Podcast Episode

The Little Things

About this Episode

Episode Summary

When was the last time you admired a small moment in your life? Have you ever stopped to admire a flower, an animal, or a sunset? We tend to see God in the big moments of our lives, but we forget that He is with us in all of the small things as well. Join hosts Eryn Eddy Adkins and Vivian Mabuni as they learn more about appreciating the small moments with Rachael Adams during this God Hears Her conversation.

Episode Transcript

God Hears Her Podcast

Episode 170– The Little Things with Rachael Adams

Eryn Adkins & Vivian Mabuni with Rachael Adams

 

[Music]

Rachael: I just loved looking at Scripture to see, okay, God, how did You use people’s ordinary lives in amazing ways? And that’s… that’s what He specializes in. And you even look at life of Jesus. I mean, He… yes, He did mighty miraculous things, you know, He’s… He’s God. But He also walked along the roads. He attended weddings and funerals. He taught in synagogues. He shared lots of meals. He held children. He washed feet. And He shared one cup of water with one woman beside a well. I mean, He was the Savior of the world. He is the Savior of the world. And so, if nothing is too insignificant for our savior, there’s nothing that’s too insignificant for me and for you.

[Music]

Elisa: You’re listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women, where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you. Join our community of encouraging one another and learning to lean on God through Scripture, story, and conversation at godhearsher.org. God hears her. Seek and she will find.

Eryn: Vivian, I am so excited about this guest today, mainly because the work that she does is in the exact season that I am in. And the season that I’ve been in lately is… there’s a really, really, really, really big circumstance happening personally. And I just am longing for God to just… I prayed today, I need You Lord to show up in a really big and radical way. And He keeps taking me through this circumstance and showing me these little moments where He’s at and I keep discounting them. Have you ever experienced that? 

Vivian: Oh yeah. So relatable.

Eryn: Okay.

Vivian: I mean, no, I’m with you. I think it’s so easy to think about, well, God being big and so He needs to move big and work big and answer big. And that’s why I’m also excited to be able to dive into this conversation with Rachael Adams this morning. So…

Eryn: Yes!

Vivian: … welcome to the podcast, Rachael.

Rachael: Oh, thanks. Thanks for having me. Yeah. This… this topic is near and dear to my heart, so I’m excited to dive in.

Eryn: Well, Rachael, I’ve enjoyed following you on social media. So, I follow you on Instagram and I’ve been able to just see, like, a little bit of behind the scenes of just some of the things that God has been doing in your life, and I… I know that some of the topics that we’re going to dive into, they come from a place of your own wrestling and not something that you’ve just arrived to suddenly. It’s been little moments. I keep dropping hints. It’s been little moments in your life that have brought you to what you talk about now, but I would love, for the listeners that may not know who you are, I would love for you to share, you know, where are you from? Where did you grow up? Give us a little bit of a back history of, you know, maybe little girl, Rachael. 

Rachael: Yeah. So, I’m… born and raised in the same lake town. It’s a tiny town in Kentucky. Our claim to fame here is we are the largest man-made lake in the United States, and we are the houseboat capital of the world. So that’s kind of it… I know, yeah, my brother’s the mayor. I mean, when I say it’s a… it’s a small town and my whole family still lives here… It’s… but it’s just so quaint. And I met my husband the first day of college, and he loves to fish, and so I didn’t have to twist his arm too much to… to come to this little lake town… and so, yeah, I… I feel like I know everybody here cause I’ve been born and raised here. My brothers are still here. I’m the middle girl of two brothers. My parents are divorced; my mom worked really hard, you know, trying to raise us, and keep house, and work, and do all those things, and so, a lot of my memories were… and my family even makes fun of me because, like, I was… I was just alone a lot, and I am introverted, and so, I have a lot of memories, like, rollerblading around the neighborhood. Did anybody else rollerblade? It sounds ridiculous… [laughter]

Eryn: Oh, yes! I loved rollerblading…

Rachael: … now [inaudible] like please do that again, we want to see you do that. But I would ride my bike, I would swim a lot, I’d play with, like, with the neighbors, or just play alone in my room. My parents… they did the best that they could, for sure. I have no doubt about that… my mom, especially just really worked hard and tried to give us a… just a really sweet life. My dad did remarry when I was, I think, in fourth grade. He was not a Christian at the time… but then when he remarried… he married a Christian woman, so, we started to go to church at that time. And then I… I had… my salvation moment in middle school, and so, things really started to change at that point when my dad… found the Lord. And so, then that led, you know, the rest of the family to find the Lord as well. And, of course, as you know, that changes everything. 

