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Oct. 2, 2024

The Power of a Personal Relationship with God

The Power of a Personal Relationship with God

What if your understanding of faith could shift from ritualistic to deeply personal? Join us as we chat with Amelia Walden, an inspiring author who has navigated the complexities of a mixed Jewish and Catholic upbringing to find a profound faith in Jesus. Through our conversation, Amelia shares her heartfelt journey and the transformative moment when she fully grasped the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice. We discuss her metaphorically titled book "From Jew to Gentile" and the liberating discovery of a genuine relationship with God, free from the bonds of legalism.

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Chapters

00:00 - A Journey From Legalism to Faith

10:15 - Finding God's Message Through Relationship

22:18 - Teaching Honesty and Faith to Children

28:10 - Fostering Faith Through Relationship

Transcript

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00:00:00.119 --> 00:00:03.266
Amelia Walden is bubbly and a sweet woman.

00:00:03.266 --> 00:00:05.270
I enjoyed interviewing her.

00:00:05.270 --> 00:00:15.627
She has such a love for the Word of God and it's probably because for many years she struggled to let go of her overly religious background and find her own way to God.

00:00:15.627 --> 00:00:23.725
Through cuts, bruises and scars of life, she found a relationship with Jesus and today she is here to share her findings with you.

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Be sure to share this episode with family and friends so they too can be blessed by the contents of this episode.

00:00:39.417 --> 00:00:44.192
Thank you, amelia, for coming on today and discussing your book with us.

00:00:44.192 --> 00:00:46.420
I am very excited to talk to you.

00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:48.103
I've been reading through your book.

00:00:48.103 --> 00:00:48.966
I love it.

00:00:48.966 --> 00:00:53.781
Just, you can hear your personality in the way that you did it.

00:00:53.781 --> 00:00:55.424
I find that fascinating.

00:00:55.424 --> 00:01:07.284
There's not many people can do that, and you said from the get go, in the beginning of it, that that's what you were going to do, and you can clearly tell you did that and I find that very fascinating.

00:01:07.465 --> 00:01:11.641
Well, thank you, thank you so much All right, so go ahead and tell us a little bit about your book.

00:01:11.742 --> 00:01:12.003
Right.

00:01:12.003 --> 00:01:15.631
So my book is really about my testimony.

00:01:15.631 --> 00:01:34.412
I grew up in a Jewish and Catholic home, a little bit watered down from both of the religions, but the foundation was really set the cultural aspect of Judaism and then going to mass with my father for Catholicism so it really set the tone for what I believed God to be.

00:01:34.412 --> 00:01:44.465
And then I discovered later in life what faith actually was and I found my own faith and my life completely transformed from that moment on.

00:01:44.465 --> 00:01:58.864
So that's what the book is about about all of the mistakes and everything that I did in my past really leading up to finding a faith of my own, finding a relationship with Jesus, and how everything in my life transformed after I found that relationship.

00:01:59.126 --> 00:02:01.251
Nice and, like I said, it's a beautiful book.

00:02:01.251 --> 00:02:02.442
I love it so far.

00:02:02.442 --> 00:02:03.406
I'm almost done with it.

00:02:03.406 --> 00:02:20.432
So it's called From Jew to Gentile and in your book you mentioned that you are a quarter Ashkenazi Jew and we all know even you wrote it in the book that you can't actually change from being a Jew to a Gentile.

00:02:20.432 --> 00:02:22.383
So how do you mean that?

00:02:22.503 --> 00:02:31.330
Yes, so that was one of the first things that I wanted to clarify in writing the book, because I think a lot of people look at the title and they're like that can't be.

00:02:32.012 --> 00:02:32.894
Yeah.

00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.606
I'm merely using Jew and Gentile as metaphors.

00:02:37.606 --> 00:02:48.829
So Jew is meant to symbolize religion, traditional religious rituals, whereas Gentile is meant to really symbolize transformed by faith.

00:02:49.189 --> 00:02:53.091
Okay, yeah, that definitely clears it up for a lot of people.

00:02:53.091 --> 00:02:59.788
I'm sure a kisser they're probably looking at the title and intrigued by it but at the same time going that doesn't make any sense.

00:02:59.788 --> 00:03:01.306
You can't actually do that.

00:03:01.306 --> 00:03:07.304
So it's good that you took the time to explain so that people aren't off put by it.

00:03:07.304 --> 00:03:10.133
They get it and it makes sense it does.

00:03:10.133 --> 00:03:14.846
So you mentioned that your mom was Jewish and that your father is Catholic.

00:03:14.846 --> 00:03:20.120
How did those two religions kind of being taught in the home?

00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:22.181
How did they shape your view of God?

00:03:22.481 --> 00:03:24.723
So, like I said, they were both watered down.

