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Welcome to From My Father with Tangie Callahan.
Take your shoes off + stay awhile.
Grab a cup of coffeeāor a matchaāand join Tangie for honest conversations about faith, life, healing, purpose + everything in between. Through real stories, real questions + biblical truth, youāll discover the Fatherās heart for every season.
Whether youāre navigating a difficult season, searching for answers, growing in your faith, or simply longing for more of God, this is a place where you can pull up a chair, be encouraged + be reminded that youāre not walking alone.
New episodes feature heartfelt conversations, practical wisdom, personal experiences + the timeless truth of Godās Wordāall designed to point you back to the Father.
Real life. Real questions. The Fatherās heart.
The conversations begin THIS AUGUST. š¤
We're actually going to dive into some really, really intense things. That's a miracle.
That's a miracle. Y'all know. Y'all know that's a miracle. What does stewardship look like? And
it's helped me so much. Like, it seems like such a small thing. No, it's huge. But I did do one
thing. Our bodies aren't broken. We have to give it the right things to make them work right.
Welcome to From My Father podcast. I'm your host, Tangie Callahan, and I'm so grateful you're here.
My prayer is that every conversation points you to the heart of the Father, reminding you that
every good and perfect gift comes from Him. So whether you're driving, taking a walk,
or taking some quiet time for yourself, I pray you leave every episode knowing Him more and
experiencing His love in a deeper way. Now take off your shoes and stay a while. Let's get started.
Welcome back, guys, to From My Father. I'm so excited about today. We are going to wrap up the
conversation today on body image. And I still have my sweet girls with me.
I've enjoyed the conversation so much, guys, and I've loved what you've added to it.
You may be seeing them more often than not. I told you that we would be back.
It's going to be really good today. We're actually going to dive into some really, really intense
things. But I really want your feedback on how all of these things have affected you.
Today we're going to talk about stewardship.
trusting okay and you'll know what that means and then idolatry and we're gonna this may be a long
podcast but we're gonna we're gonna talk this through and i don't want to rush i really want to
just dive into each thing um but you know i like to start by asking what is your burden and
blessing right now i can start yeah girl um my Blessing right now is looking forward to Labor Day
and looking forward to the day off and the day with cousins. And we're going out on the boat to our
grandma's house. I'm just looking forward to a good old rest day full of fun.
That'll be good. That's my blessing. My burden right now is probably the fact that summer is over
almost. I agree with that. And my tan is slipping away and the winter uglies are approaching.
And I don't feel like we got to enjoy the summer as much this summer. I'm just confused how it
flew. That's on me. I feel like it's on me. Wow. Yeah, wedding prep.
It flew by. I thought it was June. I thoroughly enjoyed my summer.
What about you, Pay? My blessing is that Elijah and I are getting our marriage license today.
yeah it's exciting so exciting and it just makes it feel so much more real because we could just
sign it today and then just no that is not that's not how it works oh that's what i thought um my
burden is that it went by like this whole i feel like all of my answers lately have been about this
season but i guess it's just everything that's going on in my life right now My burden is that it
went by really fast the whole time I've been engaged. And then from like the past week, it feels
like it's going by so slow. And it feels like 18 days is about to take a year. I hate that.
I remember that feeling. You're going to get through it. There is an end to this. And it's my
birthday next week. Yeah. I forgot because of the wedding. And it's mom's birthday next week.
That's right. Yeah. Who's thinking about mom? Me. I'm thinking about Tan.
You don't have to lie. Miss Tan. No, I never. Nobody's really thinking about her. Yes, we are,
Tan. Tan. Be so for real. Rae, what about you?
My blessing? is that Callum is starting to take steps. Oh my goodness.
And honestly, I have two burdens, but one of the burden with that is that I have yet to see him
take a step. So I'm just taking other people's word for it. I saw him take one and then it happened
this morning again with Micah. And then my other burden is that I'm just tired.
And exhausted. Your other burden. Yeah, my one burden was that I haven't seen him walk yet. But he
has walked. Got it. And why are they wheezing? I don't know.
Who knows? Keep going. Keep going. Every time we get together, they have secret wheezes. I'm just
tired. Secret wheezes. That's the sister podcast segment. Sister wheezes.
You're wondering what is so funny. Anyway, well,
we're going to just get started, get right into the conversation this morning. If you are new to
From My Father, I would encourage you to go back and watch the last two episodes. The girls really
went in depth at how the way I raised them, how it affected them. It would be really good for you
to watch. And also, we talked about what all moms should know about raising their daughters and
raising sons, too. Mainly you guys' experience and what you would say to moms. But today we're
going to continue the conversation. And if I could title this, I would call it Finally Free in My
Own Skin. Because I want to talk about, number one, stewardship. The importance of stewarding our
bodies. I want to talk about trusting God, right, with a plan.
And I'll get more into that in a minute. And you'll know where I came from with that. And then the
third thing is idolatry, not,
you know, the fine line between stewarding versus making my body an idol.
And I want to talk about this and go deep in it. And I basically just want to start with
stewardship.
And, you know, you guys are very familiar with the scripture, 1 Corinthians 6,
sorry, 19 and 20. It says, do you not know? that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is
in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own. For you were bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
In other words, my body is a temple. It is not mine. I am to steward my body.
And my body belongs to God. So I guess my question for you is,
how do I care for my body without making my body the center of my life?
That's very good. Say it one more time. How do I care for my body without making my body the center
of my life? What are your initial thoughts? My initial thoughts are,
yes, just like we have kids and God gives us things. We have a home. We have cars.
All of these things that God has entrusted to us, our body, I think sometimes we feel like,
you know, it's my body. What is that slogan? My body, my choice. Yeah, my body,
my choice. It doesn't matter what I put into my body. It doesn't matter, you know,
how I treat my body. And I feel like that the enemy uses that because,
yes, there is a balance and we're going to get into that. as we talk, but I think first and
foremost, we are called to steward our bodies. And that may look different for everybody.
