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Ryan and Annie have one scripture passage they keep coming back to — the one they've built a marriage, a clinic, and this show around. It's Matthew 25:14–30, and most of the time you hear it when someone at church is about to ask for money.
Ryan and Annie have one scripture passage they keep coming back to — the one they've built a marriage, a clinic, and this show around. It's Matthew 25:14–30, and most of the time you hear it when someone at church is about to ask for money. They want to take it somewhere else. Their reading comes down to a simple equation: your affinity (the gifts you've actually been given, the direction your heart already leans) multiplied by your capacity (not what you think you can carry, but the bandwidth God measured for you) equals your talents. Multiply that by cultivation and you get your return. What follows is a line-by-line walk through the parable, an honest conversation about doom-scrolling and buried gifts, and a hard question about what it would mean to hear "wicked and slothful servant" at the end.
In this episode
Chapters
00:23 — Back at the literal kitchen table
02:32 — Reading Matthew 25:14–30 in full
05:22 — Why this verse, and why not just about money
06:10 — Affinity: the gifts you've been given
07:01 — Capacity: God-measured bandwidth, not how much you feel like you can hold
08:16 — Cultivation, and what return actually looks like
09:56 — Charisms, and the statistic about how few people know they have gifts
11:42 — Failure as feedback, and a two-year-old learning to walk
13:55 — "He entrusted to them his property"
16:44 — If we all had the same gifts, none of this works
17:59 — He trusts you with small things first
19:55 — To whom much is given: an American examination of conscience
21:35 — Buried gifts, and the words that buried them
23:11 — False humility and the courage to use what you've got
26:56 — Doom-scrolling, honestly
28:19 — Where health comes into it: a sick culture is a dead culture
30:49 — Fear as a theological statement
33:18 — Dreaming bigger than a couple of vacations a year
36:05 — How this verse built the clinic
38:34 — Stretched capacity: marriage prep, two jobs, and expanding time
41:24 — Action step one: personal prayer
44:44 — Action step two: audit your time (and maybe throw out the TV)
45:34 — Closing prayer
New episodes every Tuesday, 6 AM ET.
Show notes, blog, and full transcripts: healthinthespirit.com
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Got a healing story, a question, or a guest suggestion? ryan@healthinthespirit.com / annie@healthinthespirit.com
Health in the Spirit is recorded under the patronage of Ss. Cosmas and Damian, physicians who healed the body and soul without counting the cost.
This podcast is for education and encouragement. It isn't medical advice and doesn't replace care from your own clinician.
Health in the Spirit is a Christian health and wellness podcast with Dr. Ryan and Annie DeNome, a chiropractor and a theologian raising a family in Cincinnati, Ohio. Each week they bring holistic health, the wisdom of the healing saints, and the teaching of the Church into one conversation about how to live well, body and soul. Rooted in Saints, Scripture, and the Catechism, the show explores what the ancient wisdom of the Church has to say about the modern health crisis: nutrition, movement, rest, healing, and raising a healthy family. New episodes every Tuesday, beginning July 7, 2026.
[00:00] You found us Come on in. We're just getting started This is Health in the Spirit I'm Annie Dinome And I'm Dr. Ryan, and each week we're gonna be sitting down with you at our kitchen table to talk about where modern medicine meets the wisdom of Christianity So that we can learn how to take care of our bodies like we're gonna live forever, and our soul like we're gonna die tomorrow Pour yourself something warm And pull up a chair. Welcome back, guys. We're actually sitting at our kitchen table. Our literal kitchen table Yeah, which is, you know, kind of the idea that we wanted to have in the first place, like, filming here, but, you know, it's kinda
[00:33] hard to do that with a kid, and right now he's with the grandparents, so thank you, shout out to the grandparents. Thank you for watching him. You know- Gigi and Grandpa, shout out … it's, it's kind of hard to talk loud when he's sleeping. We kinda have to work on other things- … so it's really… You know, it's hard to find time to sit down and talk, and then also, too, it takes a lot of prep to pray with this and the material that, you know, God's put on our hearts. So we're grateful to be back at our literal kitchen table. Guys, story about this table. I don't know if many of you will see it but we decided to, like, move, and I had
[01:07] this beautiful kitchen table that I got on Facebook Marketplace- Massive … and massive table that will… It will be in our lives the rest of our lives, I hope. I hope nothing happens to it. It's, like, the most beautiful table. Anyway, when we moved, we realized it's not gonna fit in this tiny apartment. So I was, like, obsessing over this table, and I'm like, "Oh, God, please give me something." And then he finally- I went to St. Vincent De Paul one day and found the literal perfect smaller version of the table, and it works with the chairs and everything. So anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this table.
