Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith

None of us is guaranteed a pain-free life. But when we can’t see the right way to move forward, that’s where God steps in to take us by the hand and leads us out of the dark. On today’s episode, Army veteran and Bachelorette contestant Luke Pell and author/speaker Jack Deere share some of their painful moments—an unexplainable, near-death experience; watching a spouse slip into an alcohol addiction; losing a child—events that almost caused them to give up. But each man reminds us: when it feels like we have nothing left to cling to, God is there. And He’s ready to guide us through those experiences so that later, we can support others who may not be able to find their way out, either. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling book Jesus Always Family Prayer Calendar   Luke Pell ABC’s The Bachelorette show West Point - United States Military Academy Mayo Clinic (PTSD) BibleGateway   Jack Deere Dallas Theological Seminary Even in Our Darkness: The Story of Beauty in a Broken Life book Young Life C. S. Lewis John Snyder Oil Company   Nona Jones, Facebook’s Global Faith-Based Partnerships   Interview Quotes: “As you become an adult, you have to figure out what your faith really means to you.” - Luke Pell “If you're not growing and getting stronger and [going in] the direction of your goals, you're going to be digressing in the wrong direction.” - Luke Pell “One of the biggest victories in my faith was that I came back to a spot where I was completely surrendering my plans and my expectations back to God, and what purpose I was put on this earth for, instead of [wondering] what I could get out of this world and what people thought of me.” - Luke Pell  “Only one thing does matter: it’s the legacy that you left, the inspiration that you left in the world, the people that you inspired, your faith that you were able to show to the rest of the world around you, and the lives that you were able to change.” - Luke Pell “Then God shows up and comes alongside you through somebody [who] gives you inspiration, or however that message comes, ‘You're gonna be okay. You're gonna make it through.’” - Luke Pell “I've really learned to appreciate those moments of uncertainty, when you're feeling more alone and you're feeling like you don't know what tomorrow holds. . . . Those are the times when I get the most direct purpose from God in my life.” - Luke Pell “We have to really stay true to ourselves and true to our faith, and keep that faith walk intact, regardless of what the rest of the world is throwing at you every day. The more we're thinking about the rest of the world and what they're thinking about us, the less we're thinking about what God has for us and where our faith walk should be.” - Luke Pell  “[My] childhood produced this desire to keep really tight control in my life. I blocked out some of the stuff and thought, Feelings are bad. Stay in your mind. Don't go to your feelings. That was the hardening effect that my childhood had on me.” - Jack Deere  “When you're seventeen years old and everybody you've ever loved has left you, to hear that God won't leave you is just too good to be true.” - Jack Deere “The only Person who never needed any help chose twelve helpers. Why? For the pleasure it gave Him to love those twelve apostles and to teach them to love what He loved.” - Jack Deere “Although I had plenty of my own shame, I didn't even think in those categories. I just thought, You have an unpleasant feeling. Just get rid of it. I lived out of my mind, not out of my feelings.” - Jack Deere “I began to see that the most important thing in life is feeling the affection of God, actually being friends with Him. We love Him because He first loved us.” - Jack Deere  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Ever wonder exactly who you are and what you were made for? Today’s guests tell how, as they pursued ways to know God and themselves a bit more, He’s helped them understand their true selves—not what other people say they are. Enneagram coach Beth McCord shares how she and her husband, Jeff, used this popular personality test to understand each other and improve their marriage, finding out the attributes God gave them both along the way. Author Esther Fleece Allen explores the power behind the names that God gives us, and how this can help us shed labels others might give us so that we can hear who God says we are while discovering His purpose for our lives.  Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer Call True Connection with God and Each Other: Darlene Zschech and Margaret Feinberg episode    Beth McCord YourEnneagramCoach.com The Enneagram Collection Book Series Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Thriving Gospel-Centered Marriage book   Esther Fleece Allen No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending book Your New Name: Saying Goodby to the Labels that Limit book     Interview Quotes: “If we learn why people do what they do, we can have more empathy, understanding, grace, mercy, compassion, and love in ways that really reflect the heart of Christ.” - Beth McCord “God created us all differently, and each of the personality types have a beautiful way that we reflect in it.” - Beth McCord  “So often my heart wants to do it myself, to figure it out myself, to pull myself up by my bootstraps. But only Christ can fix me. Only Christ can love me. Only Christ has everything accomplished for me.” - Beth McCord “Something that is very sacred and important to God is names.” - Esther Fleece Allen “[I ask myself,] ‘Who does He say that I am and how can I begin to believe the new names He's given me, apart from the labels that I've associated with for far too long?’” - Esther Fleece Allen  “God does not speak to me in a condemning way like these labels are doing. God speaks to me in a new way, a language that I'm not even really familiar with, because we're so used to criticism in this life.” - Esther Fleece Allen “There's power in a name. There's power in what we name others, what we name future generations, and there's power in the name we take on for ourselves, of who we're going to become.” - Esther Fleece Allen ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