Vivian: Oh, it does. It does. So, your whole family knows the Lord now?

Rachael: Yeah, everybody does.

Vivian: Wow.

Rachael: Yeah. Yeah. What a blessing. 

Vivian: There’s a story even in the brokenness, huh? 

Rachael: Absolutely.

Vivian: That God is a God of redemption. Yeah. I think about the whole trajectory changing from there. 

Rachael: Yeah. My dad is… he’s very active in my life now, and in my children’s life. He’s always, you know, where he was absent in my life growing up… he’s… he’s trying to make it up now and just puts forth a lot of effort, and a lot of care, and a lot of love for all of us. 

Eryn: That’s really beautiful. And Rachael, that’s a testament to you learning forgiveness, which is hard, especially to those that we love when they could have made a different choice. And so, I’m curious if you would be a little bit more vulnerable and sharing, like, that journey of forgiving your dad to this point now. And, I mean, how was that processing that as a little girl to adulthood? 

Rachael: Yeah, if I’m being honest, it’s still hard. 

Eryn: Yeah.

Rachael: Just even your question evokes emotion in me. So, I think when I was saved, it was actually at a Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames play, and I was saved out of fear, I just didn’t want to go to hell, you know, but I knew nothing of God’s love… because I, just being honest, I hadn’t experienced a father’s love. And at least in the way that he… he loved us in the way he knew, but not in the way that maybe I received. And so… it wasn’t until I then had… I have two children, two middle-school aged children. And so, my son, Will is going to be fifteen in a couple of weeks. And so, in… in that first season of having him, he had a lot of health issues, and he cried a lot, and so, I cried a lot… that first year… I was just really lonely, and I was, you know, nursing him and he wouldn’t take a bottle. And so… there were so many times that I would be sitting in that rocking chair, and I would just be nursing him, and holding him, and I wouldn’t… anytime I’d try to put him in the crib, he would cry, so I’d pick him up again. And so, I just sat in that rocking chair so many hours. I didn’t have any social media, I didn’t want to make a sound, and so, I thought, what am I going to do with my time? And so, I started to read my Bible for the first time. And it was during that time that I really, as I was learning how to become a mother, I started to learn to see and view God as my Father. And I felt like as I was holding my son Will, God was really holding me. And so, the reason I tell that story, because I… I do believe… that my salvation was secure when I… accepted the Lord as my Savior, but I didn’t… none of my behavior, none of my actions, none of my thinking, I had no frame of reference of what God was or who He was…

Eryn: Sure.

Rachael: … until truly I became a mother and had this experience. And so, I guess the reason I’m bringing that up is as I started to learn of God’s love for me and of… as Him… as my father, and my friend, and as my Lord, and just the… the development in His characteristics in our relationship… it worked in my heart as far as starting to have compassion and seeing my dad in a new light. And to… to answer your question, to begin to forgive and extend him mercy. But I’ll say it’s still a process, you know… anybody that’s grown up in a divorced home, holidays are still hard, you know you still have blended families. My mom actually… she lives in Ohio and I don’t get to see her as often as I used to. And then you see other families that are all together or, you know, grandparents picking up their kids from school and yours aren’t, and you know, and so there’s just all… there’s a lot of times there’s just those little splinters or…