00:03:24.723 --> 00:03:28.687
I think the Jewish side was much more cultural.

00:03:28.687 --> 00:03:30.969
I got that mostly from my grandparents.

00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:33.352
My mother never went to temple with us.

00:03:33.352 --> 00:03:38.576
She didn't, you know, have, she didn't have us read the Torah or anything like that.

00:03:38.576 --> 00:03:44.325
It wasn't something that she continued from her parents.

00:03:44.325 --> 00:03:51.925
I would get the cultural side of it when my and I say this in the book, but when my Jewish grandparents would come to celebrate Christmas with us.

00:03:52.387 --> 00:04:01.554
I thought that was funny, Sort of a weird little thing there, but definitely got more of the culture from them.

00:04:01.554 --> 00:04:08.145
As far as the Catholic side going to mass and going to a Catholic high school I was taught the religion.

00:04:08.145 --> 00:04:09.408
I was taught the prayers.

00:04:09.408 --> 00:04:13.828
I was taught what I was supposed to do when I was supposed to kneel, when I was supposed to stand up.

00:04:14.188 --> 00:04:19.586
I was taught all of those things but wasn't ever taught about God's character.

00:04:19.586 --> 00:04:41.463
I wasn't taught that he loves us and I knew that Jesus had died for our sins, but didn't really take that in or take that to heart as to what that actually meant and that actually didn't hit me until I was writing the book, when I was writing it down on the pages, and it really hit me my gosh.

00:04:41.463 --> 00:04:44.728
Yes, you know, Jesus died for our sins.

00:04:44.728 --> 00:04:49.142
That is for us, that is a loving thing that he did for us.

00:04:49.142 --> 00:04:52.148
I didn't understand God's character.

00:04:52.148 --> 00:05:02.550
I thought he was all rules and no fun and thought that people that believed in God were judgmental and mean and just.

00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:06.134
I didn't have an accurate picture of what God's character was.

00:05:06.521 --> 00:05:09.687
Yeah, that feels like my childhood.

00:05:09.687 --> 00:05:11.509
I grew up in a Christian home.

00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:19.252
It was more of the legalistic, which is something you kind of touch on too, and I've actually had a guest on several podcasts ago.

00:05:19.252 --> 00:05:29.665
They also have the same story of legalism and the trap of it, so it is an easy trap to fall into, I think, regardless of what religion you're actually in.

00:05:29.725 --> 00:05:41.728
I think it's possible to follow legalism in general, for whatever religion you're in, and I kind of grew up in a Christian home where it felt more rules, this is what you do, this is what you don't do.

00:05:41.728 --> 00:05:52.497
And it was really hard for me as I got older and was trying to live my life, to live my life, to figure out why am I doing this?

00:05:52.497 --> 00:05:54.641
Why do I believe these things?

00:05:54.641 --> 00:06:01.644
And once I started taking a step back and realize it's my life, I don't feel like I'm actually a follower of Jesus.

00:06:01.644 --> 00:06:03.266
What do I do about that?

00:06:03.266 --> 00:06:23.749
That's when I started having the same epiphany that you did, that I didn't really know Jesus, that I didn't know him the way that I should, and it's such an eye-opening moment and it's sobering and it's exciting, but it's also scary at the same time because if you had died before that moment, you know where you would be.

00:06:24.029 --> 00:06:29.122
And that's crazy to think I just got chills yeah, I know To think that.

00:06:29.122 --> 00:06:33.632
I mean I always had that nagging feeling in the back of my head Am I saved?

00:06:33.632 --> 00:06:34.800
Am I going to go to heaven?

00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.552
If Jesus comes back now and the rapture happens, am I going to be left behind?

00:06:39.552 --> 00:06:41.687
I always worried about those things.

00:06:41.687 --> 00:07:01.045
I don't worry about them now because I've got that assurity, but to die not knowing that, I think, is really scary, and I'm glad that you were able to escape out of that, that you found the freedom that comes with knowing Jesus in an actual relationship, and I wish more people would have that.

00:07:01.206 --> 00:07:07.004
Well, and I think that there's so many people in the Christian church today that fall into legalism.

00:07:07.004 --> 00:07:20.526
I've had interactions since I came back to faith where I've had to put up boundaries with individuals that told me legalistic things and tried to impress them on my life and I had to say wait, hang on a second.

00:07:20.526 --> 00:07:43.048
That's not what the gospels teach us, that's not what the Bible says, and I think as a culture, sometimes Christians take that legalism just too far, unfortunately, and it turns a lot of people off to Jesus, and that was a lot of the heart behind the book was people stuck in legalism, people that have only seen the church as legalism.

00:07:43.048 --> 00:07:50.810
To pull them out of that, to show them that it's not that you were shown an improper image of Jesus.