For me, stewardship means, for example,
I raised my kids, that you weren't my own. I birthed you,
but you were God's. And I will be held accountable for the way that I raised you.
I will be held accountable to the way that I stewarded my babies. And I think it's the same thing
with our house. I think God can, we always beg God for bigger and better things,
but how are we stewarding the thing that God has given us right now? Our cars. I mean,
I've seen y'all's cars.
And I'm like, what in the world? And I know you're in the thick of it. But Peyton has no excuse.
Oh, I know. I just said it. Payten has no excuse. Well, you know what they used to say? If your
room is dirty and your car is dirty, you know that's what's going on in your mind. And it's true.
That's true. It's true. You've got a lot of different things going on, and your car is the
representation of that. My mind immediately goes to. The scripture that says present your bodies as
a living sacrifice. Yeah. Holy and pleasing to the Lord. And like presenting like the Lord has
given us this body here on earth to for his glory and to do things for his glory and to use it for
him and his glory. And we have to be physically capable to do those things. And we're going to talk
about the balance and all of that. But having the revelation of. My life is not my own.
My body's not my own. Yeah. And just along those lines. Yeah. The question was,
right, like, how do you steward your body without making it the focus, right, of your life?
Without, yeah, the center. The center of your life.
I think it's, like you said, just like with anything, it can become, like,
you can over-obsess about anything. Like, you can over-obsess about stewarding your voice.
and ultimately becomes unhealthy. You can over-obsess about stewarding,
you know, the things God has given you, a house, a car, and it can become over-obsessed,
like in your mind, all you're thinking about is finances. But I think about that verse in the
Bible, and I think it's in 1 Corinthians, where it says, whether you eat or drink.
Let it all be for the glory of God. And actually that scripture in the context of it is Paul is
talking about food sacrifice to idols. And he's talking about how when like you're eating that
stuff or drinking that stuff because we're Christians, like we're not, they were eating food
sacrifice to idols and it was affecting those people who aren't Christians.
And it was affecting those people in that way. But he was saying, like, whether you eat or drink,
whatever it is, do it for the glory of God. And so it's like, don't let food in what you drink,
don't let it be sacrifice to idols. Like, don't let it be something that becomes.
idolatry in your brain like he was saying don't focus on it so much yeah like it doesn't matter if
they sacrificed it to idols eat it but let it be for the glory of god yeah and so that's good
whatever you do let it be for the glory of god whether you eat whatever you drink whatever you're
focusing on in your body let it be for god's glory not your own glory you know what i mean right i
think that's why i love fasting too because it reminds your body like who's in charge how we're
submitted to the spirit and not to the desires of the flesh and fasting keeps our us aware that
like food like not to be obsessive about those things and not be obsessive about our body but you
know that's really good caring for my body matters but stewardship isn't about achieving a certain
weight or appearance stewardship is obedience that's good that's really good So obedience,
when I talk about in reference to stewardship, what has God specifically corrected me on about my
body? I think we have to, we're talking about stewardship. We can be any area, but we're actually
talking about body image. So individually, is there a particular thing that you know that God has
called you to do stewardship-wise over your own body? that you feel actually a correction or a
conviction about?
For me, I have a very fast metabolism, so it's easy for me to get away with things sometimes.
And so the Lord has clocked me sometimes when, like, because I'll eat,
like, bad. I will eat junk for a week straight.
And I feel awful, but I don't look too bad. You look great. It's easy for me to just
overconsumption of anything that I want to eat.
And it doesn't make me feel good, but I've started to care more about, well, I don't really care
how I feel. I kind of care more about how I look. And so that's something the Lord has corrected me
on. Yeah, but it is important how you feel after you eat. No, yeah,
that's what he told me. Right now, it's not making a huge impact on you. But when you get my age
and you eat certain things like that, the impact of what it does to your body plays a bigger role.
So I think if you learn to steward it now. Absolutely. I didn't have teaching on it.
I didn't have the knowledge of it like when I was your age. And so as I've gotten older,
it's like I love that the Holy Spirit speaks and you know,
you know, in a certain area. Because my stewardship of my body might not be what he's told you for
your stewardship. You know what I mean? So, Addie, for you, with your body,
what does stewardship look like? One of the things that the Lord has specifically led me to do is
Because it's so easy for me to, when I wake up in the mornings, be like, okay, what am I eating,
like, for breakfast? What am I eating for lunch? And what am I eating for dinner? So that it all
stays, like, within, you know, it's my first thought sometimes in the morning. And the Lord has
gotten me to a place where instead of saying, like, I'm intermittent fasting,
right, or counting my calories, which I am counting my calories still, but he's more so led me to
be like, okay. spend time with me first and then all let all that come from the time with me and so
instead of even instead of eating before because like days when i'm off i'll wake up around 8 30 or
9 and i wake up hungry yeah but the lord's like no spend time with me then eat your first meal like
get spiritually fed before you're physically fed because For me, I've noticed it helps me to be
more conscious of, like, self-control, discipline. And it's allowed me to really let,
like, eating and all that flow from a place of presence instead of a place of what does my flesh
want right now. That's good. And so the Lord's really led me to do that instead of being like, I'm
not going to eat.
before 12 o'clock and I'm going to cut this off at six he's been like no just spend time with me
and let me lead you throughout the day and it's helped me so much like it seems like such a small
thing no it's huge but it genuinely has helped me everything flows from him in my mind is so much
less obsessed about it when I wake up in the morning I'm like I'm not even going to think about it
and that's been helping me so much in like my discipline and yeah I am not a very disciplined
person. I have to make myself like choose discipline and self-control,
not just in this area, in every area like media, like I have to make myself.
And so discipline flowing from time with him has helped me so much. I mean, think about that.
The fruit of the spirit. We we get the fruit of the spirit from his presence.