No matter where we grow up, no matter who our parents are or which zip code we live in, each of us will meet challenges. And in those moments, we have a choice: do we give up, or do we keep going? Today we talk with two athletes who, with God by their sides, have endured the sting of defeat and the joy of victory. Lolo Jones is one of only ten athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games. Lolo shares how some of the hardest moments of her childhood helped her to compete on the world stage. When he was growing up in Atlanta, Evander Holyfield found community (and a hint at his athletic future) at the Boys Clubs of America. He shares how his mother and his faith guided him into a storied boxing career, and why sometimes our defeats are more instructive than our wins. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer CallJesus Calling app Serving Our Savior in the Spotlight: Josh Turner and Michael McDowell episode    Lolo Jones  Salvation ArmyHurdles of Hope FoundationLondon Olympics   Evander Holyfield Atlanta’s Boy’s Clubs of America   Riddick Bowe Michael Moorer Mike Tyson Lennox Lewis John Ruiz Muhammad Ali Interview Quotes: “I definitely think that my hardships molded me for the life that I would have to go through later.” - Lolo Jones  “This statistic of kids that have incarcerated parents—it tremendously increases their chance that at one point in their life, they will be incarcerated as well. I wanted to break that chain.” - Lolo Jones “I know my childhood strengthened me for a time to stand on the world stage and compete.” - Lolo Jones  “If I go through hardships, I know to say, ‘Okay, this really, really hurt me. This is frustrating. I wanted this so bad, and it was ripped away,’ instead of being like, ‘How could you, God?’”- Lolo Jones “As Christians, we try to predict how God's going to use us, and when He doesn't use us in that manner, we become hurt.” - Lolo Jones  “I became who I am because I really wanted to please my momma. My mom was so disappointed so much her life, and I wanted to be that joy.” - Evander Holyfield “Having setbacks paves the way to show you how good God is.” - Evander Holyfield “Every time you mess up, you've got to have Somebody who will give you another opportunity.” - Evander Holyfield ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Some of God’s greatest miracles come when He brings good out of dark places. In Ogden, Utah, pastor Matt Roberts felt he didn’t feel comfortable inviting his friends and neighbors to church as it didn’t feel like a place where people could be vulnerable, so he decided to create an open community he thought they—and he—would feel like they belonged. When his former youth pastor, Rob Cowles, came for a visit, Rob knew The Genesis Project was something special and decided to plant his own location in Fort Collins, Colorado—in, of all places, a former strip club. Carrie Stuart Parks was a young woman with a flair for art when her father, the head of the School of Law Enforcement in northern Idaho, decided to invite Carrie to use her talents on crime scenes. Carrie became enamored with the work, helping victims close the chapter on some of the darkest moments of their lives. She even began a second career as a thriller novelist—not knowing her mentor was a wildly successful author himself—and work to help reach not knowing her mentor was a wildly successful author himself—now reaches the world through stories and emotions we all can relate to. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Large Text Cloth Botanical Cover God Can Redeem Your Struggles: Joel & Luke Smallbone and Sandi Patty Lolo Jones Olympic athlete   The Genesis Project Matt Roberts The Genesis Project, Ogden, UT   Rob Cowles The Genesis Project, Fort Collins, CO   The God of New Beginnings: How the Power of Relationship Brings Hope and Redeems Lives book Gary Haugen International Justice Mission, founder   Carrie Stuart Parks FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces book Frank Peretti author Unitarian Universalism HarperCollins Christian Publishing   Interview Quotes: "It was really hard to invite [my friends and community] to church with me. It was such a cultural gap . . . " - Matt Roberts “That time in Portland was very monumental for us, really learning what it meant to be an embedded church in the middle of a culture that desperately needed a Savior.” - Matt Roberts “What does it mean to live bravely in the way of Jesus?” - Rob Cowles, on Gary Haugen “There was an authenticity about their worship [at The Genesis Project], because they really knew what it was to be brought back from darkness, brought back from death into new life.” - Rob Cowles “Community doesn't happen by accident. We have to actually cultivate and create a space where people can come in and be real, be open, and be honest.” - Matt Roberts “What happens is if you create a culture where it's not safe to talk about your brokenness, to talk about your failure, to talk about your