Vivian: Yeah… little griefs…

Rachael: … you know, that, that just pierce your heart sometimes that just trigger old wounds and then you have to forgive again because it’s not exactly how you wished that it would have been or what… how you would have wanted it. But now… as we have our own children, and my husband is, I believe a great father, we’re trying to do things differently. We want to do things differently for our family. And so, to answer your question, it’s… it’s a process. And he’s asked for forgiveness, and so, I think that that helps… for those listening that maybe they have somebody in their life that was absent or wasn’t loving that hasn’t asked for the forgiveness, I think that that’s even more complicated, and that just comes from the Lord, knowing and realizing how much we’re forgiven. And I think as a mom, I actually saw this… or listened to this, maybe it was just on Instagram. I saw it somewhere and I don’t know who to credit it to, but it said, be patient with your parents, it’s their first time living too. And I think that just hit me so profoundly. Because sometimes as I’m raising my children, I’m doing the best I can, too. You know, we’re dealing with our own heartache, we’re dealing with fatigue, we’re dealing with stress, and I don’t always get it right with my children. I probably don’t always make them feel super loved, you know, even though our heart is in the right place. And so, I think just becoming a mother myself has given me… a lot more compassion, and grace, and mercy for my own parents. 

Vivian: Rachael, thank you so much for sharing your willingness to be able to open your heart and kind of bring us into your journey. I just feel so drawn to you. Like, I just so see your heart for the Lord and your authenticity. And… I just… I love that. And I imagine as you are seeking to minister to people through your words that that is what will shine through. So, thank you. Thank you for sharing that with us. 

Eryn: Yeah, Rachael, you know, you said there were certain little splinters, and little losses, little griefs, those moments, and you said those are opportunities for Moments of forgiveness. Would you say that that was a time in your life when you started paying attention to the little things? Was that out of grief that you were paying attention to little things?

Rachael: I actually think it was probably a different time. I think it’s easier now to, like, reflect… It’s always so much easier to reflect and see how the, you know, like, the timeline of your life and how those… all those little things added up cumulatively to a, like, oh, this big moment. But in the… in the midst… you don’t quite see it like that. But I think this… this idea of a little… I mean, I… I’m a… I’m a… from a little town in Kentucky. I’m just like a small, you know, I just, it’s, like, little old me in my little old house with my little old family, you know, and so many times I just, especially as a stay at home mom… yeah, I used to work… we have a family business, and just to give a little bit more background, my dad did, he started a business, he’s an entrepreneur. My family is very entrepreneurial and he is very performance oriented. And so, he would have us sign contracts that we would set a goal at a specific time and we would have to sign it and date it, that we agreed that we were going to work towards this goal and accomplish it… some day… 

Vivian: Wow. 

Rachael: … so that it, you know, and that can be a good quality in some ways. It’s like, okay, when… when you give us a task, we’re going to get it done, you know…

Eryn: Talk about commitment, yeah.

Rachael: … yeah, right. However, it… it can also be very defeating if you don’t accomplish what you thought you could in the amount of time that you want it to…

Vivian: Yeah.

Rachael: … And so, it’s this dance of trying to balance my performance and earn love, you know, based on what my… I just shared earlier. And so, I think I’ve had… just had to always kind of fight that tendency to strive, and earn, and get my value from what I’m doing. And… and I want people to be proud of me, I want to be validated, I want that affirmation, cause I didn’t get that as a… as a child. And so, you know, I would even… my husband, when I… I worked for a while and then we had children and I stayed home, and moving from, like, boardroom to playroom was tricky because there’s not as many things to just quantify. There’s not as many…

Vivian: Yeah.

Rachael: … you know, you’re not getting the report at the end of your… your year, like an annual review. Nobody’s doing that for you….

Eryn: That’s a really great way to say it.

Rachael: And so, you know, it’s like, oh, my husband would come home and he’d say, well, how are you? And so, I’d say, well, I cleaned up Cheerios, I nursed for this many hours, I… I did some laundry. I went to the grocery, you know, I picked up and played with toys, blocks and dolls and trains, you know, like, this is what I did again today, you know? And so, I think that, you know, it was just, again, me wanting affirmation and validation from my husband, but the thing is, is I do that with the Lord too. When I go to sleep at night, and I’m praying and kind of re… rehashing the day, like, Lord, I read my Bible today, I prayed today, I had a conversation with a friend today, I, you know, sent this email, I recorded a podcast, like, Lord, are you proud of me? You know, and it sounds so silly to say that, but it’s… it’s… it’s just, you know, it’s… I’m being honest. And so, it was just this moment that felt like the Lord was like, Rachael, I love you apart from anything that you do. You know, there… yes, there’s value in what you do, but you cannot gain your value from what you’re doing. And so, it just put me on this search through Scripture. Okay, God, what do you say about my inherent significance? Because clearly, I am trying to find it in all the wrong places. 