[01:42] But today we're talking about something that is so on our hearts that Ryan and I have literally pinpointed from the very beginning of our relationship as a very specific scripture verse that means the world to us. It is our motto. It's something we live by. It's something we reflect on. It's, it's something that we continually come back to. I don't know why we're so convicted by this, but- … I mean, I guess that's why- what we'll dive into today, is the why. Yeah. There, there is a pretty clear why, and, and really when you, like, you hear this verse time after time after time at Mass at all of the different
[02:18] events and things like that that you go to, like, this is super common. We're gonna be talking a little bit about stewardship, so any time somebody's asking for money at a church event, they might pull this, pull this verse out. So let's go ahead and read this. It's the, the parable of the talents. It's Matthew 25:14-30, so bear with us here. It's a little bit long, but it's necessary that we read the entire thing because there's so much in it For it will be like a man going on a journey who has called his servants and entrusted them to his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to
[03:00] each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five more talents. So also the one who had two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more, saying, "Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more." His master said to him, "Well
[03:38] done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.
[03:46] Enter into the joy of your master." And he also, and he also who had the two talents came forward saying, "Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more." His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." He who, he also who had received the one talent came forward saying, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours."
[04:29] But his master answered him, "You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take, so take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents."
[04:57] For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer, into the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Oh, dang, guys. Hopefully you're still with us after that. But oftentimes when this scripture is brought up, we're talking about it in a money sense. But today we wanna go a little bit deeper than that and a little bit further than that, 'cause I think Ryan and I have always had the mindset of
[05:41] we wanna live life to the fullest. We want to give everything we've got to this life. We only have one life. We only have, you know-- It goes back to the, the idea of memento mori, of remember your death, and I think if you're remembering your death, you're living life well. You are living life to the fullest. You are, you are giving every moment you've got, and this, this scripture is what that means. 100%, and I think the one thing that me and Annie talk about it when it comes to this scripture verse so much is really, like, like kind of we've, we've come up with this equation really to kind of outline what this means, right?
[06:24] Every single servant was given different talents, right? One, two, five, based on their own ability, right? So as we're just gonna-- we're just gonna kinda break this down and give you our thoughts on it. So as we're trying to figure out how many talents do we have, right? And that comes down to your affinity. So that is like what gifts have you been given? Mm. What gifts do you have? What do you love? Like the direction your heart is already like leaning in life. Like what, just the, those gifts God has given you. What, like whatever that might be. So you take that and then you multiply it by your capacity, right?
[07:02] So your affinity is, is your gift. Your capacity is your ability mentioned in the scripture pack- passage, and like th- you can, you can kinda use a couple different ways to measure this, right? Like how much you can hold. A lot of times we talk about like, "Oh, I'm at the end of my rope. I c- feel like I can't hold anything else." But really, like I think when we're talking about in the, in the scripture passages, it's like God gave to each according to his ability. And I think really what this comes down, like what this capacity part comes down to is like it's a God-measured bandwidth. It's not necessarily how much you feel like you can hold, but actually getting
[07:44] to and trying to like expand yourself- and get past what you feel like you can hold into what God has actually, like, allowed you to hold, right? And, and who would know that better than someone who has counted every single hair on your individual head and knows every single cell in your body? So you take those two things, your gifts, your affinity, and your God-measured bandwidth, your capacity, multiply those together, you get your talents And then when we, when it comes to the production side of this entire conversation, right? The person with two multiplied it, person with five multiplied it, the
[08:25] person with one came back with one. So the return you get on those talents is by taking that talent number from the first math problem here. Who knew we were gonna get into like simple solutions over here and have a math lesson? Guys, I literally got a D in every single math class, but I do understand this math. Simple, simple equation. So we're taking that talent- And real life examples that don't require bananas in the back of a truck, and they fall out and whatever. Dude, Jose's always got way too many watermelons in the back of the truck, and he's losing so many. I know.
[08:57] So you take that from the first math problem, you've got your talent, you take that talent, and you multiply that by cultivation, and that's your return. And that cultivation is the daily living out of your talents, practicing them, right? Has God given you the gift of hospitality, encouragement, prophetic words miraculous healings? Like, what has he called you into? Like, where has a, where have those gifts- Even if it's like teaching and music and just really practical things like service, gifts of service to people, or, Yeah. Your motherhood, your fatherhood … bringing, being able to bring beauty
[09:39] into the world through your art or just the way you design things or the way you can organize or your leadership really or, you know, really, like if you guys haven't familiarized yourself with like c- your charisms and your gifts, it's time to tap into that. You know, I was just reading a book I think it's by Ray Clark and Dr. Mary, Mary Healy, about, Forgive me if I got the names wrong. I'll have to put the book in our show notes. But they were talking about s- they were, it was some crazy statistic, like more than like 50%, I think it's way more than that, more than 50% of the church don't even know that they have gifts deep down that need to
[10:20] be pulled out or used or cultivated. And- Mm-hmm … you know, we, in our marriage prep, thank you, Father Jonathan for, you know, really go- going over with us, Going, we went, we did like the, what was it, Ryan? It was like the charism quiz. Like, it was like this… We were figuring out our charisms and that was super helpful. So if you haven't done that we'll probably link some resources below if we can find them. So these are examples of some gifts you can have tap into that. But We'll continue to talk about, you know, this ratio and the, and the really the overall arching thing. We're not gonna get into the different gifts and examples, but or the
[11:03] overarching theme of what this means. Yeah, and I think really what it comes down to is like finding those things, taking time to pray about them.