00:07:51.290 --> 00:07:52.713
Yeah, and that's great.

00:07:52.713 --> 00:08:09.103
It's good that more people are coming out and they're sharing their stories and helping people get out of that, because nowadays it's very important that the church stands firm on the actual, true gospel, because there's a lot of lies being thrown around all over the place.

00:08:09.103 --> 00:08:13.947
So I appreciate your book very much and it's so easy to read.

00:08:13.947 --> 00:08:20.312
It's personable, like I said, it just feels like you're sitting there talking to the person.

00:08:20.312 --> 00:08:23.156
That's so amazing that you were able to do that.

00:08:23.276 --> 00:08:26.903
I love that so much so funny, because I don't think I could write another way.

00:08:26.903 --> 00:08:29.370
I really think that's good.

00:08:29.370 --> 00:08:31.081
I think that's the only way I could write.

00:08:31.081 --> 00:08:33.447
I just I don't know how to write.

00:08:33.748 --> 00:08:44.846
You know, formally yeah, I think that's what makes it easy to read, is that it just feels like you're having a conversation with somebody and that's that's really good Kudos to you.

00:08:44.846 --> 00:08:48.089
I don't know to separate those two, but to also, because I guess.

00:09:08.985 --> 00:09:09.586
I should back up.

00:09:09.586 --> 00:09:14.341
So religion and relationship, they are always going to be intertwined.

00:09:14.341 --> 00:09:17.313
Doctrine and faith are always going to be intertwined.

00:09:17.313 --> 00:09:22.307
You can't have one without the other, or I should say you shouldn't have one without the other.

00:09:22.307 --> 00:09:30.320
So today I think that I really try to well, I try to remember the sermon.

00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:39.214
If a student going to school to become a doctor says that they don't want to learn basic biology, then how are they ever going to become a doctor?

00:09:39.214 --> 00:09:58.697
I think that's true for faith as well, that if you don't ever want to learn the doctrine and the foundation behind the faith, then that relationship can't be fruitful and it can't come to fruition because you have to know God's word in order to further that relationship, to have your personal walk with Jesus.

00:09:58.697 --> 00:10:09.346
Think, studying the word of God and studying scripture is so vitally important to people that love him and want to follow him and have that relationship with him.

00:10:09.346 --> 00:10:12.634
Because how can you have a relationship with somebody that you don't know?

00:10:12.634 --> 00:10:14.609
You have to have that, yeah.

00:10:14.929 --> 00:10:15.350
I agree.

00:10:15.350 --> 00:10:20.708
And scripture reading is something that I'm trying to be more intentional on, especially with my kids.

00:10:20.708 --> 00:10:24.666
They're always complaining I don't know how to do the right things.

00:10:24.666 --> 00:10:25.929
I tell them read the Bible.

00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:28.196
God knows, he's telling you.

00:10:28.196 --> 00:10:31.250
That's him speaking to you, so listen.

00:10:31.250 --> 00:10:39.916
And there's something that I also need to listen to have been more intentional on making sure I read the Bible once, maybe twice a day.

00:10:40.336 --> 00:10:50.187
But coming out of a legalistic style, it's really hard to where if I don't feel like doing it, and then I decide, well, maybe I won't do it.

00:10:50.187 --> 00:10:55.879
Right now, that legalistic nagging in the back of my head goes oh, but you're not doing it.

00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.374
You said you would do it every single day.

00:10:58.374 --> 00:10:59.549
It's not that much.

00:10:59.549 --> 00:11:03.206
You can just read a chapter, you can just read a verse, it's not a big deal.

00:11:03.206 --> 00:11:09.219
And then the other part just comes out and starts saying oh well, god might be upset.

00:11:09.219 --> 00:11:22.918
You know what if something bad happens today and I hate that so much because it's not a spirit of God at all that's me and my own worries wondering what will he do to me if I choose not to.

00:11:22.918 --> 00:11:27.736
And that's wrong thinking, because that's not how he works and I have to remind myself.

00:11:27.736 --> 00:11:28.889
That's not how he works.

00:11:28.889 --> 00:11:35.509
He understands that I'm tired that I'm not here, and sometimes your spouse is the same way.

00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:39.097
Sometimes they just don't feel like talking at the moment.

00:11:39.097 --> 00:11:42.633
Maybe they're sad and they aren't ready to discuss it yet.

00:11:42.633 --> 00:11:44.557
You can't make them discuss it.

00:11:44.557 --> 00:11:46.892
It's not going to be a healthy conversation.

00:11:46.892 --> 00:11:48.255
It's the same thing.

00:11:48.644 --> 00:11:53.037
One of my other guests, on a different episode, said God is Jesus, is a gentleman.

00:11:53.037 --> 00:11:55.011
He's not going to just barge in.