Vivian: That’s so good. There’s so much there to unpack. So, you have really captured this idea that God works in the little things and the little things are kind of what build up to us being able to see God even more clearly and even having a watchfulness to even look for God. Tell us that process and how that came about in your own life and how you’ve been able to help others to see that as well. 

Rachael: Well, as I was looking in Scripture, I started to notice, first of all, God has always used very ordinary people in very ordinary places, and He’s the one that multiplies everything. And if you really look at even just reading Scripture, you know, I’m actually reading… the Bible through in 90 days right now. And it’s… I’ve never done that before, but it’s been really beautiful because you can really see it in… just as one full story. But gosh, I can read David’s entire life story that way in a day. And so, you forget that he spent hours shepherding in the field, and playing his harp, and running from Saul, and you know, like…

Vivian: Yeah.

Rachael: … just having meals like this… these very ordinary, every-day tasks that he probably was doing, but yet we just focus on Goliath and Bathsheba, you know?

Vivian: That’s so true, we do.

Rachael: You know, and so if you really look… like, the entirety of his life, we look at these two really big moments and we’re, like, wow. Or I just… we were sharing before we hit record, you can read Esther’s story really quickly, but yet we look at her and we’re like, man, she saved an entire people group, but we forget how many hours she probably spent working on all the beauty products, you know, trying to…

Vivian: To get a whole year in a spa or something like that, right?

Rachael: … yeah, she did, right?

Vivian: … There you go!

Rachael: … But, like how… you know, and so, I think we kind of almost look at our own lives that way, too. We’re tempted to just be, like, well, what have I accomplished today? What did I do? But truly, if we even wrote down our life story at the end of our lives, we’d have some really big, amazing moments too. We just don’t seem to… to look at it that way. And so, I just loved looking at Scripture to see, okay, God, how did you use people’s ordinary lives in amazing ways? And that’s… that’s what He specializes in. And you even look at life of Jesus. I mean, He… Yes, He did mighty miraculous things, you know, He’s… He’s God, but He also walked along the roads. He attended weddings and funerals. He taught in synagogues. He shared lots of meals. He held children. He washed feet. And He shared one cup of water with one woman beside a well. I mean, he was the Savior of the world. He is the Savior of the world. And so, if nothing is too insignificant for our Savior, there’s nothing that’s too insignificant for me and for you. And so, we can go to weddings. We can go to funerals. We can go to church. We can hold children. We can share meals, make meals, clean up meals. You know, we can do all those same things, and go to coffee and have a cup of coffee with one friend. Like, that matters. If Jesus lived His life that way, I’m okay living my life that way, too. 

Eryn: Yeah. Such a good word. I hear you saying, like, there’s no shame in embracing the little things. And yet it seems like we carry our life… If we’re… if we’re making small choices or we almost dilute the things that somebody else would see as small, but maybe to us, big, but we may diminish it. We carry shame about it instead of embracing that these small acts in our life are actually significant. 

Rachael: When I look back on my life, most of the moments involved people, and it involved people that probably didn’t realize that they had a significant impact on me. You know, I think about the neighbors, I think about going back to meet Rachael as a little girl. There were families in middle school and in high school that I would go to their houses, and we would share meals and they would pray, and they would invite me to church, and they would take me on trips, and I was witnessing and I was watching the way that they were living their lives. And even just going back a little bit further, you know, I said I was a lonely young mom and finally got up the courage to go to Toddler Tales when Will was a year old, which sounds ridiculous, but as an introverted, you know, scared, anxious mom, it was a big deal for me at that time. And so, I went, and there was a mom that invited me… like, she said, hello, she… she was extroverted, and so, she totally, she… introduced herself to me, and she invited me to go to MOPS, which was mothers of preschoolers, so again, I got the courage to go to that. And… there another extroverted woman that said hello and introduced herself to me, she invited me to go to Wednesday night… Wednesday night Bible study. So again, got up the courage to do that. And again, somebody said hello, introduced themselves, invited me to come to Sunday morning service, I went to that. Somebody invited me to go to Sunday school, I went to that…