What is the fruit of the spirit? A part of that is self-control. Yeah. So when I don't spend time
with him, when I'm not listening for his voice, you know, one of my favorite things is going for a
walk first thing in the morning. I try to get outside within 30 minutes of waking up. So this is my
favorite time of the year because it's easy for me to get out. And it's beautiful outside.
The birds are singing like everything is starting to come alive. It's the sun is rising.
It's like all of these things. And I'm listening for the Lord. So that is my foundation.
Like I get up and I talk to him and I listen. Some walks, I don't say a word. Some walks,
he's continually just talking to me. And it's like almost like the stewardship of my body flows
from that moment, you know, every day. What about you? Along the lines of the steps,
like I've been, it's really, he's really been teaching me like. like i've been hitting 10 000 steps
every day but like in that time like i've been spending time with him and like you know it's a mind
thing for me whenever i'm losing weight because we are in this journey of like counting calories
and doing all of that but like we've talked about in previous episodes like doing it for the right
reasons and making sure that my motives are staying pure in it and a practical thing that i feel
like i'm learning is just like when to put the fork down Yeah. And like portion control and
stewarding, like how much is actually going into my body and learning that portions and everything
is everything when it comes to losing weight. And it is.
And Rhay, you've got you've had some big goals. Tell us what you I mean,
you've started dropping. I know because it's hard after you have a baby. It's hard to jump right
back into your clothes. And I'm sure that there are women listening that. have struggled postpartum
with losing weight what has been the biggest thing well I think there's like because I also got
caught into the trap like as soon as I would have like my kid or I would have a baby I would jump
right back into like okay it's time to start working out and like putting those deadlines in my
mind of when I'm supposed to start working out and how much weight I should lose by a certain time
And so after I had Callum, I found myself like falling back into that with Royce. It was a little
bit easier because I was just smaller when I had him anyway. And so I felt like and I wasn't my
second baby. So I felt like the weight came off easier. And then after Callum, I. Was like,
OK, I'm going to get back in the gym right at six weeks and do all of these things. And it wasn't
for the reason of like getting healthy. It was because I felt like I needed to look a certain way
by a certain time. Right. And so then like once I tried to get out of that mindset, I just kind of
was like too lax and everything and like wasn't caring enough about it. And so just past like over
the past month and a half, two months, like I've really tried to like get my mind back. On track
with calorie counting, walking, and I've lost 20 pounds. Yay! Overlaying.
And all the celebration goes off right now. Because if you know,
and women watching, you know. Yes. If you know, you know.
That, it is so hard to lose one pound, especially in the season that I am in right now.
Yes. With post-menopause. I know y'all hear me talk about it and you get tired of that.
But listen, I'll be ready and waiting when you guys go through that season. I'm so proud of you.
I think I look at you and I'm like, I'm not proud of you because you've you look a certain way or,
you know, to me, you're beautiful in every every season.
I'm proud of you because the discipline. I know how hard it is to lose weight and and the
discipline that you've. just grabbed hold of and you're like running right now and nothing's
stopping you so i'm super excited and that is the balance of like it not being like don't be
obsessive about it because i'm very that's my personality like i am very disciplined so when i get
my mind on something it's like good and bad because i can become super obsessive over something but
then with this it's one of those things where i'm like i have to do it in a healthy way so it's
like a daily thing where i'm having to renew my mind of like I'm not doing this to look a certain
type of way. Exactly. Yeah. There's a balance and like I do have goals that I want to meet and
reach, but not making that everything and then not beating yourself up on the days that like you're
talking about cheat meals and like or not eating, you know, just not eating like you normally do.
Like don't beat yourself up on those days and the balance of like giving yourself room to make
mistakes or, you know, what I'm trying to say. And it's for me. I feel like it's not a certain
timeframe. Like, obviously I have a wedding that I'm trying to,
it started off with that. But then one day I was walking, it was like, the Lord said, it doesn't
matter how long, just walk with me and do this with me. Don't put like an expiration date of,
okay, this, I want to get to my goal and it's over at a certain date.
even if it takes a year, which I'm praying to God it doesn't. But I had begun to see the scale move
as soon as I relaxed. And it's so wonderful. And Addie asked me the other day,
she's like, Mom, I'm so proud of you. She's like, see, when you stick with it and you're doing all
of these things and you're working harder, do you see what happens? And I texted right back and I
went, Add, the thing is I'm not working harder. I've actually was doing all the foundational
things. But I did do one thing, and I don't know if I should tell you.
