Miracles and Mentorship: Judy Fulmer's Path to Unlocking Hope in the Next Generation

Join me on Hope Unlocked as I chat with Judy Flumer, a testimony weaving together the threads of family, career, and unwavering faith in a rural South Carolina setting.

Sometimes, life calls us to take the road less traveled, leaving behind the familiar for new horizons that beckon with hope and growth. Judy and her family took that leap, trading city life for country simplicity and discovering along the way the profound provision and guidance that faith in God can bring. Their experiences, from the heartache of miscarriage to the joy of fulfilled dreams, underscore the transformative nature of trust, especially when coupled with the homeschooling journey that brought unique challenges and victories.

This episode is not just about recognizing one's calling but having the courage to follow it. As a mentor and coach, she's seen firsthand the impact of nurturing young minds, especially those educated at home, toward collegiate readiness and beyond. Judy discusses the importance of personalized guidance and the creation of resources like an ACT prep course to help students stand out.  We hope to inspire you to embrace your path with confidence, knowing that the right tools and a trust God can unlock doors to a future bright with hope.


Judy's contact info:
To schedule a call - https://go.oncehub.com/CollegePrepCall
Website - https://collegeprepxcel.com
Email - judy@thestandoutstudent.com

Download Judy's 3 Step ACT Mastery Guide - https://collegeprepxcel.com/act-prep/college-prepxcel-lp-3-2/

🎙️Hope Unlocked Listener Exclusive! Feeling stirred but not sure what to do next? Book a 45-minute Holy Spirit-led 1:1 coaching session w/ Hope Unlocked host Kristin Kurtz, founder of New Wings Coaching. This powerful conversation will help you move from stirred to activated—with peace, clarity, & a Spirit-led next step. Book your call HERE now–special pricing to listeners!

Transcript

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Empowering Women Through Coaching and Ministry

Speaker 1 0:16

Hello and welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast . I'm your host , Kristen Kurtz , and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching , where I empower and unlock women to soar in their calling and roar with their voices . If you're curious to learn more about how coaching can help you unlock your potential , be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further . Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode . So tune in and let's unlock hope together . Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast . I'm Kristen Kurtz , your host .

Speaker 1 0:50

I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul . Please help me welcome my guest , Judy Fulmer , to the show . I'm so excited to have her here today . As you guys know , this is season two Launching Pioneers , and I really wanted to have Ron because I believe that what she is doing here in this world is different and it's needed , and I just want to even hear myself more about what she's doing . We haven't connected for a little while . So , Judy , could you tell us just a little bit about yourself and then we'll kind of get into what you're up to these days .

Speaker 2 1:30

Okay , sure , thank you so much for having me , kristen . This is a real blessing and I always enjoy talking with you , just whether it's on voice texting or on the phone or whatever . So this is really special for me . So a little bit about myself . I am a mom of well , a wife of 33 years . As of a couple of days ago , on the 18th , we celebrated 33 years together , my husband Phillip . We have four grown kids and our youngest graduated college on May the 3rd . So we're super excited about that Full new season for our family as we move into total empty nesting . Um , she's still with us . For a little while she lived at home during college , but she's on the job hunt . We know that this is happening , but it's so good um for her , you know . And so we homeschooled our kids for about 17 years and we live . We're a unique family .

Speaker 2 2:30

We live out in rural South Carolina . Right next to I think it's wheat right now there's a crop field . I grew up in the Houston Texas area , so this has been a change . But I was just telling somebody today I don't think I could go back to city life . I love it . It's so peaceful , so tranquil where we are and a privilege to raise our kids here . My husband is a nuclear engineer , health physicist and he's also a full-time pastor . So he's a physics professor at a local university , francis Marion University , and he's also a full-time pastor . And people just think that's so strange , but to me I don't see how you can have a science without the bible . They they are literally hand in hand , because you're talking about god's creation and physics explains how things work together . I have a master's in health physics and that's where we met and it just it goes together . You can't have one without the other because god did it and anyway that's incredible .

Speaker 1 3:31

So I don't know if you're open to sharing more about it , but I I honestly haven't heard of a health physics degree . Um , second of all , what ? What do health physics like ? What would you do coming out of that ? I mean the fact that he's a pastor . There's a story there . I'm like , okay , tell me , tell the story here okay , well , to answer your first question .