Eryn: Wow

Rachael: … Somebody invited me to start leading Bible study. And I guess the reason I tell that whole story, that rabbit trail, is to say it only was me going to a place, somebody saying hello, somebody extending an invitation and me being willing to say yes and go. Like, those are really, if you really think about, those are really small things, really small decisions, really small actions and choices, but it set into motion… it changed the whole trajectory of my life. I still attend… that church, actually still lead that Bible study. It was during that Bible study that I got the idea to write this book, and now I’m talking to you. And so, I think I just… you know, and then you look back and you’re like, oh, that was just… I just said hello to Rachael, it’s no big deal. Oh, it was a big deal. It changed everything. And so, I think when I… you know, I… I’m just so passionate about this, cause I’m like, we have no idea the next encounter at the ball field, on our walk in our neighborhood, in the grocery store, in the workplace, in the cubicle beside you, we have no idea what God is going to do with that next encounter. So just say hello and be obedient to the Holy Spirit prompting to do what God is asking you to do. Extend the invitation, say let’s go to have coffee and you never know what God will do with that. 

Vivian: Oh, I love that. There’s such purpose in recognizing that as we just go about doing our daily life and brushing up against people, strangers, and friends, and family, that all of that matters, our words, our posture, our willingness, and there’s no knowing what’s going on in the back behind the scenes with that person. And so, to think about Rachael as lonely and an introverted-but-wanting-to-connect mom and… and God seeing that and knowing, okay, I just need to connect these two at just the right time. And there was a… you… your heart was prepared and obviously you had to take that step of courage, but God had been working and you were recognizing the need. And then to think that it’s just so beautiful to see the interconnectedness of it all, and that nothing is haphazard, and that we are just on assignment as we just go about our day to day. I love that. 

Eryn: Rachael, something that you said, you said, you know, paying attention to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and that resonated with me. There’s moments in where I experienced the Holy Spirit that moves me to tears so, I know it’s not my voice… and then there’s times where I’m like, is this You or is this me? Is this selfish? Is this Your will? Speak to somebody that’s listening right now that maybe has wrestled with that, of not really knowing. 

Rachael: No, I struggle with it. I mean, I… I know exactly what you’re saying, Eryn, and I think, number one, I try to start my day just in prayer, Lord, help me to hear You, help me to see You, help me to listen to You, help me to obey You. And so, I think it begins with… with prayer and begins with knowing what His voice sounds like by being in His Word. You know, we can’t know what He says if He’s… if we’re not in His Word. And so, I think those two key components are really key. If we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have that… that knowing it’s like a… just a… a fire and a peace, and… and, you know… anything He’s telling us to do will not be… contradictory to His Word. And so, I… I think the majority of the time, if you just have that… that just inkling like, oh, I should really forgive or, oh, I should really maybe reach out, that person came to my mind again, maybe I should just send a text. I felt like I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, I was in line at a Little Caesars getting ready to get…

Vivan: That’s awesome.

Eryn: Yes.

Rachael: … my hot-n-ready, and there was a homeless man that was sitting right in front, and I just felt like the Lord was, Rachael, you need to give that man a pizza. So, I went through the hot-n-ready line, got him a pizza, got him a drink, gave it to him, and he threw it back at me and was angry. And I got back in my car, and then I was angry. I’m like, Lord, you told me to give that man some pizza. Like, I know I heard You. Why did You tell me to do that if he was just going to react in such a like unkind way. Why did I… why did I waste the money? Why did I waste the time? Like, I don’t understand. And I just honestly felt like in that moment, He’s like, you did what I asked you to do. It doesn’t matter how people receive it…

Vivian: Wow.