Yes, you have to now. Do it, mama. And there's a balance in that,
too. We will come back to that, but there's a balance in that, too, because I do better with, like,
benchmarks and goals. Right. But then it also is a lifestyle. So, like, training my mind that once
I hit this goal, like, it's not like all bets are off. It's just. I do better with I want to do
this by this point. And it just helps me like stay committed to it because I'm so competitive. So
it's like I'm like at competition with myself to see if I can do that. But also surrendering that
to the Lord and making it this is my life. This is how I want to live, to be healthy, not to reach
goals or not to look a certain type of way. So to hold both of those imbalances. Yeah. For me,
some like when you talked about like reaching it in a certain time. For some reason,
it was built into my brain that I had this, like, certain time that if I didn't lose it by,
it was like, and there was no, like, actual day. I don't know where it came from either,
but I kept noticing that when I was spending time with the Lord. like this imaginary it was like
date the mind was like thanksgiving or christmas i want to be like however many i just want to be
low like low in my lower in my weight and for some reason it was causing me anxiety yeah and i had
to work it out with the lord because i was like no one has set this timetable for me i didn't even
set this timetable for me it was just somehow in the back of my brain and then i like brought
myself back down to earth and i was like I can work on this for the rest of work on this for the
rest of my life. When I took the anxiety of the benchmark away from me, just because I'm
differently, I work differently than you. Like sometimes if there's a goal, I procrastinate and it
makes me like freak out and not do anything. And so when I took the anxiety of like that mark away
from me, I was like, I can live like this for my life,
the rest of my life. One. ounce a day for all I care yeah but as long as I feel I feel so much
healthier like I feel so much better in my body it almost was like so freeing to me because I was
like I'm married I'm just working on this and it doesn't feel like a burden to me or like this
anxiety on me and it was like a weight lifted off of me I'm just gonna live my life and treat my
body right That's right. It's a lifestyle. I don't know why it was such revelation to me, but I
listened to Candace Cameron's podcast with her daughter, and her daughter was talking about how her
dad would talk about their body growing up, and she was like, it was so healthy because the way he
put it was like, our bodies are like cars. It was like,
you can give it too much fuel, and it will overload. You have to give it the right amount of fuel
for it to work right. You don't leave a car sitting for days at a time. Like you have to drive it
in order for it to stay healthy. So good. And like putting it in that way where it's like all
you're trying to do is to just keep your body healthy and running. And you're giving it the right
amount of fuel. You're giving it the right amount of activity for it to keep going. And it has to
have the right fuel. The right. You can give it the wrong gas and it will literally change the way
the car runs. It won't even run hardly. So, I mean, it is important what you're putting in your
mouth. Yes. And that's been huge for me because I feel like previously in seasons where I've wanted
to lose weight, I would just kind of like stop eating low key or like. eat enough to like where i
wouldn't be starving but i'm still not eating the right foods so like i would just eat small things
of a bunch of stuff that wasn't good for me but my portions were small that would still lose weight
right but now i'm like i was telling addy last week i've been like trying to hit my protein goals
and like hit all of my macros and i feel like i'm eating a lot but it's a lot of the right foods so
i'm actually losing weight faster because my body isn't hanging on to everything i'm putting listen
this brings me to this oh my goodness Your body is not broken.
Can I make an announcement? Your body is not broken. The Lord has been showing me that our bodies
aren't broken. We have to give it the right things to make them work right.
And sometimes I think it's tweaking it till it's easy, right? It's tweaking it till we figure out
what exactly that is. For me, y'all know over the last two years, I've been doing everything in my
capacity to try to lose 20 pounds. I just want to lose 20 pounds,
right? And I was doing everything. And y'all know, over the last two weeks,
I was, well, if I'm completely honest, God has been speaking to me over the last six months of what
to do. I just disobeyed. Tell us your secrets. Delayed obedience. Tell us your secrets.
Holy Spirit was like, give up caffeine. And I went, oh,
no. That'd be hard for me, too. I can't. I can't. How am I going to function? And y'all know I
switched from coffee to matcha, and it lowers already in caffeine. So it already only has like 50
milligrams. No, it had 30.
That's enough for my pinky. It had 30 milligrams of caffeine.
That's like two sets of my coffee. Anyway, Holy Spirit had been talking to me about giving it up.
Well, I've just been ignoring him, you know. I've been just walking in disobedience.
So two weeks ago, I'm literally walking because this is when. The Lord and I just have these great
conversations. And he spoke to me and he said, I've told you to give up caffeine.
That day, because I always walk before I drink my matcha, that day I decided to drink decaf matcha.
And Lord knows, y'all, I was dragging. Listen,
for the next four days, I did it. But I was so, I was so exhausted.
Like I felt like I couldn't function. And it was like, I felt the Holy Spirit say, keep going. I've
got you. Keep going. I've got you. Well, that first night I slept eight hours.
That's a miracle. Y'all know. Y'all know. That's a miracle. Listen.
On a good day. And so I was like, okay, Lord,
you're already moving. You're already speaking. And so y'all. I kid you not,
after two weeks, I'm sorry, not two weeks, after a couple of days,
I weighed. And you know I hate to weigh, but it is a form of a measurement,
even though there are tons of other measurements that we should go by, and we can talk about that
later. But I weighed, and I had dropped a pound. That's crazy.
And I have not been able to lose anything in two years, and I dropped a pound. I know you rejoiced.
So what does that mean? It meant that my sleep was deeper because the foundational things to lose
weight are there. You have to have sleep. You need to move your body to a certain extent. For that,
it looks different for everybody. You have to find out what works for you. And I have to fuel. We
talked about fuel. We have to fuel our bodies with the right things. Well, guess what? My body
wasn't broken, but my body couldn't heal because I was giving it.
You say, well, what's wrong with caffeine? Is caffeine a sin? No. Raylan can drink caffeine all
day. Peyton, she can have a cup of coffee and she does fine. Addie, the same thing. You might be
able to drink three cups of coffee. I don't know what the Lord has told you. For me, when I got all
my blood work back, my stress levels, my cortisol, which is the stress hormone,
was... of the yin yang and so so my adrenals were fatigued and if you know what adrenals are your
adrenals are that fight or flight mode that gives you that in your life like you know it's the
adrenaline that comes um like if a lion is chasing you so that you can run but when your adrenals
are fatigued your body is staying in that mode All the time. So your body's exhausted.
And so when I would drink caffeine, it would just build up and build up in my system. And I wasn't
getting sleep. So listen, my body wasn't broken, y'all.
Sometimes when our bodies don't respond the way we want to, we assume that something is wrong.
There was nothing wrong with my body. But what if instead of constantly trying to fix our bodies,
we learn to listen to our bodies? And ultimately, God, my body was screaming for two years.
that I needed rest.
And I was not getting rest. And so when I came off caffeine, I have begun to see the scale move.
That's a miracle. And I'm so excited because for two years I've prayed over this and I'm just so
thankful. I told dad that yesterday. We rode out of town and I was like, I'm just so thankful for
revelation. My body wasn't broken. because for a long time I blamed my body I would wake up and say
I hate it that you won't move I hate it what are you hanging on to like I would speak to my body
and that's another whole episode because we could talk about what we're speaking over our bodies
and it was like my body was responding to the way that I spoke to it and it wasn't moving right but
now as soon as I put the right things in place y'all my body wasn't broken so My body isn't the
enemy. Your body isn't the enemy. You have to give it. You have to steward it in the right way.