Speaker 2 3:57

So basically health physics would be the safety side of nuclear engineering . So our job as a health physicist would be to protect the worker and the environment from the effects of radioactive material . And both of our interests were in dosimetry , or evaluating the dose or the impact that somebody would have from exposure to radioactive material . I looked at internal dysmetry he's excellent at that , but his , his specialty was external . So if somebody was exposed to an external source , what would it do to your skin ? How far would it penetrate into your skin ? How would it affect you , affect you ? Mine was if you inhaled , ingested or were injected with radioactive material , like if if something happened and a piece of glass stuck you and you know , like cut your leg , and it had radioactive material , something like that , but that . So that's what health physics is . It's protecting the worker and the environment from the effects of radioactive material so that you can use it safely , so you might work in a hospital , radioactive material , so that you can use it safely , so you might work in a hospital .

Speaker 2 5:08

Medical physics is an offshoot of health physics . So if you have radiation therapy , the person who is helping with the radiation oncologist , the person that's working with them and looking at the dose that you're getting . That's coming out of my field . It's now its own little field , but back in the day when we were in college and graduate school , that was part of what we did . Um , you might work in the area of um reactor design . You know they , they all have to have a health physicist or research lab where radioactive material is used as a tracer . It's used a lot in research because it can attach to something molecularly and you can measure the radioactive material by its decay and figure out what's happening to whatever you're looking at . I mean it's used on oil wells , you know , on rigs , you know . Anyway , it's used all over the place so so any kind of research or industry or medical universities .

Speaker 2 6:09

I mean it's , even tritium is actually an exit signs . I mean like it's everywhere .

Speaker 1 6:16

What led you to go down that road , just kind of going back a second .

Speaker 2 6:20

So I have always had an interest in physiology and anatomy and how the body works and I really seriously considered medical school . I've always had a medical aptitude and a lot of doctors and nurses ask are you medical ? I'm not , I'm not certified , I'm not licensed , but I totally understand it . And so when I was in school I knew , I knew that it would be better for me not to study biology but to study something that I could . If I ended up not going to medical school , I'd have a career field that you know . So I chose engineering and I chose health physics , because it was kind of a bridge between engineering and medicine .

Speaker 1 7:09

So it's fine , fascinating , and your husband , so you met there in school .

Speaker 2 7:17

We met in graduate school .

Speaker 1 7:19

But I've been there , like he's a pastor , like tell us more about this , because what you do well , you's know more about this . Because you , what you do well , you'll share more about what you do . But I just , I love people's stories and the pathways that God leads them on you know oh total God things , total God things .

Speaker 2 7:37

And it's funny because we are okay . So I just have to tell you this little piece . We are actually now in the church that my husband attended when he was in college . His dad was a pastor and so he had never chosen his own church . He'd always been in his daddy's church , wherever they may live . And so when he went to college as an undergrad , he chose this church and then the pastor at the time saw something in him and he kind of mentored him . Philip was really kind of a protege and he brought him along and God did not call him into ministry at that time , but when we started dating , he told me I just really feel like God's going to call me . I don't know when , it's not now , but I need you to know that if we're going to be you know , if we're going to move forward . And , um , you know , I was like , okay , that's fine , that's great . Well , so , as a young couple , as a young married couple , whenever we lived about two and a half hours away well now , we were in Texas in graduate school . And when we hours away Well now , we were in Texas in graduate school . And when we looked for jobs , we interviewed all over the country and we ended up in Aiken , south Carolina , about two and a half hours away from where we are now . And so when the pastor at the time at this church was ill or traveling or whatever , they would call Philip and ask him to fill in and we'd drive two and a half hours and he'd preach and we'd drive back home and we had a little situation .

Speaker 2 9:11

The church that we were in was without a pastor for about a year , and it's a really difficult time for a church . We had an interim , but he just filled the pulpit . If you needed pastoral support , you know , people stepped up , but but we felt the crunch of not having a pastor . And so this particular church that we're in now was also going through something very similar . They'd been without a pastor about a year and they called and they said listen , we , we need somebody to preach on Sunday . I mean , it had been a while and they didn't ask him every week , but they called him and said why don't you ? You know , would you be willing to come preach this Sunday ? And Philip said you know what I will . He said why don't I do this ? I feel like you're spending all your time trying to fill the pulpit and you guys need to go find a pastor . So I will commit to preach for you guys for four Sundays and you guys take that time and go find a pastor you know , pray over this , find the one that God's leading for you and go .