[11:13] Like marinate on what God has called you to do, whether it's in work, family, home, and sometimes it's multiple gifts, and then taking the time to actually cultivate those things, which looks like practicing them, right? If you're praying for more patience, God's gonna give you more opportunities to practice that virtue. It's not just something God gives you and all of a sudden, boom, I'm more patient today, right? It's not like that. It's, it's these little inklings that you have, and as you like come into them and practice, and in practicing you're gonna fail. And I was just listening to a podcast with Alex Hormozi, who's just one
[11:52] of the best people at breaking this bigger concept into its component parts and then rebuilding it again so you actually understand how to do something. But he, he was-- he went deep into detail about… He was like, he was talking about if there's one quality he could give to his son it would be courage, kinda broke that down a little bit. But essentially what it came to is because courage allows you the ability to fail, and when you fail when you're practicing your gifts, that's a signal to you that gives you feedback and allows you to grow. Because through failure is the only way we're able to gather more data on
[12:32] the human experience- Mm-hmm … and actually be able to grow into that, right? Yeah. Like even our son learning how to walk. How many freaking times did he try and take a step and ended up on his butt? So many times. But each time was a wrong step, ended up on his butt so that he could say, "I'm not gonna take that exact same step again. I'm gonna go slightly different." And then all of a sudden he's putting one foot in front of the other, and then a- another one, and another one, and another one, and- Now he's running … now he's running. Yeah. And that's the exact-- Like that right there is a very simple basic
[13:08] example of the multiplication- Mm-hmm of his affinity and capacity to walk, right? Super stupid little simple example, but hopefully that makes a little bit of sense to you guys. Yeah. So we really wanna dive into the scripture 'cause there is so much packed into this. It was a long scripture. But we're gonna kinda go line by line just to really Dig into this So let's just go ahead and break down this, this little chunk of verses here really quick because I think there, there's so much meat in here and we're really just gonna hit on like six big points that like, it- that's what me and Annie talk about a lot, right?
[13:44] And in, in preparing for these podcasts and things like that, like there's just so much more, like even more richness than we talk about literally around the kitchen table as we're praying through it and preparing for these podcasts here. But it- we're gonna start at the beginning. It says the, that the master entrusted to them his property, right?
[14:06] He, the master didn't give them like property that became their own. He gave them his property. And I think that goes all the way back to like as we are conceived in the womb and brought into this world, Adam and Eve, take it all the way back to the beginning. We are at the end of the day in the image and likeness of God. We are in a sense his property and he is entrusting us with this life to do his will to bring people to him that h- do not know him.
[14:43] And it, like we are not our own and that's where Like the, the affinity and capacity don't come from our own, like we are not holding this on our own shoulders. It's something God has given to us, and God has everything in mind for our success. So if we are trying to practice our gifts, cultivate our talents, He is going to expand our capacity so that we can then multiply our talents. And I think that leads directly into like the next thing, right? He entrusted them His property. You are not your own. God is the one that truly is holding you, holding the world in His hands.
[15:28] And I think this goes back to like the, also the scripture of like we are like all one body, but we're many parts. So like we each all have to have our own set of gifts in order to like fulfill the mission of the kingdom, right? Like we can't all be the s- like hands. We can't all be the feet. We have, we have different body parts i- in a sense and, or like… Really what I mean by that is like we all have different gifts, like Ryan said, to fulfill this mission, and maybe that looks like, you know, you've been giv- given this set of tasks that God has asked you to do or talents to, you know, cultivate.
[16:08] Maybe you've been given a really, like in a metaphorical sense, really big garden that He needs you to, you know, expand upon and grow and, and fruits come from it, or maybe you've been given, you know, a tiny garden. S- I think what this… And I, I think yeah, so you have to think about like- What has God put on your heart? This doesn't look the same for everybody. You know, not everybody's gonna have the same mission, not everybody h- is going to… Their, their talents are gonna look the same. It's gonna look different from your best friend. It's gonna look different from your husband. And, And that goes perfectly into the next line, and this is like, this is a
[16:49] topic that I am so freaking passionate about, and it's something I try and bring out of all of my patients. If we didn't all have different gifts, this whole thing wouldn't work. Not everybody can be a musician praising God with their voice and their instruments, right? That would be super freaking boring. We need variety, and if you are not trying to figure out what the freaking gift you have is, bring it out of yourself. Try to expand it to the fullest, to your fullest potential. Become as strong as you can be- Yeah … as holy as you can be, as prayerful, as close to God as you can be, as good of a husband, a wife, a
[17:28] mother, a father, a son, a daughter. If you are not trying to get to your fullest potential of what God has literally given you in your capacity, and you are never gonna think that you're… Like, God is always gonna have more in store for you. Yeah. It's not like o- what we think is our capacity is only a tiny touch, and I, I really wanna have my own little podcast breaking all that down more, 'cause I'm so freaking passionate about it. Also- But Annie wants to say something … two is that with this as well, is he needs to trust you in the small things to be able to trust you with the big things.