And you have to obey the Lord when he speaks to you in the stewardship part of your body.
And I was going to say how all of that started with the caffeine is you being obedient to the Lord.
And so I think it's daily asking the Lord how we can be obedient to him with our bodies and the
things we put into our mouth.
you know that's a whole like moving my body it was never the problem like I'm I love going to the
gym I love walking but it's always been about the food for me like what am I eating because for
even before you know the last couple months where I've really seen results like I started going
back to the gym six weeks post callum like that was not the problem I always set aside time I made
a priority just for my mental health to like get out go to the gym take that time for myself and
move my body That wasn't the problem. It's the food that has always been the hang up. And so once
you start asking the Lord to be like, you can't just be obedient to him in one area.
Like it all has to come under submission to him. And so also it's like how like you care about your
body that much. You were thinking about that for two years. How much more does the Holy Spirit care
about what we care about enough for him to highlight the very thing? Like people who aren't
Christians don't have a little. person inside of them not a little person god inside of them
telling them the key to what can unlock this thing for them that they've been working towards for
so long like the holy spirit in this so incredible like unlocked this thing that for you we don't
deal with this is like it was a person knows you uniquely what was affecting your body uniquely in
that way to hold on to that weight that you had been trying to get off and he knew you cared about
that so much for him to give you this key to unlock a new way for you to lose the weight that
you've been finally trying to get off. I just think that's so crazy. We were talking about a couple
episodes ago, like going to social media and going to what culture says about all of these things,
instead of just going to the word or asking the Holy Spirit, like personally, what he has to say
about a situation. And so rewiring our mind to go to him first, not last or not second. Because he
cares even about something like this. Why? Because we care about it. Cast your cares on the Lord
because he cares on you. He cares about you. And so it's like he will help you with these things.
You don't have to go to other remedies and other things. He will help you with what's important to
you. And it doesn't mean that I'm not going to ever drink caffeine again. Right. Like I think mine
is the season that I've been in. I've had two weddings this year. Getting ready to have another
one.
Addie got married in March. Beautiful ceremony. Pay's getting ready to get married in here in a
couple weeks. And Ethan got married. Like,
Rhay got married. Like, it's just been, what, two and a half years? Three years of just a lot.
Busy. And I feel like. Three grandbabies. I need to check my adrenals. You know. Oh, I know where
mine are at.
It's crying for us. It's so funny. Pleading. But that's what I'm saying.
I don't think that it means no caffeine forever. But I do feel like it's an obedience thing.
And I finally obeyed. And now I'm seeing the result of it. And God is just so good like that. And
it could have just been an obedience thing. Like for him to see, like, are you willing? And that's
with us all the time. Like, are we willing to give things up? Yeah, Abraham and Isaac.
And so that's for everybody. We're addicted to caffeine just like you can be addicted to anything
or that could be sugar. And the Lord will go take you through seasons where he's asking you to give
things up for him. Right. And to see if you'd be willing to do that. And I want to bring pay in
because I think a lot of times we think that because you're so tiny and you're a little peanut and
you just, you know, your waist is like this. That.
You should not steward your body. I want to pull back into that, that this is the time when you
should be stewarding your body. And, you know, you don't want to become skinny fat.
Have you ever heard that phrase? It's where someone on the outside is incredibly,
like, fit. They look fit. I'm sorry. They're not fit, but they look fit.
They have those. They're skinny. Yeah, they're just tiny little people. And we automatically think
they're healthy. But if you were to look at their diet, if you were to look at their workout
regimen, all of these things, you know, they're called skinny fat because on the inside their body
is unhealthy. Right. And so stewarding the body that God has given us. Do you have anything to
speak on that? Because I know that, you know, losing weight's never been a problem for you.
Right. But stewarding your body is still very important. Absolutely. What's that one verse that
talks about picking up your cross? What's that one verse? Deny yourself. Deny yourself,
yes. It's in the Gospels, yeah. I mean, especially in this season. And I'm kind of like Addie,
where I procrastinate a lot. That could never be me, by the way. I am a procrastinator to the core.
And so when I was in Hamilton, when I lived in Alabama,
I wish I could show you the workout regimen that I had chat make for me. It was so long.
It wasn't even Monday through Saturday. It was Monday through Sunday. I was trying to go seven days
a week. See, you overdid it. Yes, I was like, I'm going to get a six-pack.
I am going to all of these things. And so I move home. I get my Planet Fitness thing,
and I go really hard for like a week. I know. One week. I was like,
proud of you. Literally the week before she got engaged, she was grinding. The week before I got
engaged. I don't think she's been since. And then it stopped. And then it stopped. And now I use my
planet. She said I'm locked in. And now I use my planet fitness thing to go to the tanning bed.
No Pay. After the wedding, you have to stop that too. Because I'm not going to talk about cancer
today. Truly. It's so disappointing. I've only gone three times. But.
I think all of this has really just taught me, man, I have no discipline whatsoever.
And I literally have a goal right in front of my face of like, okay, I'm about to get married. I
want to be in the best shape of my life. And then I'm still not doing anything about it. So this is
currently something. On your defense, your schedule has been very tight. My schedule has been
insane. That's an excuse. Wow. I get no support from Rylan.
That's just the truth. You get support, but you also need to be pushed to do hard things. Well,
from an outsider's perspective, this might be going a different direction, but I've been talking to
Pay and seeing Pay will go out to lunch sometimes from work. And she's like, guys, why am I eating
this three weeks out from my wedding? I should be getting in the best shape of my life.
I should be losing weight. And I'm like, Pay, who taught you that like you have to starve yourself
before your wedding? Like you look great. It's not starving. So it's just. No,
but the way she was talking. Eating the right foods. Right. I was like. And working out. Because I
got Wingstop and I was like, why am I eating this? I'm literally getting married in 25 days and
that was last week. But there is obviously. It's just a stereotype to starve yourself and lose
weight before your wedding. I do have to say this though about you. You don't eat all day long. You
literally eat like a bird one time. That's true. I like dinner. I think you do a lot of
intermittent fasting and you don't even realize it. Yeah. You do a lot of intermittent fasting. I
usually don't eat until like one. Yeah. And so and you you eat that meal. So you basically are
eating one meal a day. And and also like I feel like it also comes naturally.