00:11:55.011 --> 00:11:58.495
He's not going to come up to you and say why aren't you reading my word?

00:11:58.495 --> 00:12:00.051
Hello, I want to talk to you.

00:12:00.051 --> 00:12:05.256
If you're not reading his word for the day and he has something to tell you, he'll find a way to tell you.

00:12:05.256 --> 00:12:08.586
He has something to tell you.

00:12:08.586 --> 00:12:10.293
He'll find a way to tell you he spoke through a donkey at one point in the Bible.

00:12:10.293 --> 00:12:18.962
So I mean he will find a way to talk to you if he has something that important that if you chose not to meet with him at that moment, he'll make it happen somehow.

00:12:18.962 --> 00:12:20.548
He'll get his point across.

00:12:20.548 --> 00:12:23.679
He's not going to just leave you hanging and you have to worry.

00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:24.904
Did I miss it?

00:12:24.904 --> 00:12:32.149
You have to go into it with a loving heart, a heart that wants to have that relationship.

00:12:32.149 --> 00:12:38.628
You can't make a relationship that would be a one-sided and that's not really a relationship.

00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:39.910
Absolutely.

00:12:39.990 --> 00:13:02.537
That's my soapbox, but I think so many people fall into I know myself I fall into that too, when, when I choose to sleep in, or you know I'm tired, or whatever happens, whatever comes up I mean wife, mom, kids, work, I mean it all gets a lot sometimes and when I don't read the Bible, that legalistic part comes back.

00:13:02.537 --> 00:13:07.886
Oh, amelia, you're not doing what God wants you to do and have to really think about.

00:13:07.886 --> 00:13:12.889
No, god loves me, he gives grace, he knows where I'm at and he knows my heart.

00:13:12.889 --> 00:13:18.010
That is such a big thing that I think I always repeat to myself God knows my heart.

00:13:18.010 --> 00:13:21.751
And I also do love that phrase that you said God is a gentleman.

00:13:21.751 --> 00:13:23.812
It's been one of my favorite things.

00:13:23.873 --> 00:13:24.952
We have to open the door.

00:13:24.952 --> 00:13:32.316
He's not going to come barging in a door that we are not inviting him into.

00:13:32.316 --> 00:13:41.759
If your heart is inviting him into a relationship with you, he is going to find a way to get his message across to you, like you said.

00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.360
But he's not going to push you past your limits.

00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:46.621
He's not going to push past you.

00:13:46.621 --> 00:13:50.923
You know, like you said, when your spouse is tired and they just don't want to talk, you can't force them to.

00:13:50.923 --> 00:13:51.903
That's yeah.

00:13:52.847 --> 00:13:56.029
You're not going to get anything out of it If you just read, just to read.

00:13:56.029 --> 00:13:58.216
You're not there to listen to God anyways.

00:13:58.518 --> 00:13:59.080
Absolutely.

00:13:59.461 --> 00:14:03.596
Yeah, this is definitely a struggle I have that I'm trying to work through.

00:14:03.596 --> 00:14:12.605
I think that's going to be a lifelong struggle for me too.

00:14:12.605 --> 00:14:14.746
Yeah, I know I'm pretty sure it's going to be for me as well.

00:14:14.746 --> 00:14:15.288
I'm 40 right now.

00:14:15.288 --> 00:14:17.208
So, yeah, it's been a lifelong struggle.

00:14:17.528 --> 00:14:21.912
You have 36, so I'm right there with you sister, you're not that far behind.

00:14:23.572 --> 00:14:27.475
I found a part of your book that I really liked and I wanted to read it.

00:14:27.475 --> 00:14:30.230
And you know, talk about it.

00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:31.134
Oh, thank you.

00:14:31.134 --> 00:14:32.880
It was on page 85.

00:14:32.880 --> 00:14:34.345
Let's see, we're going to read.

00:14:34.345 --> 00:14:45.589
Despite my learning and growing, it was never toward him and he still showed up for me, even when I wouldn't acknowledge that these things that were happening were him.

00:14:45.589 --> 00:14:49.639
I was legalistic and stubborn and couldn't see what was right in front of my eyes.

00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:59.328
I found that very profound and I could totally relate to that, because that was my story of after I came back to Christ.

00:14:59.328 --> 00:15:11.581
I could see where he was doing things, although I could kind of see in certain areas where he was working while I was in the midst of my backslide, but that just resonated with me so much.

00:15:11.581 --> 00:15:21.836
It's absolutely true, when we're being stubborn and not thinking about anyone else or God, we can't see what he's doing, but he's always there.

00:15:21.836 --> 00:15:32.865
He loves us and we're His children and he's there to be with us, to protect us, to lead us ultimately into His will, because there's no escaping it.