Speaker 2 10:56

And at the time , by this point , we had yeah , we had all four of our children . Our youngest was an infant , our oldest was five , maybe there , he had just turned five when she was born and um , so we came every week and philip preached and we went home and about halfway through the time he was working as an engineer in a consulting firm and he was on the rise , like he was literally about to take over as office manager for this firm . And I looked at him and I said I think God's calling us , I think God's calling us to this church . And he was like what ? He started praying harder about it and I started praying harder about it , but we didn't say a word to anybody at all . And and then , because there were some mountains in the way you know , there , there there were just some things , big barriers , more than one that really it was . It just didn't make sense . But I've come to learn that when God is leading you somewhere and it doesn't make sense , you are almost guaranteed to be .

Speaker 2 12:15

You know what I mean , but that was one of those life lessons that we learned early and so , anyway , we didn't say anything . One of those life lessons that we learned early . And so , anyway , we didn't say anything . And after several weeks , one of the church board members called him and said listen , I know this is a crazy question , but would you consider coming as our pastor ? And he said , well , at this point we'd been , we'd already been praying about it . He said well , judy , you know I'll pray about it . And we did .

Speaker 2 12:44

And it was one of those . You know that you know , and even though it didn't make any sense in any way , shape or form , you know that you know . And one of the things was how are we going to ? This is a it's a relatively small country church . At the time it was almost all family , you know , maybe 100 members . We usually have about 80 on a Sunday . And he's like how , how can I support a family of six on that on that salary ? That that was just one mountain .

Speaker 2 13:25

And the Lord blew open doors , like I can't even tell you the doors he opened , one of which was the company that he worked for had never , ever , had a remote employee . And this was back . You know this was 2001 . That just wasn't done . A remote employee and this was back . You know this was 2001 . That just wasn't done . And they came to him and said we would like for you to set up a satellite office , like what you get to keep your job . You know , I mean it . Just that was just one thing that God did . But we've seen his hand move so many times .

Speaker 2 14:07

But I will also tell you it was a hard move . We very much felt like home missionaries . We sold our house , we sold a lot of the contents of our house . We moved into a smaller home , an entirely new culture , at least for me . You know he had grown up in this , but I knew nothing . And maybe two weeks after we were here , I had a miscarriage . We didn't even know we were expecting because we still had an 11-month-old . You know it was like wait what it was ? Just it was a hard time and there were a lot of challenges . But we knew that . We knew that . We knew and one of the women I'll never forget we had a meeting with the church one Sunday night before he ever accepted the job and one of them was like I mean , are you ?

Speaker 2 14:59

They asked me are you okay giving up everything you've got ? Are you okay moving here ? And you know

Trusting God's Provision and Guidance

Speaker 2 15:06

him not being the office manager and , and you know they , they were worried about our finances and us not being me , not being satisfied , living on less and living in the country and learning a new way of life and all that . And I looked at her and I was like you know what I learned a long time ago ? That the cost of disobedience to God would be far worse than anything I could ever sacrifice for him . And so to me , I wasn't giving anything up , I was being obedient and I knew that I would be much more content in his will than I would ever be outside of it and I was like I'm not going to be disobedient for money , right , yeah , you know he'll take care of it and I didn't have a clue how . But I knew he would and he did and he has . But I knew he would and he did and he has .

Speaker 2 16:08

And I remember dreaming with my husband when we were dating and when we were newlyweds and he said you know , I know neither of these would support a family , but my dream one day is to to teach at Francis Marion university and to pastor Ebenezer , and that's what he does . After we were here for a short while we weren't even here a year His professors at the university found out that he was here and they were like , oh , would you come teach a class for us ? And he's like what ? And now he's a tenured professor . He didn't ask for the job , god just totally dropped it in his lap . So he provided everything we needed . He fulfilled my husband's dreams . I looked at him and said well now , what are you going to do ?

Speaker 1 17:01

What does that look like ? Like ? What is that ? You know , the question , you know , a lot of times we encounter , as maybe more analytical people you know , is the how , and I'll never forget , recently , somebody saying how equals God .