Like I love to be outside. Like I love to exercise. I love to. Like I love eating healthy.
Like the things that I crave, I eat healthy. Yeah. Like most, I mean, I have bad stuff. You do love
broccoli. Like I love broccoli. I love salad. I don't know about all the ranch that you pour on
that. I drench it in ranch. But I honestly, just like for y'all's future,
when I got pregnant, I became super aware of, because you're growing another, like another human.
So I became super aware of. like the foods that were going into my body and like the doctors will
go through all like the list of foods that you can't eat and i'm like if aspartame is on a list of
what you shouldn't be consuming when you're pregnant why do we consume it when we're not pregnant
and i'm so guilty like i i consume aspartame but i'm just saying like you become so aware of oh wow
this whole list of like Things that you shouldn't. It's like, why wouldn't you take care of you?
Because it could harm the baby or it could harm some. Why wouldn't you think enough of your body?
Why wouldn't I treat my own body in that same care? So during that 10 months, I'm like, man,
this is not good. And so you become, you know, you start doing that. And then it's so easy after
the fact. Like, once the baby is out, you just start. So it's just important, like, to take care of
our own bodies. I've tried to think about that. Like, let me just eat like I would if I were to be
pregnant or have. another human i've had to learn too because i can get into like this really toxic
mindset of like and i know this is already kind of what we've been talking about like but if i'm
not gaining anything then like what's the problem like i'll probably weigh myself like once a year
but that's why i brought this up pay is because when you're oh gosh you only weigh once a year
You only weigh once a year? I don't even know that. Why would you ever weigh?
But I weigh and I'm like, I don't have to say my weight. I guess you can go by your clothes too.
But I'm like, if I'm still in the same range, 130, 135, I'm like.
Right. I was 135 on my wedding day. Wow. I've never seen that number.
It makes me get caught up in the number because. No, that's what I'm trying to say. Fight and all
of that plays a huge role. But that's what women do. We get caught up in the number. Go ahead.
We do. You said it for me. We're jumping in. Sorry. What I brought that up because one day when you
are pregnant, it's going to matter what you put in your body, whether you're gaining weight or not.
That's why I brought up that whole other conversation is because even the skinniest person, when
you actually have to eat right. You have to eat right for the sake of someone else.
Are Takis on that list? Red 40 you are not supposed to have when you're pregnant. Peyton's going to
absolutely be deceased. Luckily for y'all, I've switched to Trader Joe's chips. We do have Takis
on Friday.
But, okay, if I'm being honest, they're good. But lately I haven't had much of a taste for them.
You want to hear my toxic mindset? My toxic mindset is... some reason,
sometimes my eating is like on a work schedule. It's like once it hits the weekend, it doesn't
matter anymore. That's a lot of people's mindset. I feel kind of bad.
I feel like I wish I had more insight on this. I kind of feel like I don't know what to say. What
you've added is there's women in your situation too. I mean, it's all kinds of situations.
But I don't want you all to think like I'm... I'm just eating whatever.
And that's my mindset. Like there's still, I promise you every single person struggles with body
image and especially in engagement season. So easy for like me still to look in the mirror and pick
apart my body and be like, Oh my goodness. Like I'm, you know, I'm about to enter into a really
vulnerable season and I still go through that. But then I don't have, I don't want that to be my
motivation anyways though. Right. Like, I don't want my motivation to be. Your motivation is
stewardship. Right. And what God has given you. And I think,
you know, we were talking about cheat days on the weekend or whatever. Every Saturday is not a
holiday. And it's the hardest mindset to get past. So that's what would happen to me for years is
that everything that I had put in during the week. Friday and Saturday and y'all know we do ice
cream or sundaes on Sunday um that you know I would gain back everything that I had worked really
hard for Monday through Friday that has been the other change that has happened over the past
couple months is that I don't allow myself to cheat throughout the whole weekend like I'll choose
I'll look at my weekend schedule and be like for this dinner and for this segment of time i'll have
a dessert but like you're not doing it the whole weekend you're just picking a pocket of time where
you can enjoy it whatever but then you're getting right back it's not a whole cheap weekend it's so
hard because of like date night and like when i'm at home watching movies i don't want celery you
will lose and gain the same five pounds for months if that's what you do yeah i want to switch kind
of over into and we've we've touched on this in some previous episode episodes but
Y'all know what the Lord spoke to me. I shared it with you guys.
It's been several months now. I almost feel like it was in January. You know,
the start of a new year and you have all of these goals and you're trying to lose a certain amount
of weight. Every January is like that for me.
But I was ironing my clothes and I heard the Holy Spirit say,
obviously he was talking about my weight. He said, you have made this an idol.
I was like, what do you mean?
And it was like he just started asking me questions. How long have you been trying to lose weight?
And I said, my whole life. He said, it's become an idol.
He said, it's what you've given your strength to, and it's what you get your strength from.
You talk about a revelation.
I want to talk about idolatry and where stewardship can move into idolatry.
And where's the balance? Like where's the balance of, okay, I'm just stewarding my body,
but it's become like what I give my strength to and what I get my strength from.
Where's that balance for you guys? For you, Ray, like what do you feel like is?
Like practically? Yeah. I mean, I think I'm learning every day the balance.
And it's like I was saying, once my mind is made up, like it becomes it consumes my mind.
And that's just any area of anything that I'm doing. But I mean, practically things that I've done
is like I'm not weighing myself every single day. Like I've decided like.
OK, I'm only going to weigh once a week, once every two weeks. And like, I'm not going to make this
an idol in my life because you can wake up and the first thing you're thinking is, OK, let me go
step on the scale or right before you do anything else like that's just what's on your mind. And
just the whole like seeking him first and letting him like operating out of a place of it being
surrendered to him. That's really good. And it being his will for my life to steward my body.