[18:03] So at, the more you say yes to this gift, the more you cultivate your gift, he will give you more. So I think that's where that compas- that capacity stretches along the way. So if you want to serve him more, if you want to say yes to your gifts, and really make the best of your life and what he's given you, and really use who you are as to be a gift to the kingdom, to expand it, to bring others to him, he is going to expand that wineskin, in a sense. He's going to stretch it, And I really think, like, just hitting on this point, like, one more n- one more time, not to beat a dead horse. Like, I had a professor in my undergrad say that really all of the Christian
[18:46] life can be boiled down to two verses. Our goal is to be perfect like our heavenly Father is perfect, so that at the end of our lives when God… We're sitting before the pearly gates with St. Peter holding the keys, God welcomes us into the kingdom of heaven and says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," because we have sh- stri- strove as hard as… Is that even a word? Striven? Striven. Have strove. Because we were going as hard as we can towards becoming perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, and that looks like exactly everything we've been talking about today. Yeah. And we can't just, like, dig in the ground and hide and not do
[19:33] anything and just become, like, this wicked and slothful servant, right? He didn't, like, he didn't do anything. Like, d- doing nothing sometimes is just as bad as murdering and stealing and doing a bad action.
[19:50] Also, too, like… Sorry, this is just coming to me as we're thinking, and you can cut this all right out. We have been given so much in America. I don't think we think about this as much. I think about this all the time because I work for a nonprofit who serves the poor around the world. I often come back to, to whom much is given, much is expected. It kinda says that towards- Mm … the end at, in its own way, at the end of the scripture verse. But like- Yeah … we don't realize how much we have been given. Like, we th- and, and even if you think that you're poor, y- if you're in America, and you have air conditioning, and you have access to water- Hmm … if you
[20:27] have a home, if you've been to school- If you're listening to this- If you have a- … podcast on your iPhone- Yes or your Android. Exactly. You are so blessed, and God needs you. Like, at the end of your life, He's gonna be like, "I gave you so much. What did, like what did you do for me?" And that's basically what the scripture verse is talking about. And so I'm just thinking like, let's reevaluate. Let's think into this. Let's, let's look at, you know, God has blessed me so much. How can I, like how can I expand my- myself? How can I, like, use what I've been given to bless others and to expand my gifts?
[21:04] So, you know, you may not think that, okay, I don't have my Suburban, or the house that I want, or, you know, finances are a little tight. However, you are so blessed if you're listening to this podcast. And it just… In what way is God calling you in your own- What way is God calling you to, to expand where you are right now and stretch a little bit? And sometimes it's not even, like s- I think a lot of us even know what gifts we've been given, and we just have buried them, maybe not even, like, like the servant did. Like, not even, not even necessarily as intentionally as the servant. Like, maybe it was because of the, like, words of somebody else that told
[21:51] us, like, like, I don't know, it's like when you're a little kid and you think something is so sick, and then you just have that one, that one other kid that's kind of a turd, and he's like, "Oh, that's actually super dumb," and makes you feel super embarrassed and, like, shameful for your gift. Yeah. And that is, like, such a lie from the devil to, like, hold us back from, from our affinity and ca- like, expanding our affinity and capacity for our talents. So maybe it's, like, things that you don't even necessarily think of as gifts because you've been told that they're, that they're worthless.
[22:24] Yeah. And I think that's a big thing that people just kind of push under the rug. Yeah. I think so, too. I think, like, yeah, maybe if you… Yeah, dig into that.
[22:35] Dig into where you deep down know that you have a gift. And I feel like oftentimes too, like, you know, people will be like, "Oh, you're such a good," like, for an example, "You're such a good artist." And then people will be like, "Oh, no, I'm not." Like, or like, "You're such a beautiful singer." And you're like, "Oh, thanks." Like, "Oh, no."
[22:52] Like, you always, like… I see a lot of people just degrading that, and it's like, no, like, that's them confirming what God has placed in you. That is them affirming, like, you have this gift. Like, the world needs it. This has brought me life. Like, like, let's expand upon that. So pay attention- 100% … in the next couple months, like, you know. And you can be, like right on that thought, like, you can be like the master to other people. Like, the master comes back and he's like, "Well done." Like, you took those talents and you multiplied them. Like- Yeah … be, like, once you have realized what your gifts are, you've
[23:30] dug, dug them up out of the ground, and you're trying to multiply them, like, be that person that you want somebody to be to you and help them- And, and tell them, like, "Well done," like, "with that gift." Like, "I just saw you do X, Y, and Z." Not, not so that we're, like, boosting up each other's heads and becoming prideful and things like that, but, like, to, to be- Totally humble about something does not… Like, it's such a false sense of humility when you're like, "Oh, no, I'm not that good at singing," or, "Oh, yeah." And maybe it's more humble to use your gifts and rest in that, that uncomfortable- Hmm.
