked in me, through me, and all around me. And that ultimately by sharing my daily faith walk with you, that you would not only be encouraged in your own life journey, but that you would experience a richer, more abundant life even with the challenges and struggles that come with life because God is at the helm. This is not about perfection nor performance, believe me. I have been someone who has consistently in my life to strive for perfection and to perform. I am someone who said multiple times that effort without yield means nothing. And recently I've been humbled to understand that that is a truly flawed statement. So it's really about having a practical dependence and intimacy with a God who loves. Us beyond measure. And then maybe some of you who may not know this Jesus would seek him, this God who chases after us, who longs for you, who longs to be reconciled. So I hope that you know that God longs to give you hope in a future. So through our sharing, that you too would know God as your everyday God in your everyday.