It's his will for my life for me to eat the right foods. It's his will for me to move my body and
work out and do all of the things that would help. Yeah,
it's not wrong to want to lose weight. It's not wrong to want to work out. I feel better when I go
for walks. I feel better for when I go for a short run or whatever. There's nothing wrong with
that. It's not. There's nothing wrong, obviously, with stewarding what I put in my mouth. We're
supposed to, you know, to eat well. When it becomes, I think,
that line where I cross that line is how much of my heart, my thoughts,
my time and my peace does it own?
Yeah. Am I being controlled constantly? If I can never have a good time with my friends,
you know, and. and have a bite of something sweet or have, you know, I feel like then it becomes an
idol. And that's when I slip over into idolatry. I think starving myself,
you know, and waiting. Unhealthy habits. Yeah, just the unhealthy mindset and the unhealthy habits.
Like binging or eating a lot one day and then completely starving yourself the next day and your
whole life revolving around. Exactly. Losing weight, meeting the goal. That's when it becomes an
idol. I mean, I even remember a story with you. I mean, this happened multiple times where like I
would get up in the morning and I would be able to tell if like you had good news or bad news based
on what the scale said, because that I knew that it would usually affect your mood.
And I remember telling you one time like it was that this is never meant to rule you this much.
yeah and like i mean we would even get in tiffs about it sometimes because i'd be like mom i'm
gonna throw your scale in the river yeah you were like you would find me crying or whatever we
would all tell you to just stop weighing like don't get on the scale yes yeah um but i mean i think
it becomes from it goes from stewardship to an idol when it starts to affect you in that way where
you can't you can't walk in the fruits of the spirit if something bad happens or if you didn't meet
the goal that day if you didn't meet the goal or if you're disappointed that you're just not able
to still walk in the spirit and still just brush it off I mean do y'all feel like it's something
that like I want to hear from y'all like the balance of disappointment of like not meeting certain
goals or like brushing it off like what does that look like well I have something to say on the
other subject first and then I'll answer that one but I think about what is stewardship at its
core, right? Stewarding is I'm taking care of something that is not mine.
Idols are something you created with your hands. So stewardship is taking care of the body that God
has given you and recognizing that this is God's. This isn't mine.
So having the fear of God in that way and saying, I better not treat my body. in a way that would
dishonor him idols idolizing this idolizing body image and your weight and all this is this is mine
i've created it with my hands i'm here because of me yeah i've gotten here because i put in the
hard work right doing it in your own doing it in my own strength i haven't thought of it that way i
just thought of it this way right now well i was thinking about it thank you holy i know thank you
I love it. But like stewarding is open hands. Yes.
Idolatry is closed hands. Yeah. So stewarding, I'm keeping my hands open to whatever happens.
It's his. Right. Whatever. Well, in the sense of if I'm doing all I can,
like you were. You're still doing all you. I'm doing all I can. So.
Whether the scale goes up, the scale goes down, I'm doing everything I can to steward it rightly.
With the partner of the Holy Spirit. With the partnering of the Holy Spirit, obedience, doing
everything I said. If there is disappointment, the scale doesn't move for two years. Like you said,
you were doing everything you knew to do. Right. Then it's open hands. I give that disappointment
right back to him. Yeah, that's good. Because I'm not trying to do it apart from him, right?
Apart from him, you can do nothing. And so I have it open hands to where it's like,
okay, Lord, I know I'm doing all that I can do. And so here it is. Like I'm giving you all of it.
And for me, like I said, I have been spending time with the Lord before I even weigh.
Like, if I do weigh in the mornings, I'll spend time with the Lord before I even weigh. And I
genuinely have been praying before I step on the scale and being like, Lord, whatever this number
is. Yeah. And, like, I give it to you. I'm not going to let it affect my mood. I'm not going to let
it. And I genuinely. Or even determine your actions. Yeah. Like, I'm that sense of where it rules
you. Like, well, today, like, I got to take calories down and, like,
change everything. No, you just do, you know, what you've been. And I'm not that. I,
I'm not going to be someone to put myself off as like, you know, over spiritualizing everything.
But with something like this, like I need the strength of the Holy Spirit to lead me through this.
Absolutely. Of like, no, I'm going to pray whether it looks crazy or not before I step on the
scale. Like for some people that would seem, you know, like the Lord doesn't care about that stuff.
If I care about it, the Lord cares about it. And this has been a big part of our journey. Yeah. we
know we have to take precaution over our own heart and mind. That's right. And that dream I had
with sitting on the edge of the pier, and I opened the treasure box where my heart was,
and it was vegetables, and then he exchanged it for communion. Can you share that? Yeah,
so I had a dream where I was sitting on our pier in our backyard on the water. And I had this like
keepsakes box, you know, something that your heart belongs to, all your memories, all these
important things to your heart, something that goes in this treasure chest. And I open it and
inside is vegetables. And in the dream, to me, that signified, you know, weight loss, losing
weight, obsession over being healthy. Like that's where my treasure was,
where that's where my heart was. And the Lord took that from me and exchanged it for bread and
wine, which is communion. And so he gave me, in exchange for my obsession of eating healthy and all
this stuff, he gave me communion, which is bread and wine, which is funny enough because it's like,
it's food. It's a symbol of communion, though. And it's like,
when you do this, do this in remembrance of me, is what he said when he gave us that. And so it's
like, Just starting my day with communion with the Father. And even when I'm eating,
whatever I'm doing, like being in communion with him, right? Because it's hard to not have self
-control when you're in the presence of the Lord. Like when you're thinking about the Lord, you're
just aware of it. And it's like, I don't know, just exchanging that obsession. When I wake up in
the mornings, that's the first thing I think about, exchanging that for, no, I'm going to commune
with the Lord. And then I'm going to let me stepping on the scale. I'm going to let what I eat for
breakfast all flow from a place of communion. So good. Being in the spirit. That is so,
so good. So my body isn't something that I have to worship,
punish, or constantly fix. It's something that God has entrusted to me.