[24:09] That's a thought. I know. I don't know. I don't know where that came from. But maybe, yeah, maybe it is more humble to use your gifts and to kinda be uncomfortable using those gifts. I see so many people not taking the leap, not starting, not doing this or that because they're afraid of what other people are thinking, and that's literally what Ryan just said. But still, like, as an adult, you're afraid. Maybe you need to step up and say, maybe God's placed a word on your heart, and you need to tell that to Instagram, or you need to go tell, you know, a family member, like, "Hey," like, en- a word of encouragement, but you're too afraid.
[24:43] We only have one life to live, people. We don't know how that is going to impact people's lives. I remember certain circumstances where people literally have said one thing, and it has changed the course of my life forever. In a small way, but, like, you know? Like, I… You have to use your gifts.
[25:02] Yeah, or at least attempt to. And I mean, I think in this podcast, like, we're not just, like, coming from this, like, "Oh, we're holier than thou." No, we're literally- We're calling ourselves on … like, th- this verse has become such a, such a motto for us and something we keep coming back to 'cause it's like, where are we failing? Where are we not, like… Where are we, me and Annie, not any of you guys. Like, part of the reason we're making this podcast is so we set aside time to actually dive into these things a little bit deeper ourselves. Yeah. And it's not, like, us sitting on this pedestal.
[25:34] We're just trying to encourage you guys because that's where we have found encouragement in this verse of, like, like… And sometimes it's 'cause we're, we just see other people so discouraged and downtrodden because they're not, like, they're not multiplying their talents. Their talents have been buried, and they're like, "Oh, woe is me." Or, or I just see this, like- dead, dry bones of like- Hmm … people our age of like, "Okay, I'm gonna wake up. I'm gonna scroll my phone. Oh, I'm late to work." They go to their 9:00 to 5:00 in an office, in a cubicle. They don't talk to anybody around them. They're scrolling on their phone.
[26:10] They're just getting their job done half-heartedly. They come home, sit on the couch, watch TV. They've run out of time, so they get takeout. And like, we wanna talk about how, like, our health really plays a role into this and, like, why are we talking about this on health and the spirit? Because we- … we're gonna get into that about, you know, how our stewarding our bodies affects this and is part of this. But that's just what I see so commonly in this culture today, is just, like, there's so many instances of time that could've been used better. In our own lives. Yeah. Yeah. Keep going. I was just inter- injecting.
[26:54] No, I was gonna get that, actually. No, that, I mean, in our, even in our own lives, like, that's so true. Like, I doom scroll. I'll say it.
[27:03] What's what's that one trend? Humble enough to, man enough to say it. You know what I'm saying? It's like a- I don't think you're strong enough to know oh, geez. Gosh, somebody, somebody, somebody link something in the comments or DM me the video, but it's like something, something, something, but man enough to say it, I ha- I doom scrol- scroll fair- more frequently than I would like to admit. Don't look at my screen time. Just kidding. Most of it's for work. But sometimes it's to get ideas, for sure, and we're using that time e- effectively, but sometimes it's definitely for funny memes. My Instagram feed sometimes just really hits, and, like, that's there, and
[27:42] that's addicting, and that's something that I need to overcome because it's not allowing me to cultivate my talents. But to give- Yeah, think about it. Like, you could in that time, like, be reading or to have knowledge or to cultivate, you know, your skills, like practice the guitar, whatever, whatever it may be. 100%. And it's like how- I just think this message is really important for our… I just think this message is really important for our culture today because we are, out of any other culture, we are the most distracted. And laziest, in America especially. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's like what… Especially when it comes to health.
[28:21] Like, Annie literally just mentioned the snowball effect of somebody's life where that person is going to end up with some sort of chronic illness. That is the life people live when they end up being one of the statistics of six in 10 Americans, and I think it's even seven in 10 Americans now. I, I don't know. You just said six in 10. Oh, wait. I get it. All right. Cut that. And I think it's even seven out of 10 Americans now, I think the CDC's recently updated their website, have a chronic illness. And that, like, snowball effect of just not caring, not dreaming, not thinking of what could be.
[28:58] Like, how strong could I be in the gym? Not from a vain standpoint, but if I'm stronger in the gym and there's a car crash on the highway, I can pull somebody out of their car. That's an extreme situation, but that's the first- Oh my gosh … thing that came to my brain. Oh my gosh. But how much more fun can I have with my kids? How much more can I hold them during mass and explain to them during mass what's going on and bringing them closer? How much more can I have more energy to not be exhausted so I can actually be present with my kids so they don't have mommy and daddy issues when they're older?