pain, that then you naturally create a culture where you have to be fake.” - Rob Cowles  “I pray that I will be salt and light to them as I speak to them. I wear a cross, I let them know, just by having that cross on the outside, where I'm coming from. I don't say anything to them. I just let the presence of that and my words be, hopefully, helpful.” - Carrie Stuart Parks  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Christmas can be a time for joy, but also for reflection—and for many, a reminder of lost moments and loved ones. This week’s guests, musicians Dailey & Vincent and Ernie Haase, remind us this season is filled with hope, because God loved us so much that He sent Jesus into the world. These artists tell us how they fell in love with music (from bluegrass to gospel) and why they center their songs and shows around positive messages. Dailey & Vincent recently released The Sounds of Christmas project, and share their warmest (and most hilarious) Christmas memories and family traditions. Ernie Haase gives a behind-the-scenes look at the way his new album with Signature Sound, A Jazzy Little Christmas, was born out of a fun-filled holiday trip to New York, and how we can still celebrate the holiday while honoring those who are no longer with us at Christmas. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling for Christmas Dolly Parton Belives with God, All Things Are Possible episode Celebrating the Power of Jesus’ Love:  Mark Lowry and CBD President Ray Hendrickson episodeChoosing Christ Through Doubt & Fear: Bear Grylls & Rhonda Vincent episode Lifting Up Others Through Service: Country Singer Jimmy Fortune and US Army Veteran Jess Key episode Shining God’s Light Through Music: Oak Ridge Boys & Aaron Watson episode Dailey & Vincent The Sounds of Christmas album The Dailey & Vincent show on RFD Television “Jingle Bells” video International Bluegrass Music Association Ricky Skaggs BibleGateway (1 Timothy 6:12) Hallmark Channel Christmas   Ernie Haase “A Jazzy Little Christmas” album Cathedral Quartet The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson New York Cares (Winter Wishes program)   Interview Quotes: “The most important part about all the music, just boiling it down to the bare bones, is the way you speak to other people. The songs that we pick and the way the songs speak to their hearts and give them such peace and joy.” - Darrin Vincent “It's a universal language—music speaks to everybody.” - Darrin Vincent “We don't know what all these people are going through. But many people in that audience are going through something. It is our job to go out there and take them on a 90-minute ride that will make them forget whatever they're dealing with, and hopefully leave there feeling a lot better.” - Jamie Dailey “My testimony is that a perceived no might be just a not now from God.“ - Ernie Haase “What Sarah has done with the Jesus Calling book, for me, she’s made Jesus very personal, very relatable.” - Ernie Haase “Hopefully, by people listening to our music and enjoying our music, it'll make the season a little bit brighter for some people.” - Ernie Haase  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Whether our friends walk on two legs or four, connection gives meaning to our lives. God often uses these bonds to show how we can care for others, but what we don’t often realize is that those opportunities help us learn how to care for ourselves, too. Bull rider Cody Nance talks about how his faith and career blossomed through his family and through friends he met on the rodeo circuit. HIS Haven Ranch mentors Laurie Baer and Janice Larsen share how they serve kids who are hurting in their community through horse therapy by providing an additional support system to their lives, reminding us all how God's creatures, big and small, can bring joy to our lives.  Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer Call God’s Gift of Pets: Animal Rescue Advocate Lavonne Redferring and Country Singer Irlene Mandrell   Cody Nance Paris, Tennessee Cody Nance Instagram Cody Nance Facebook Cody Nance Twitter    HIS Haven Ranch   Dailey & Vincent   Interview Quotes: “I've been able to be used on a platform like I've never imagined before, and I'm just thankful that God is allowing me to do that.” - Cody Nance “I do believe that God saved me when I was young, but I believe I lost track of the most important thing, and that was being faithful in my love for Him and His worship.” - Cody Nance "[When] I'm strapped to the back of a [2,000 lb. bull] jumping in the air and kicking . . . sometimes it gets a little wild. But He's always there and He's always taking care of me." - Cody Nance “Our four-legged friends gave us a picture and a model of something that God could do on a greater level.” - Laurie Baer “Our mission was to make a place that would empower and transform lives through healing and the Savior.” - Laurie Baer “We pray that the perspective that [our riders] have will be an eternal perspective, so we'll use a horse and we use the Word of God. And they seem to work really well together.” - Laurie Baer  “It's not our job to judge the growth. It's not our job to judge the fruit. It's our job to sow the seed, to water the seed, and that means giving God's Word and dispensing it freely.” - Janice Larsen  “We're all at risk for something, if we're being honest with ourselves. We all have vulnerabilities.” - Laurie Baer   ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