Rachael: or what response you get to it. You were obedient to me. And so, when I… so I almost said, you know, oh, every time that I’ve listened to the Holy Spirit, it’s been a… you know, a good response, that’s actually not true. You know? Sometimes we, you know, I pray I see that man in heaven someday and he says, Rachael, thank you so much for that pizza. [Laughter] He… But you know, I don’t… we don’t know what God did in his heart that day. We have no idea, but you know what? He worked in my heart that day. And so, I think sometimes it is about the other person, but it’s going to be about us too. And it’s always going to be about Him and His glory. And so, I think that we just… we start to just learn through practice too, you know, and I think that we have to realize there’s so much at stake, you know, I… people’s eternities are at stake, and I think we forget that often. And I don’t know about you all, but I was saved because people shared their testimony with me, because they were praying for me, because they wanted to disciple me, because somebody gave me a Bible, because somebody invited me to church. Those things may seem so small, but they really are so big. And so, anytime we’re leading somebody into… trying to lead somebody into a closer relationship with the Lord, those are good things, and so, those are the type of things that… the Holy Spirit’s going to guide us in, those fruit of the Spirit, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. If what you’re hearing mimics that kind of fruit, then it’s probably Him. 

Vivian: That’s a great answer. And I love that idea that it’s… the outcome is not in our control and understanding that we do our part. I think that that must bring such a smile to the Lord’s face to see like, you know, you’ve… you followed through on the thing I asked, and it just keeps building that discernment to hear the Shepherd’s voice. Us being able to be in relationship with other believers who are a few seasons ahead of us helps us to discern as well the Shepherd’s voice.

Rachael: You’re so right in the wise counsel and who you’re following. You know, if you’re really debating on the Holy Spirit, like, did I hear that correctly? Ask some of your wise counsel, ask some of your friends, ask your husband, other believers that are hearing the Holy Spirit too. Like, did this… do you think that this is accurate for me? Are you seeing this…? And I think that that will give confirmation and then too, you know, as I’ve been reading the Bible through, I’m in Jeremiah right now and gosh, he was obedient to the Lord in exactly what the Lord told him and he still ended up in a muddy cistern, you know…

Vivian: Yes, yes.

Rachael: … like, just because we’re doing what the Lord has told us to do doesn’t mean that it’s… I mean… going to be… end up really beautiful or picture perfect or with a bow. And so, I just want to give every woman listening, you can’t just think that because I’m hearing the Lord that it’s gonna be beautiful and perfect and…

Eryn: Painless. And painless.

Vivian: That’s so good.

Eryn: Right?

Rachael: Painless.

Vivian: Yeah. Well, I mean, think Jeremiah, he preached repentance for forty years and no one turned. I mean, I’m just thinking he was so faithful and what a bummer…

Rachael: Yes.

Vivian: … because I’m like… I’m wanting in my lifetime to see at least some of my obedience and the fruit of that. And I think it… it’s really a kindness of the Lord when He does give us a glimpse of how the obedience made a difference, but sometimes it is… like, we don’t see the outcome. 

Eryn: Yeah.

Rachael: A friend of mine challenged me… she…  because I was struggling with that exact same thing. Y’all know, I love outcome and results-oriented things, and so… we had moved into a house and this… this family that we bought it from had planted this garden and we got to enjoy the fruit of her labor. She had planted, she had pruned, and fertilized, and watered…

Eryn: Oh, that’s wonderful.

Rachael: … and done all the things, and we got to eat it all, you know, it was truly the fruit of somebody else’s labor. And so, I was telling a friend about this and she said, you know, Rachael, are you okay being the one to plant the seed spiritually speaking and never experienced the harvest? And honestly, I was like, no, I want… I want to eat the fruit. I want to see it. I want to see the results now here, you know, on earth… and I wish I wasn’t that way, but I think it just reminds me of how Paul says that he was the one to plant the seed, Apollos watered it, and God made it grow. And so, I… I do… I do pray that so many of us get to experience the fruit here on earth, but I really believe that one day in eternity, we’re going to see like, oh, Vivian, Eryn, Rachael, you know, everybody listening, those little seeds that you thought weren’t growing… gosh, you planted on so many and look. Look at the outcome now… and I just… I just can’t wait for that day.