[29:35] Yeah, sick- a sick culture is a dead culture. Just- You're giving yourself You're giving yourself to death. I mean, like you- Yeah … I don't, I don't know how to ever, like, put that any simpler. Like, if you are giving your body to sloth, you're dying. And if you're giving your body and trying to cultivate these gifts, that's life-giving. As much as it is to give in this way, you're going to, in, in the end, give more life to your body. I think it's important for health because if we are taking care of our bodies, if we're stewarding our bodies, we're gonna have more-- Like, yeah, we may be stronger, but we're gonna have more energy.
[30:17] We're gonna have more mental clarity. We're not gonna be sick. And, like, guys, Ryan and I, time and time again, have said, you know, our lifestyle and environment are pulling that trigger on the gun. So we always have the saying, "Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle and environment pull the trigger." Your choices have a, a huge impact on this. 100%. And I think a lot of times, like, that life is comfortable is one thing that, like, people fall into, myself included. But sometimes it's also because it's out of fear. Like you, if you start dreaming and you are like about where you want to be, or you start, like, uncovering these gifts, sometimes it's super
[31:07] scary because you realize that you're not using a single one of them. You are not doing a single thing to, like, bring anybody closer to being in heaven with you. And your friends, your family, and your kids are the only things that you can take with you to heaven. And so sometimes I feel like it's a, it's out of fear that if you start doing that, like, something bad is gonna happen. And, and fear is never n- like this neutral thing. Like, it's not like, "Oh, I'm scared of that." Like, okay, that's just a fact. But it's, it's actually, like, really when you get down to the root of it, it can-- it's a s- theological statement about who you think is bigger.
[31:50] Like, the opinions of those around you or the opinions of, or the opinion of the Father and where you're gonna spend eternity. Like, at the end of the day, that's what we're talking about. And when fear enters into our life, which is, like, a big reason that people are looking for an escape through the life Annie just mentioned, where you wake up, eat, work, sleep, TV, doom scroll, and you never take time to think about like, "What could I be?" And I just-- Like, there are times where I've literally asked, like, my friends just like, 'cause I, I dream about things and I dream about what our life is gonna look like.
[32:26] I feel like Ryan and I are like, we're-- we do so well together 'cause we're like extreme dreamers. We're like- … "We could build 70 tree houses next weekend if we wanted to." Like… And it's like, just like all the thoughts you have, like, "Wouldn't it be so sick if…?" And then it's like, okay, yeah, that actually- actually would be awesome. How, like could we, how, like how do we do it? Like how do we make that work? Yeah. How do we make it happen? And I think there's so many people. Like I, I literally was asking one of my friends the other day, like, like what do you, like, I don't know, it's like kind of the question like what
[32:53] do you wanna be when you grow up? Like I don't know. I feel like I- Yeah, like what are your goals? Like what do you have- What are your goals? What are your dreams? What do you have your sights set on right now? Like how are you getting there? And he was literally like, "Oh yeah, like it would be great if we could go on a couple vacations a year as a family, and like we had some money saved up. We could get a house with a little bit of land." Like, like that was it. And like that's great. That's great. Not bad dreams, but also it's just like you are like, like you're selling yourself so short Like God has incredible plans for you.
[33:24] Like there's like every… Like God is a God of abundance. Yeah. He is a God of like light that can push out darkness, and He wants you to partake in that abundance. And, and to dream how, about how He wants to work through you, and how are you gonna bring other people to Him. 100%. There's so many stories in the Bible of Joseph saving baby Jesus through a d- through a dream. Like, yeah, maybe that was literally while he was asleep, an angel appeared to him in a dream, right? But I think you can look at that a little bit more allegorically and say like, if Joseph was doom scrolling and wasn't even, like enabling those dreams to happen
[34:08] in his mind- Mm-hmm … would the angel have appeared and would Jesus be saved? If, if Joseph- I don't know … wasted his time and stayed up till 1:00 AM on his phone- Yeah he wouldn't have dreamt, and then they would've been dead Is this a heretical conversation right now? Maybe, but I don't know. Think about it. We're just throwing this out here. We're just, we're just a couple with a couple microphones, and this is a little-- We just know enough to be dangerous here. So don't, t- don't take t- don't take everything we say as gospel. Just- 'Cause that was kind of extreme, but … use it as reflection in your prayer.
[34:35] Yeah, I mean- If it was so bad, use it as like That's why we always pray at the end, "If anything was not of the Lord, please wash it away." Yeah. But just, just there's so many people out there that I like-- And this is why I get so fired up about it because I don't want people to get to their end of their life and they get to the pearly gates where after having worked their nine to five and just been so mediocre that God, they get there. Like I would hate for some of my friends to get… Like I see living this life and I'm trying to like pull them along. There's only so much you can do on one hand.