God never leaves our side, no matter what. On today’s episode, 24-time PRCA rodeo champion Trevor Brazile shares how bull rider Cody Custer helped him rededicate his life to Jesus, and why he is instilling strong cowboy values of honor, respect, and faith into his children. Christian music artist Zach Williams shares how God reclaimed his story as a struggling rock star and transformed his life toward creating a different kind of music, touching more lives than Zach could have ever imagined—thanks, in part, to a surprise collaboration with Dolly Parton. Both Trevor and Zach show how God stuck by them in good times and bad, even if they didn’t feel His presence, and how they honor Him by using their platforms to spread His love to others.  Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Textured Gray Leathersoft with Full Scriptures  Trusting God to Fill the Gap: Rodeo Stars Tyson Durfey (w/ wife Shea Fisher) and Cody Custer Dolly Parton Believes in God, All Things are Possible   Trevor Brazile Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Zach Williams Rescue Story album Rescue Story video “There Was Jesus” Live CMA Performance with Dolly Parton   Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave   His Haven Ranch   Interview Quotes: "[My son] may not choose to be a rodeo cowboy . . . but I wanted him to grow up in a culture of respect, not only for people, but for animals." - Trevor Brazile ”Philippians 4:13—I like that [verse]. ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Because we can't do everything under our own power. We need God's help sometimes—all the time.” - Treston Brazile ”Unconditional love is perfected when we love Him back, and that's why it's so important to spend that time in the Word and just build on that relationship.” - Trevor Brazile “The success that we've had has given me a platform to let people know that it wasn't all me. It was my Savior.” - Trevor Brazile “I just fell in love with this idea that I could start writing these songs and telling these stories in this season of life that I was going through.” - Zach Williams “I was thinking that I should be happy for all the things that I have, but nothing I was doing was filling this hole in my life.” - Zach Williams “My wife invited me to go to a prison with her and share some of these songs. And for me, that was like the first time that God had really spoken to me and said, ‘These are the songs. These are the people. These are places. This is the music that I have for you to write.’” - Zach Williams “To hear people share a story with me and be like, 'Hey, man, I heard your song, "Fear's a Liar," and it saved my life' . . . it's better than any award you're going to get or any kind of recognition." - Zach Williams “God has been doing some pretty amazing things in my life over the last few years.” - Zach Williams ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

As we walk unexpected paths in our lives, we’re joined by a God who never leaves our side and is involved in every step of our journey. On today’s episode, John Maxwell shares the joy of understanding the God who speaks in Jeremiah 29:11, who has “plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.” He also shows us that we all have leadership qualities if we’re positively influencing others’ lives.    When he was a young husband, pastor Nate Pyle never imagined he’d have to face the “for worse” part of his marriage vows so early. As he and his wife experienced infertility and struggles with mental health, Nate began to think about the difference between giving up and letting go, and how God helps us move through grief and times of suffering. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling App Jesus Calling weekly prayer call T. D. Jakes and Don Moen: Where Is God When Our Dreams Are Crushed?   John Maxwell Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace book The Leader's Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders book   Nate Pyle More Than You Can Handle: When Life's Overwhelming Pain Meets God's Overcoming Grace book   Bible Gateway Trevor Brazile   Interview Quotes: “Everything I know about leadership is from the Bible.” - John Maxwell “I think God's Word is the ultimate leadership book.” - John Maxwell “God’s incredibly interested in all your junk.” - John Maxwell “If I'm 1000 steps from God, He takes 999 steps to my door.” - John Maxwell “The moment I ask questions, I start connecting with people, because now I'm valuing their opinion and I'm starting to influence and lead them from where they are, not from where I am.” - John Maxwell “This idea that God won't give you more than you can handle, I think, is a way in which we try to shelter ourselves from the world, because the world is more than you can handle.” - Nate Pyle “We read through the Bible, what we see, more often than not, is that the way God chooses to save His people is not to save them from the negative experience, but rather to save them through it.” Nate Pyle “We have to remember that sometimes God shows up through the people who show up next to us as we're walking through something difficult.“ - Nate Pyle “Suffering is the common denominator for all humans. It's the thing we have in common.” - Nate Pyle ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