Speaker 2 17:22

Oh , totally .

Speaker 1 17:23

That's it . We may not see it right away .

Speaker 2 17:28

Oh , that's for sure .

Speaker 1 17:29

Right , but I love what you said . You know , I think this is for somebody that and I've experienced this myself too where I've had to , I've had to literally release something , and then that's when the receiving happens , that's when the doors open , that's when it's like this divine exchange right , yeah , so how about for you ? So you said your husband's dreams were fulfilled . How about you ? What did that look like for you ?

Speaker 2 18:00

Well , it was an adjustment . When I had the miscarriage , of course I didn't know I was pregnant and I got very ill . And I remember calling my doctor and I couldn't find my way around these back roads . I just I felt so lost and confused . And he said is there a store , is there a pharmacy nearby where you can get this or that or the other ?

Speaker 1 18:25

And I remember crying and saying there's a truck stop 15 minutes away and I remember crying and saying there's a truck stop 15 minutes away .

Speaker 2 18:43

He just I don't think he knew what to do with me , but you know I I literally was standing in my backyard today . I live out in the country next to a crop field and behind the crop field there are woods and like a forest area there's a little pond in my next door neighbor's yard and I have this swing . I love my swing . It's , it's rusting and it , you know , but I love my swing and I go sit on my little swing and just look out over the field and the woods and I just thank God for where we live , for the people that are here . It's a community unlike I've ever known . They're truly a community , truly watch out for each other .

Speaker 2 19:23

I mean , I was picking lettuce and onions at my neighbor's house the other day . I'm like this is so fun . You know they're sitting on my counter . I washed them this morning and I'm preparing them and all that . It's the most blessed gift to live here and I know the Lord brought us , I know it . And I'm so thankful that my children grew up here . You know , our oldest was five when well , he had just turned six when we moved here , so he remembers a little bit about our other home and play groups and all the things , but , um , our youngest has not known any other home . It's been such a blessing and I'm so thankful , but as far as it sounds like just .

Speaker 1 20:13

I'm just imagining you sitting on your swing , like just soaking it up , and you know , I want , I want . I don't know if you could speak to those who maybe don't have that . You know , swing , yet that space . Yet when they're ? You know they're waiting for , um , they're more well , I'll tell y'all .

Speaker 2 20:35

um , you know they're . I mean , some days it's raining , some days when I we homeschooled for 17 years and I'm gonna be real , there were hard days , a lot of hard days , and I went through a major depression . I was working through huge , huge life issues . I went through this period of time where I felt as though I had a bowling ball in my gut and it goes back to some pretty significant childhood trauma . There were hard days and I had the yard , but I didn't appreciate the yard , if that makes any sense , and I didn't have the swing to sit on . And you know there were days when I was surviving . But well , let me just share a secret that I discovered .

Speaker 2 21:35

I remember thinking at the time I need there's more to God than I know , there's much more to Jesus than I know . I know I should be in the word , like I know all the right things to do , but the reality is I don't want to read the word because I don't really understand the word . I mean , like I remember having these thoughts as a young mom and and then I remember too , I didn't even need an alarm clock until my oldest was probably nine because he didn't sleep much and he'd get me up . But I've been blessed , truly blessed , with four kids . I love these kids .

Speaker 2 22:13

I have three boys and a girl . They're amazing . They're so smart , they're loving , they're kind , they're just the joy of my heart . They're also all ADD , all of them , and some of them have processing issues and some of them you know all this stuff and if you look at them on the outside , like everybody looks at our family , goes , they're so smart , blah , blah , blah . I mean , yeah , my kids have college degrees . They all graduated with Latin honors . But I'm telling you that is God's grace and blessing on their lives , and I think part of why they're there and I'm not saying because I homeschooled , because of me they're there . No , I'm saying , because of God working through us in that home environment , we had that opportunity to pour into them and make sure they got things and didn't miss things . And they still miss things . But anyway , I don't even know where I was going with this . Oh , I didn't have to set an alarm because this child never slept and so I would wake up to mama , mama , mama , mama , and it just . I woke up in adrenaline every day . Yeah .

Speaker 1 23:23

I can imagine .