00:15:40.855 --> 00:15:40.955
Right.

00:15:40.955 --> 00:15:49.158
Well, and it's so true because I look back on my life and there's a couple stories that I tell about my I mean one stubbornness, but two, just the mistakes that I made and the situations that I got myself into.

00:15:49.158 --> 00:15:59.785
And when I look back at those situations, I can see so much where His hand was there protecting me and guiding my path, and I was blaming so much on God.

00:15:59.785 --> 00:16:00.727
That wasn't God.

00:16:00.727 --> 00:16:09.577
It was flawed people modeling the church for me and I was turning them into gods, which is obviously completely wrong.

00:16:09.577 --> 00:16:15.572
But it's what I was taking away from.

00:16:15.572 --> 00:16:37.224
The message that was being given to me was that, you know, these people are showing me a God that just doesn't care about what I'm going through right now and just wants to, you know, tell me how much of a sinner I am and how bad I am, and you know, and all of that, which it's just that's not the right way to think about it and that's not him or his character at all.

00:16:37.524 --> 00:16:37.926
I agree.

00:16:37.926 --> 00:16:38.988
Amen to that.

00:16:38.988 --> 00:16:43.043
Where did you get the inspiration for your beautiful cover?

00:16:43.043 --> 00:16:46.277
I like it mostly because of the color patterns.

00:16:46.277 --> 00:16:49.263
The teal is one of my favorite colors.

00:16:49.263 --> 00:16:53.570
It's one of my favorite colors too, is one of my favorite colors.

00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.134
It's one of my favorite colors too, that's awesome.

00:17:00.434 --> 00:17:01.437
I always do the teal heart emoji.

00:17:01.437 --> 00:17:02.019
Yeah, I use a lime green one.

00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:02.318
There's a teal.

00:17:02.318 --> 00:17:02.801
I have to find it now.

00:17:02.801 --> 00:17:05.907
Lime green and teal are my favorites, so now I got to look for the teal.

00:17:08.315 --> 00:17:08.515
Nice.

00:17:08.515 --> 00:17:11.477
So that is actually one of my favorite stories to tell.

00:17:11.477 --> 00:17:25.346
There was one morning where I was writing the book I wasn't physically writing at this time, but it was during the process of writing and my daughter woke up in the morning and she came to me and she said Mom, god gave me the cover of your book.

00:17:25.346 --> 00:17:30.209
Jaw hit the floor.

00:17:30.209 --> 00:17:30.608
I was.

00:17:30.608 --> 00:17:31.829
I was shocked.

00:17:31.829 --> 00:17:41.702
But she has come to me with things like this before, with baptism and faith, and she's taught me things that she's learned at school and she has furthered my faith.

00:17:41.702 --> 00:17:47.315
I said you know we're on our way out the door, but you know it, will you draw it for me when you get home tonight?

00:17:47.315 --> 00:17:58.055
And she was like, yeah, sure, it was.

00:17:58.055 --> 00:17:58.596
Just it was nothing to her.

00:17:58.596 --> 00:17:59.621
God, god gave me the cover of your book in my dream.

00:17:59.621 --> 00:18:02.972
When we got home from school that night she sat down and she drew it and I took that image and I sent it to the publisher and they sent me some artwork back.

00:18:02.972 --> 00:18:04.876
They sent me probably five or six proof copies.

00:18:05.258 --> 00:18:11.969
As soon as I got those images back, I took them to her and I said hey, which one of these did you see?

00:18:11.969 --> 00:18:12.549
You know which?

00:18:12.549 --> 00:18:18.636
Which one of these is it.

00:18:18.636 --> 00:18:22.290
And she flipped through them and she instantly landed on the waves and stopped and she said it's this one, but the waves need to be turned this way.

00:18:22.290 --> 00:18:30.009
And she turned my phone from being a portrait to landscape and she said you know, it needs to be this way.

00:18:30.009 --> 00:18:39.268
Was I mean shocked that she was able to articulate that to me and just say she immediately stopped it's this one and the waves need to be turned?

00:18:39.268 --> 00:18:43.946
That was so profound to me and I wrote to the publisher and I said, hey, let's turn the waves.

00:18:43.946 --> 00:18:48.161
And then I showed it to her again when they sent the copy back and she was like, yeah, that's it.

00:18:48.161 --> 00:18:56.240
I was like, okay, girlfriend, this is the cover If God gave you the cover of it, then I am all in.

00:18:56.780 --> 00:19:00.048
I love that he used her in this process.

00:19:00.494 --> 00:19:01.740
Yeah, that's beautiful.

00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:06.157
That's a great story that you two will be able to tell for the rest of your lives.

00:19:06.157 --> 00:19:07.041
That's amazing.