One of God’s greatest blessings to us are friends and neighbors. And in fact, God designed us to care for each other, to learn from each other, and to support each other in life’s most difficult moments. In today’s episode, entertainer Kristin Chenoweth shares how good friends have mentored her and shaped her—and how actor/producer Rita Wilson sharing a copy of Jesus Calling strengthened her faith. As the wife of Fred Rogers, Joanne Rogers saw firsthand how an open heart and a soft word can change a relationship, and she shares how important reconciliation and being a good neighbor was to her husband. R&B sensation and now-pastor Montell Jordan tells how, even in the midst of worldwide music success, a family friend saved him from the brink of losing everything he loved, including his marriage, by sitting him down to have a painful discussion. More than ever, we need connection with others who will walk alongside us through thick and thin—and God wants us to be that friend to others as well. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Always Jesus Calling weekly prayer call God’s Perfect Purpose for Our Imperfect Lives: Rita Wilson and Lisa Osteen Comes The Joy of Spreading Love, One Heart at a Time: Deliliah and Gary Thomas   Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Chenoweth Arts and Education Fund Broadway Bootcamp Kristin Chenoweth Theatre   Hallmark’s A Christmas Love StoryKristin Chenoweth’s Christmas Concert with the Tabernacle Choir   For the Girls recording Art of Elegance recording   Joanne Rogers A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood movie Montell Jordan Victory World Church Lecrae   Interview Quotes: “Work hard, play hard, love what you do. Life's short. Don't live beyond your means. All those things—stay humble. A smile goes a long way. Don't sweat the small stuff. Those kinds of things that I heard growing up helped me a lot.” - Kristin Chenoweth “A lot of people say you should do your prayer or meditation or your quiet time, whatever that is for you, in the morning. But for me, it's a nighttime thing.” - Kristin Chenoweth “I believe that sometimes things happen to you so that God can speak, because sometimes you can't hear when you get too busy.” - Kristin Chenoweth “I think it's important, when you have been given opportunities and had success, you need to give it to the people behind you.” - Kristin Chenoweth “[Fred and I] did have a very good friendship, which I think is very important for young married people.” - Joanne Rogers “His program was his ministry.” - Joanne Rogers “Everything is so divisive right now. Someone said to me, ‘He would be on his soapbox,’ and I said, ‘Oh, no, I don't think so. He would just be walking the walk and trying to do what he could with reconciliation.’“ - Joanne Rogers “A lot of times I was in church, but church wasn't always in me.” - Montell Jordan “Everything changed for me, having a number-one record as your first record out of the box. I didn't recognize that great success did not come with an instruction manual.” - Montell Jordan “[My wife Kristin and I] are still regularly recovering to make sure that that we maintain what God restored.” - Montell Jordan ”When God closes the door, no man can open it. And when he opens the door, no man can close it.” - Montell Jordan “Maybe this is something that people need, and our story is something that makes sense to people who are navigating through landmines and fields that we've already crossed.” - Montell Jordan, on sharing his story ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We were not designed to be perfect; we were designed to be uniquely us. Today’s guests, authors Sally Clarkson and her son Nathan, and writer Hayley Morgan share their stories of struggling to accept their differences and imperfections. Though Nathan was discouraged because he didn’t fit into society’s mold, and Hayley feared she wasn’t perfect enough, God revealed His purpose for their lives and has helped them utilize their gifts in ways they never knew possible. Their stories remind us even if we can’t see it, God has a bigger plan ahead for each one of us, and He can use our differences to do all kinds of good.   Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling weekly prayer call When Your Purpose Seems Unclear, Seek God: Jeremy Cowart & Elisabeth Hasselbeck   Sally Clarkson  Nathan Clarkson “Only You Can Be You: What Make You Different Makes You Great” book “Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him” book   Hayley Morgan The Twig Goes Out On a Limb blog “Always Enough, Never Too Much: 100 Devotions to Quit Comparing, Stop Hiding, and Start Living Wild and Free” book   Interview Quotes: “Even in the midst of my adolescent angst, I found a God who says He loved me as I was, and I found a God who said I was made for a purpose, and that all these differences could be used for His glory and for the story that He wanted to tell with my life.” - Nathan Clarkson “Let's rejoice in this place and find out how we can bring light to any of our dark corners, but also to learn to be content within the story that we've been given.“ - Sally Clarkson “Every single personality, whether they're loud or or whether they're shy, whether they like adventure or they like sitting at home reading—we wanted to give a book to parents that would imprint the minds of their children to say, ‘All of us are an incredible, magnificent reflection of the fingerprints of God as He made us each individually for His own glory.’“ - Sally Clarkson “I started to untangle the idea of grace and grace for every day, not just grace as a one time event.” - Hayley Morgan “Once I really understood grace, I had to apply the gospel to my life every day, to myself every day. I'm never going to grow out of needing it. That freed me up so much to then walk with the Lord, not just try to please Him and try to impress Him.” - Hayley Morgan  “The Lord has used my failures in equal or greater measures than He has used my successes to draw me closer to Him.” - Hayley Morgan  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.