[35:09] But like if-- I would be so disheartened to see them at the end of their life, God says, "You wicked and slothful servant, you know that I reap where I've not sown." Like God, like even in that verse, He is gathering seed where I scattered no seed. He's making something come from seemingly nothing, and He can do that in your life. But to be called a wicked and slothful servant is like like in a, in a sense it's like the, the desire to be called a good and faithful servant, but also the fear That I don't wanna be called a wicked and slothful servant that propel me forward into- Yeah like trying to see how I can be the best that I can be and like the classic
[35:54] like be the best version of yourself. Super overdone, but like there's so much truth to it. Yeah. But that's what-- that's why we started the clinic, is to help people get healthy and to become the healthiest versions of themselves, and to inspire people to want that so that they can use their gifts. I see so much that sickness inhibits people or-- and their choices, like I talked about before, that inhibits them from living this full life. 100%. And so that's like this is just to tie in our mission, like with The Wellness Way Mason is like that's why we got into this, because of this verse, because we had the affinity.
[36:33] Like this is like a real time example, like I guess we'll just use our example. Yeah. 'Cause we had the affinity for health. Both God had been putting Ryan and I in our separate stories before we can join together as a couple, working in us this affinity for Bringing others to their fullest version of themselves through figuring out their health Primarily through health, yeah Yeah. Working in Ryan's heart in a specific way and used his story through his back being broken and miraculously healed, and, and blessing him with incredible, an incredible mind to understand how to read labs and, I'm not kidding.
[37:09] I just like… Not everyone is called to that. I mean, like- Yeah … like- And praise God that not everybody is called to that Yeah. It would be, you know, 'cause our world would be ruined. Anyway, so God was working in that, in him, and then in my own life, you know, He blessed me with incredible people along the way to plant seeds of, you know, always telling me that, like, this, there are… If you just dig deeper, your body's telling you something. Go- God did not make our bodies to make mistakes. And planting all this in us has grown into this incredible affinity for helping others, and then now He's stretched our capacity through the years to be
[37:49] able to carry this monumentous… You know, being an entrepreneur is not easy. It has stretched our capacity to the very… You know, if you told me five years ago what we accomplish in a day now or accomplish in a month- Oh my gosh … would be- Every time I look back, I'm just like, "I wasted so much time." So much time. Yeah. I'm like… Yeah. Oh, it just- And then adding a kid in- … kills my soul … adding a kid into that is, you know, stretches you even more because you have to be really present to your kid, and then when he's not with us, like, thank God for babysitters, or if he's asleep, it's go time, baby.
[38:26] Like, it is like- Yeah … like we use that time, and God blesses that time. He, I have seen Him, and He, He has done this repeatedly through our lives, and each season He makes time expand even further. 100%. Like when, when we were getting married, when we were doing marriage prep- Oh my gosh … we had… Thank you, Father Ken. Thank you, Father Jonathan. Thank you, Father Cash. Before Annie says anything, the motto of the, the priest that married us, like, first phone call he says two things: We have to be ready to walk away from this, and- At any moment … at any moment if we feel the Lord, if that's what we've discerned, and we're like, "Oh, geez, I guess, Father."
[39:03] And then which was extremely powerful, but then the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle was the motto for marriage prep, and that stretched us so much. Yeah. But… And I just wanted to interject that before Annie kept going. And I thought we were busy back then when we were engaged. I mean, we were planning a wedding. We were… Ryan was working a job. I was working two jobs. We were driving an hour- Full-time undergrad … yeah, full-time undergrad. We were driving an hour commute for our jobs, our separate jobs. We were planning a wedding. We were doing this classwork. We were trying to figure out, like, work, R- Ryan applying to school you know, all
[39:40] the fun things that the end of senior year college brings, and then also, Our s- intense regimen of marriage prep sacrament, the sacramental marriage prep. And I remember Ryan literally waking up at, like… He had these papers due, like, every week. He had no time- Oh, dude. Hopefully Professor Gaston is not listening to this right now … Ryan would wake up at, like, 5:00 AM- … and write a full five-page paper- Double-spaced … in, in, like, an hour, and get, like, the best grade in the class. That i- w- was God expanding that time. And, like, it, now He's expanding time. Like, I look at the clock and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I got so much
[40:21] done in an hour. Thank you, Lord." Like, you know, He does- Yeah. And I think it comes from giving Him the time first. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You bring Him into every… Like, even if it's not a conscious decision while you're doing your… But just at the beginning of the day, giving your day and your time to Him. Yeah. Yeah, and, and I wanna point, too, on that note, and we… Guys, this is a continual conversation. This is just breaking the surface of this, 'cause we wanna call to mind this, 'cause this is kind of, this is, like, the foundation of everything we're gonna talk about here on this podcast, and everything that we do.