00:19:07.295 --> 00:19:07.896
Absolutely.

00:19:07.896 --> 00:19:09.501
She's very proud of it too.

00:19:09.501 --> 00:19:10.565
She tells everyone.

00:19:10.565 --> 00:19:14.122
She says my mom's an author and I did the cover.

00:19:14.122 --> 00:19:14.762
That's cute.

00:19:17.375 --> 00:19:18.459
That's her claim to fame.

00:19:18.459 --> 00:19:19.082
That's great.

00:19:19.082 --> 00:19:28.064
Oh yeah, Well, in your book, I noticed that you had some footnotes every once in a while and it says it's a gig break.

00:19:28.064 --> 00:19:32.707
Share with us what a gig break is, because I thought those were cool.

00:19:33.075 --> 00:19:33.355
Awesome.

00:19:33.355 --> 00:19:34.538
I'm glad you liked them.

00:19:34.538 --> 00:19:47.941
So while I was writing and I really do feel like this entire experience of writing was a completely Holy Spirit-led moment in time for me and things would happen, experiences would happen.

00:19:47.941 --> 00:19:51.848
As I was writing, Dots would be connected randomly.

00:19:51.848 --> 00:20:02.286
My husband would watch an interview on TV that he'd never watched before, but then I had, you know, the link that they had sent as one of my research tabs, or the link that they talked about on the interview.

00:20:02.405 --> 00:20:12.396
It's just, things would come together and I would go to tell my friends about these experiences and every conversation would end with God is so good.

00:20:12.778 --> 00:20:19.602
And so when I was having one of those conversations with my friend Lisa, she had texted back God is so good.

00:20:19.602 --> 00:20:22.284
And I was like, oh my gosh, God is good.

00:20:22.284 --> 00:20:23.204
God is good.

00:20:23.204 --> 00:20:37.981
Break the moments in time that you stop and you can see God's hand at work in your life, right in front of you, not looking back, but directly in your present.

00:20:37.981 --> 00:20:43.042
You can see God's hand and you stop and you have to say God is so good.

00:20:43.042 --> 00:20:45.771
And so I wrote those into the footnotes.

00:20:45.771 --> 00:20:51.695
Originally I had them as a break in the narrative and the publisher thought that they would be better as the footnote.

00:20:51.695 --> 00:21:11.384
So we put them in the footnotes and you can either read those right where the number is and see how I wrote it real time, or you can read it at the end of the page, end of the chapter, wherever it makes sense to break from the narrative and to see what was happening in my life present day as I was writing the book.

00:21:11.595 --> 00:21:30.180
That's a really cool idea and I think that's going to start a trend, a give-break, because it's important for us to remember the times where God's working in our lives, like we were discussing a little bit ago, we knew God was working, but we didn't actually see it because we didn't have the heart to see it.

00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:48.557
You have to be intentional and that is an intentional way of looking at what God is doing for you, even in the little things that maybe you just didn't think that, maybe that was God, it just seemed too easy to whatever, but maybe that was God working.

00:21:48.557 --> 00:21:52.645
Remember a prayer that you did five years ago.

00:21:52.645 --> 00:21:54.209
You said, oh, please, lord, do this.

00:21:54.209 --> 00:21:59.086
And you never prayed it again because you just forgot, you didn't care, whatever.

00:21:59.086 --> 00:22:05.996
And then, boom, it happens five years later and you can reflect on that and say you know what this sounds like?

00:22:05.996 --> 00:22:08.160
A prayer I made five years ago.

00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:09.121
God is good.

00:22:09.121 --> 00:22:14.950
That's crazy that he remembered and he stuck with it and he did something with it.

00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:16.577
So it's a trend.

00:22:16.577 --> 00:22:17.480
I can see it.

00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:18.782
It's going to be a trend.

00:22:18.803 --> 00:22:29.403
You got a hashtag gig break, because I feel like, before I even read it, I feel like I had already heard it and I was like I don't know, this just seems so familiar, it just makes sense.

00:22:29.403 --> 00:22:30.507
And then I saw it.

00:22:30.507 --> 00:22:36.643
I was like, yes, I love this, this is a very good idea, and I'm going to try to be more intentional.

00:22:36.643 --> 00:22:47.619
I don't know if I'll be able to write it down, but I am trying to be more intentional on seeing where God is working, because I know he's always working and I've seen in my whole life where he's worked.

00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:51.265
But I don't want to have a hindsight moment.

00:22:51.265 --> 00:23:00.565
I want to be in the moment and realize at that moment, this is God working, he is good and I want to be able to exalt him at that moment too.

00:23:00.565 --> 00:23:03.641
So it was a wonderful thing for me.

00:23:03.641 --> 00:23:04.784
So thank you.