I can care for it, listen to it, and steward it without letting it become my God.
It's really good. And I love that about communion and everything flows from that.
I have loved today so much. Me too. And what I want to do is I want to pray before we leave this
subject, because we do have one listener question that we're going to, we don't all have to answer,
but I know what I'm going to say. I want to get to it. But I want to pray over any woman that is
watching or listening, and she is dealing with all of these things that we've talked about.
She's dealing with the stewardship of her body. She feels like she's doing everything she can.
She doesn't want her body to become an idol, but she wants to see results.
Addie, can I have you pray over that woman or someone listening today?
Lord, I thank you for every person that is listening to this podcast. Lord,
and I thank you for who you are and your character. And I just pray, God, for the Holy Spirit in
every single person listening, Father. I thank you, Lord, that you have placed the helper inside of
us, God. Lord, that we do not have to take things into our own hands, God. Lord,
that we do not know the better way. I thank you that the Holy Spirit is the better way. And so,
Lord, I just pray, God, Lord, that we would be attentive to the Holy Spirit, even in this subject
of body image, God, that we wouldn't count this out as something that you do not care about. Lord,
you care about it because you care about the things that are on our heart. And so, Lord, I just
thank you, Father, just for every woman out there, God, struggling. God, every woman out there who
is discouraged, every woman out there who is disappointed. Father, I just pray,
God, that you would be near to the brokenhearted. Holy Spirit, that you would bind up their wounds,
Father. God, and you would just be the great shepherd, God. You would lead them down the path of
everlasting life. God, you would show them the way. You would illuminate, God. the things that you
are wanting them to do, Father. Thank you. Lord, I pray that you would help us grow in obedience.
God, help us to tune in to what you're wanting us to do with our bodies. I thank you,
Lord, that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Lord, that we would be good stewards of
what the body that you have given us. And God, I just pray for...
mindsets, God, that we wouldn't listen to culture in this area. Yes. We wouldn't listen to media in
this area. We wouldn't listen to the outside voices. But God, I pray that our ears would be tuned
to the Holy Spirit. Lord, that you would be the number one voice in our lives.
Thank you, Father. God, and I just pray, God, that for any lady, God, who has grown this obsession
of losing weight, God, of body image, it's all they can think about, Lord. God, I pray you would
begin to replace that obsession, Lord, with your spirit. Yes. Replace it with your truth,
Father. Thank you, Father. That they are fearfully and wonderfully made, God. That you formed them
before the foundations of the world, God. And, Lord, I thank you for the work that you began.
You said he who began a good work is faithful to carry it unto completion. So, Lord,
what you started, you will finish. Yes, in the name of Jesus. So, Lord, I thank you for that. In
the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Oh, today was so good.
So good. Oh, I love it. All right. I want to take a listener question, and this is from Courtney.
She says, what's one of your biggest lessons that you've learned in your walk with Jesus? And I'll
start just because I've been thinking about this.
I think one of the biggest lessons is something that Bishop Tony Miller always said, and it has
just been so true. in my life how you leave one season affects how you enter the next that's good
how you leave one season affects how you enter your next if you you need to be honoring to the
people who have poured into you you need to communicate that i always said to you guys or i know i
talked to Addie or Pay I can't remember, but I was like, you need to write your leaders at the
ramp. You know, you need to thank them. You need to sow into their life and thank them.
Even if it's a small, it might seem small to you. Like, why would it matter? It's a seed into your
future. So Courtney, I would say that how you leave one season will always affect how you enter the
next. Do you guys have anything? What's God's taught you through? I do.
One of the biggest lessons I feel like he's taught me that's affected me overall is the overall
would be to trust him. But what he told me specifically is to put my sails up and my oars down.
That's where I got this tattoo from. And it's putting my sails up to let the wind of the Holy
Spirit take me where I need to go instead of putting my hands on the oars and trying to go there by
self. Because you can go a lot farther when you let the wind take you than you can. paddling your
own boat. And along with that, Matthew 8, just that Jesus is in the boat with me.
Like, I don't have to do it by myself. He's in my lifeboat with me, helping me.
And he's at rest. He was asleep when the storm was happening. Like, he's at rest.
I don't have to be afraid. I don't have to be anxious of what's next. He's with me. He's at rest.
And so I'm okay. That's awesome. I love that. Anybody else want to add? I was going to say
literally the same thing as Addy of trusting and how like there's no grace for yesterday or
tomorrow. There's a grace for today. And if I look behind me or if I look in front of me, I'm going
to get worried. I'm going to get anxious. I'm going to get overwhelmed. But if I just focus on
today and the mercy that was renewed this morning, then it's then I can just walk with him and also
just friendship with the Lord. like yeah like the walk with the lord people over complicate it so
much it's literally just friendship with the lord just walking with him every day day by day day by
day i love it yeah the striving versus surrender he's always speaking to me on just surrendering to
him and not doing things in my own strength and letting him be my strength and relying on him in
all things not just the things that i feel like i can trust him with but overall just learning how
to trust him with everything being vulnerable with him because he already knows the struggle he
already knows what you're going through so being open with him and honest trust in lord god with
all your mind heart soul strength everything like every part of me and with the future and with all
the things that we don't know the answers to just trusting him awesome Well,
thank you guys for tuning in today. We're so thankful for you. Don't forget to write in your
questions. We would love to answer those for you. And until then, let his voice be the only voice
that you listen to. We'll see you next time.
Thanks for joining me for today's episode of From My Father. I encourage you to every day ask the
Father, what is it that you want me to receive from you today? If you enjoyed today's conversation,
I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to
hear it. Remember, every good and perfect gift comes from our Father. That's all for today,
friends. Until next time, keep leaning in to the Father's voice.