[40:49] So, this is just, like, we're gonna revisit this. But to do this, one action step you can do if you feel lost in this, like, "What are my gifts?" Or, like, "I feel so stretched. I'm so tired. My kids, my job, demanding everything from me. I don't feel alive. I don't feel like I'm even using gifts." Like, what do gifts look like in this season? Maybe they change. Your gifts can absolutely change. They change, and they grow, and they tr- you know. It's like, yeah. But one thing I wanna recommend to people is if you do not have a personal prayer life, and we're gonna talk about this more, about how
[41:26] that is beneficial- Oh … just for your health, but- Yeah, absolutely And your brain. And we already talked about praise, so even if your, even if your personal prayer life looks like literally just 10 minutes of praise- I wasn't gonna say that … just kidding. And we already talked about how great praise is as part of prayer, but- But personal prayer, spending time with the Lord, spending time getting to know Him in scripture, listening to His voice, you will be able to fi- find the answers to this. 100%. And I recommend start there. Start there. Start, let's start with personal prayer. Before we even go into the math equations of the capacity- … and
[42:05] the affinity, reflect on what is, what is my capacity in this season of life, and what is my affinity? God has blessed and put on my heart a special affinity towards something, and then what is my capacity? And then there- Yeah … there lies- Your talents And literally, like, to get to the point, like we'll, we'll end on this little, this thought here, like to, like that thought with that Annie just had, to get to that point at the end of your life where you walk into the kingdom of heaven or you walk before judgment, the judgment seat, and God says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Like, He wants to show you the way to get to that point.
[42:45] He wants to say, and He's not gonna lay it all at o- all out at once. He's gonna say, "Here's the next door to walk through." Sh- and you're gonna ask Him, "A, door A, B, C?" And He's gonna say, "Oh, door C closed. Door B closed. Let's go through door A." It is just decision by decision every single day, and if you just invite Him into that and ask Him to show you how to be His good and faithful servant, He will absolutely do that for you. I firmly believe that. I've seen that in my own life, and it's not like everything's gonna be illuminated all at once. You're not gonna see the entire plan laid out in front of you, but just decision
[43:22] by decision, inviting Him into those things and taking time in silence to hear His voice in the still whisper. And then also to reflect on, like, how am I wasting my time?
[43:34] Absolutely. How am I- Audit your time … like literally audit your time. So personal prayer, then just what Ryan said, and then audit your time Where am I losing time? Mm. Because that is what he's gonna judge us on. How did we use our time?
[43:49] And ask him to, to reveal those times where you… Like, to reveal things to you. Yeah. In personal prayer. Like, reveal, like, invite God into the audit of your time. Yeah. Invite him into everything. And I'll just make it simple for you. Throw away your TV.
[44:06] I know you can't throw away your phone, but throw away the TV. Just throw it away. You don't need it. You really don't need it. We have not had a TV for our entire marriage. For our entire marriage. And- and it's been amazing … maybe that's why we're insane. People don't know. Like, they're like, "You don't have a TV?" I know. And they're like, "What… We… When would we watch it?" We're, like, literally using- I mean, like, w- maybe if we had a TV we probably wouldn't be, like, knee-deep in all these side quests, but… We do watch movies occasionally, but that's why I have a little laptop. We probably… Guys, we probably watch maybe three movies a year.
[44:39] And if we do, we, like, we're halfway done with them. Like, we don't finish them. Like, it's silly. I think one of my favorite facts that I love throwing out there when people, like, ask for, like, a fun fact about your marriage or something, me and Annie have never once done a movie date at a movie theater. We have… Oh, wait. No, that's not- We did one time. We did one time. We went to watch the Cabrini movie. We watched the Cabrini movie. I was pregnant and it was winter. Yeah. Oh, I can't even use that anymore. I know. But it is one time. We've only been to one movie together, and it was, like, a
[45:11] religious documentary thing. And it's- And I was pregnant and it was winter … and I think this will go out after our fifth-year anniversary. And that's not what we're gonna do for our fifth-year anniversary though. No, we're probably gonna go on another 100 Mile Bike Ride. Or we're gonna go kayaking. Oh, I don't know about that.
[45:26] We'll see. We'll see. It's really hot on our anniversary, so we might do kayaking 'cause it's more water-based. But… Yeah. But with that, we just thank you guys for listening, and we're gonna end in prayer real quick. Please, if you enjoyed this video, the… One of… The only way this gets out there, we are not advertising this at all. Really, it's just for me and Annie to grow deeper in some of these conversations we're already having around the kitchen table, and give, give a platform to show people that, like, you can live life as normal people, and invite God into that. Live your fullest potential.
[46:02] So please share the show. Share it with one person that you feel like came into your heart as I'm telling you to share this show right now. Just click share. It's not crazy. But let's go ahead and end in prayer.
[46:15] Dear God, we just thank you for this time. We thank you for the ability to reflect on this scripture that's been so deeply ingrained in our minds and our hearts, and to be able to share it with others. We ask that you bless others with the ability to just really make this scripture come alive for them. And what, what is it that you wanna share with them? Just allow it to come alive. Allow people to hear your voice in prayer when they audit their time, when they look into their talents. I ask that you just really make yourself known to our listeners, and we just give everything to you. Amen. Amen.
[46:50] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Health and the Spirit is recorded under the patronage of Saints Cosmas and Damian, physicians who healed the body and soul without counting the cost. If this helped you, share it with someone you love. Rate us, review us, and come sit with us again next week. May God bless you and keep you, healthy in mind, body, and soul. Amen.