00:23:05.645 --> 00:23:08.502
Oh, thank you, and I mean exactly like you said.

00:23:08.502 --> 00:23:16.005
I think it's beautiful to live with your eyes wide open to see how God is weaving your story throughout your life.

00:23:16.005 --> 00:23:33.865
I mean, I think I see it a little bit in how my husband is in the military and so we move a lot, and the relationships that I build at each duty station and each friendship that I make, and I can see God working in all of those things, and it's truly made me almost not even believe in coincidences.

00:23:33.865 --> 00:23:36.318
I don't think coincidences are a thing.

00:23:36.318 --> 00:23:42.057
I think it's always God working and weaving people's stories together in his hand.

00:23:42.057 --> 00:23:44.080
I mean, it's unfathomable.

00:23:44.080 --> 00:23:46.885
That was a tongue twister.

00:23:46.885 --> 00:23:52.637
You know the way that he works.

00:23:52.637 --> 00:24:02.651
We can't, in our limited minds, understand the way that he works, and I think it's beautiful to just keep an eye out for that all the time because we can see it.

00:24:03.035 --> 00:24:03.375
I agree.

00:24:03.375 --> 00:24:05.458
Well, I have one more question for you.

00:24:05.458 --> 00:24:14.657
Now that you have your own family and you have your daughter, what values are you teaching her that are different or similar from your upbringing?

00:24:14.817 --> 00:24:18.048
Yes, so I'm very, very honest with her.

00:24:18.368 --> 00:24:25.867
I'm probably more honest than I should be with an eight-year-old, but you know I'm the same way with my kids, so don't feel too bad.

00:24:25.867 --> 00:24:32.608
I keep it as a PG for the younger ones as I can, but honesty is very important.

00:24:32.608 --> 00:24:35.538
Pg for the younger ones as I can, but honesty is very important.

00:24:35.538 --> 00:24:36.680
Not to cut you off, just to affirm what you're saying.

00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:37.402
No, I love it.

00:24:37.402 --> 00:24:38.463
And I mean really.

00:24:38.463 --> 00:24:47.969
I think growing up there was such a secrecy around my parents' lives that I remember feeling like gosh, did they ever do anything bad?

00:24:47.969 --> 00:24:49.178
Am I just awful?

00:24:49.178 --> 00:24:53.873
Am I the only one messing up and never really understanding that?

00:24:53.873 --> 00:25:07.828
And tell her the moments where I felt shame, and I tell her the moments that were hard for me, and I use that and I say learn from mommy's mistakes, learn from what I learned and let that help you.

00:25:09.016 --> 00:25:11.282
And so I take the same approach with Faith.

00:25:11.282 --> 00:25:18.321
I am very real and honest with her about reading the Bible and really she's taught me she.

00:25:18.321 --> 00:25:30.740
Actually she came home from school, man, I think she might have been pre-K or kindergarten and she went to a Christian school and she came home and she said Mom, did you know John the Baptist was Jesus's cousin, and I was like I don't know.

00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:34.405
And then I looked it up and I was like you're correct.

00:25:34.405 --> 00:25:44.898
That was at the beginning, you know, of when I had just started my faith journey and I was like, wow, lana, you're correct, you know.

00:25:44.898 --> 00:26:01.560
And so when I tell her things and actually researching and watching the YouTube videos that you sent me, I was listening to one of those episodes and she heard it and she asked what they were talking about, and so I explained it to her, you know, in kids terms, where she could understand it, and she was like, oh yeah, absolutely no, god is the most important.

00:26:01.560 --> 00:26:06.958
And you know, and she reiterated to me, um back what I had said to her.

00:26:06.958 --> 00:26:26.241
And it's funny, yesterday we actually had a pretty hard morning, slept through her alarm, we were late getting to school and there was a part in her routine that she had skipped and I asked her if she did it and she said yes, and I was like it's okay if you didn't do it, but I need you to go back and do it before we go to school.

00:26:26.241 --> 00:26:28.968
And she was like, okay, if she went.

00:26:28.968 --> 00:26:30.828
You know she did the task.

00:26:30.828 --> 00:26:31.989
I said I'll be waiting in the car.

00:26:32.429 --> 00:26:38.672
And so we were in the car and I said you know, we really need to talk about lying and that that's not what God wants from us.

00:26:38.672 --> 00:26:40.593
And we had a real conversation about it.

00:26:40.593 --> 00:26:43.457
I said I'm going to be done talking about this.

00:26:43.457 --> 00:26:44.538
I've made my point.

00:26:44.538 --> 00:26:48.042
I don't have to sit here and go in circles and go over it again.

00:26:48.042 --> 00:26:49.826
But you know.

00:26:49.826 --> 00:26:52.269
I just want you to think about what we talked about.

00:26:52.269 --> 00:26:53.330
And then I asked her.