Vivian: I love it.

Eryn: There’s just freedom in what you’re saying because I think that we wrestle every day with believing that what we’re doing is enough, and if we are enough, and if it’s really worth it, and there’s this voice that wants to tell us, no all day long. And so, for us to equip ourselves in reading words that speak the truth that, you know, these acts actually make really huge and significant changes in our lives and in the lives of others. It adds the value back to what that voice wants to take away. And I’m just so grateful that you reminded us of that today, Rachael. I imagine that there’s somebody, and maybe I’m just asking you to pray it over me… but somebody that’s in the waiting, you know, in the uncertainty, and the wrestling in their spirit of like, am I going to see the fruit like we were talking about. And if I’m not, how do I still sit in the discomfort of the uncertainty? Would you maybe pray over that person? Just speak to her?

Rachael: Yeah, absolutely. I’m that person in so many ways. And I think that voice that you were talking about, that is so the enemy. He wants nothing more than to discourage us, and defeat us, and keep us believing that what we’re doing doesn’t matter because then we don’t do anything at all, but we have important kingdom work to do. And so, that… I pray that women start to believe that. And so, yeah, I would love to… to pray over us. Father, we just love You, and we’re just thankful that… that You love us, and that You created us, and that we are significant apart from anything that we do, but just simply for who we are as Your daughters. And so, I pray that we just first rest in that. We don’t have to earn Your love, we don’t have to strive. None of this work that we are doing is to make You love us anymore, but Father, just out of an overflow of the love that You’ve already given us. Father, help us to be encouraged, [Music] and to listen, and obey, and be willing to do what You’ve called us to do. Help us to hear Your voice, help us to just believe that You see us, that You hear us, and that You are using every little thing that we do, and that, Father, that You are going to take it a long way, but I just pray for every woman that You would just give her a glimpse, that You would give her a taste, that You would give her some of the fruit of her labor, Father, and that she would know that You’re partnering with her, that You’re watering those seeds, and that You have a beautiful outcome in store both now and for eternity. Father, we just love You so much. I pray blessings and favor over each woman listening in Your holy and mighty name we pray, amen.

[Music]

Eryn: God is with us in all the little things. What a beautiful thing to remember. 

Vivian: Rachael has such a calming presence and it was such a gift to have this conversation with her. Well, before we go, be sure to check out our show notes for a link to Rachael’s website where you can find her devotional and podcast. You can find that and more, including a new blog article at godhearsher.org. That’s godhearsher.org. 

Eryn: And if you liked this episode or you’ve been listening to the show for a bit, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcast. We’d love to hear from you. 

Vivian: Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget, God hears you and He sees you and He loves you because you are His.

[Music]

Eryn: Today’s episode was engineered by Ann Stevens and produced by Jake Gustman and Mary Jo Clark. We also want to thank Hannah and Judy for all their help and support. Thanks everyone. 

Vivian: Our Daily Bread Ministries is a donor-supported nonprofit ministry dedicated to making the life changing wisdom and stories of the Bible come alive for all people around the world. 

[Music]

Vivan: God Hears Her is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries.

Show Notes

  • “If nothing is too insignificant for our Savior, there’s nothing too insignificant for me and for you.” —Rachael Adams
  • “There’s value in what you do, but you can not gain value in anything that you’re doing.” —Rachael Adams
  • “God has always used very ordinary people in very ordinary places, and He’s the one that multiplies everything.” —Rachael Adams
  • “We have no idea what God’s going to do with our next encounter.” —Rachael Adams

Links Mentioned

About the Guest(s)

Rachael Adams

Author of A Little Goes a Long Way and host of The Love Offering podcast, Rachael Adams hopes to help women realize their God-given purpose and significance. She and her husband, Bryan, live in Kentucky with their two children, Will and Kate. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, Crosswalk, Proverbs 31, Today Parenting, and YouVersion. Connect with her by visiting rachaelkadams.com, searching @rachaeladamsauthor on social media, and tuning in to The Love Offering podcast every Tuesday on your favorite listening platform.

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