00:26:53.330 --> 00:26:54.979
I said you're going to miss worship at school.

00:26:54.979 --> 00:27:00.020
They do a couple songs of worship before they start school because they feel like it starts their day off.

00:27:00.020 --> 00:27:01.304
Well, love that.

00:27:01.304 --> 00:27:03.858
I said you're going to miss worship because we're late.

00:27:03.858 --> 00:27:06.326
Do you want to listen to a specific worship song?

00:27:06.326 --> 00:27:08.057
Is there one that you want to listen to in the car?

00:27:08.057 --> 00:27:11.003
She said no, it was, you know, upset.

00:27:11.664 --> 00:27:20.758
Normally I would turn around and say you know you're mad at me, for you know you lying to me, you're mad at me.

00:27:20.758 --> 00:27:24.705
And something in me just told me no, just let it go and turn on the music and just keep driving.

00:27:24.705 --> 00:27:25.909
So I did.

00:27:25.909 --> 00:27:38.403
Going off the highway to get to her school, and she heard a sniffle in the back seat and I turned around and she was just crying in the back seat and I was like, oh my, what's honey, what's wrong?

00:27:38.403 --> 00:27:44.284
And she was like I just I got mad at you and I'm the one that lied and I'm so sorry.

00:27:44.284 --> 00:27:50.563
And she felt conviction and so I turned that around when we got to school and I said, sweetheart, it's okay.

00:27:50.624 --> 00:27:51.365
Mamas are tough.

00:27:51.365 --> 00:28:04.749
We are, you know our kids aren't always going to be happy with our decisions, but you felt conviction and you made that emotionally intelligent connection that you lied and then you got mad at me.

00:28:04.749 --> 00:28:10.517
That means that you're walking with God in the right way, because his Holy Spirit was able to give you a conviction.

00:28:10.517 --> 00:28:16.449
It's things like that that I try to implement into her daily life to teach her that it's about a relationship.

00:28:16.449 --> 00:28:23.226
She learns the doctrine, she learns the scripture when we go to Sunday school or church or Bible studies.

00:28:23.226 --> 00:28:24.167
She learns all that.

00:28:24.167 --> 00:28:32.625
But for me, to really drive home to her that it's a relationship, because I don't want her to grow up like I did, thinking that God is against her.

00:28:32.625 --> 00:28:39.538
I just don't want that for her, and I think it's going pretty well.

00:28:39.538 --> 00:28:39.980
She seems to have it.

00:28:39.980 --> 00:28:40.882
She teaches me all the time, so that's yeah.

00:28:40.902 --> 00:28:41.784
That's wonderful.

00:28:41.784 --> 00:28:42.605
That's great.

00:28:42.605 --> 00:28:44.777
Thank you so much for coming on today.

00:28:44.777 --> 00:28:46.701
This has been a fun conversation.

00:28:46.701 --> 00:28:54.317
I've learned a lot and you are a wonderful person so bubbly and exciting and your daughter sounds amazing too.

00:28:54.517 --> 00:28:55.498
Thank you so much.

00:28:55.498 --> 00:28:56.458
I've loved being here.

00:28:56.458 --> 00:28:58.198
I've loved having the conversation with you.

00:28:58.198 --> 00:28:58.898
It's awesome.

Amelia Walden Profile Photo

Amelia Walden

GIG Breaks are kind of my thing - what is a GIG break? I'm glad you asked! A God is Good break, of course 🩵

Funny enough, I never wanted to be an author! I’m a contract auditor for the government in my day job and was perfectly content there. But while working through my own "identity crisis", I heard a call to write the book: “From Jew to Gentile. Write a book.” it was really shocking and seemingly out of nowhere. Still, if I had learned anything since becoming a Christian about 4-years prior, it was that God seeks people’s obedience to His calls. He wants to partner with those who have a heart posture towards Him. So, I sat down to write. From start to finish, the book was written in one month! It was my wildest experience ever, and I’ve had many surreal experiences!

I am passionate about sharing my past with vulnerability, and today, I strive to lead a life filled with endless love and laughter. I love to graciously walk with those around me, pointing people back to Jesus and His amazing love and grace. I wholeheartedly believe that a life with the Lord is well-lived. I’m deeply dedicated to sharing the transformative power of God's love and aim to dismantle restrictive legalism through the Gospel. I believe that with vulnerability and personable discipleship, hearts and lives can be transformed!

Backstory: I was raised in Orange County, California, in a household where Judaism and Catholicism intertwined (Jewish Mother, Catholic Father). I struggled my whole life with a faith that felt more ceremonial than heartfelt. But, through encounters, insights, and hilarious “Amelia Bedelia” mistakes, I experienced a profound shift. I found freedom i… Read More

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