Speaker 2 23:24

And I finally wisened up and said I can't do this . I'm going to have to get an alarm and I'm going to have to get up before they get up or I'm going to lose my mind . And so I started that . And then the Lord said I want you to come sit with me and have a quiet time . And I did try to have quiet times , but I didn't have regular quiet times . You know what I mean . And so and they were sometimes later in the day if they were taking a nap or a bedtime whatever , because I remember the conversation with the Lord I was like Lord , my sleep is , it's like gold . Yes , I'm so tired , I can't give up 15 minutes . And he was like just give me five . So we started with five and I started praying . I said Lord , give me a hunger for your word , give me a desire to read your word and help me understand your word . And I prayed that persistently , I don't even know how long . And so he did and I started with the five minutes . Well , that wasn't long enough . So , okay , I got to get up 15 minutes early because I want this time with the Lord . And it stretched into .

Speaker 2 24:36

At one point I was getting up at 4 30 in the morning and having these two hour blocks with him , and they were the sweetest times of my life . They were in a time when I so desperately needed and I we all desperately need , but I mean to the core of my being , needed to be within . I would journal , notebook after notebook after notebook . I was in the word , I was worshiping . He was giving me songs . I'm not a songwriter , but he gave me songs , several songs , and , um , it was just one of the sweetest times in my life .

Speaker 1 25:14

Yeah , that is . That's a huge key for somebody .

Speaker 2 25:18

Yeah , and what I learned was that , while my sleep was like gold , that time with him was diamonds , and he always somehow multiplied my time or expanded time somehow that I got done everything that I needed to get done . Yeah , yeah , it's another , totally like I was thinking .

Speaker 1 25:43

I was actually thinking about that today because I'm I'm personally in a time where my schedule is more compact because we have a lot of moving pieces oldest graduating high school , I mean . There's just so much happening right now . That's great .

Speaker 1 25:55

So , my schedule is really compact but yet it feels like what I was kind of attributing today was like loaves and fishes . He does that and part of it , too , is like giving him like the first part of our day I shared with somebody recently . I'm like , realize I'm a bookended introvert , like I need to be in the word before I am around people and I need quiet time before I'm with people and I need it at the end of the day too , cause I'm sure , like with you as a homeschooling mama , at that time you were pouring out . When you're pouring out and you're pouring out and you're pouring out , you know we all have different ways that we pour out , but we need to be poured back into right .

Speaker 2 26:40

Oh yeah , oh yeah , yeah . And I mean God provided a great homeschool community for us , but there's no replacement for him . You know , at that time I'm telling you that time in the morning I mean , yes , the end of the day . I agree , it's really good , it's really helpful to circle back with him and , and you know , work through what has happened that day and kind of process through it with him . But I'll tell you , starting your day with him is , it's invaluable .

Speaker 1 27:13

Yeah , and you know , like you said , I I share with people in different ways that I , you know , work with client wise . You know there's things that he might be calling us to do . Let's just say and this is going to be just another parallel , but like , if somebody is like I need to start walking , I feel like I need to start walking , but they feel like they can't start walking because they feel like they need an hour .

Speaker 2 27:36

Right .

Speaker 1 27:37

I would say that I say start with five minutes , just give it five minutes . Give it five minutes twice a week . Right , you start building into it . You start building into it , you start feeling the experience and the benefits , how much more when you're with the lord , with the word , with worship , with even writing in your journal . I can only imagine how much you poured out in those journals back then .

Speaker 2 28:04

Well , it's funny , he gave , he told me you know , eventually I'm going to write a book . It's funny , he told me you know , eventually I'm going to write a book . It's called he Restores my Soul and it's going to come out of those journals . Well , there you go . I don't know when that's going to be .

Speaker 1 28:30

I say to you like I know I have book babies in me , but it's just , it's not time right now . It's just not time and it's due time will happen . It's just not due time right now , it's okay . But I saw I was like , oh yeah , I'm sure you've got some books in there , that's good , that's good yeah yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 28:36

Well , tell us a little bit more about , like , where you're at right now . What are you up to , part of why I wanted to have you on because I want to share . Have you share what you're doing ? Um , because part of what I do is connecting people to other people and what they're doing , because I believe of what I do is connecting people to other people and what they're doing , because I believe that you know I don't do what you do and people need what you do because I don't do what you do . So I really want to elevate women of faith in this time that are doing different things and I really believe what you're doing is very different .

Speaker 1 29:07

I've not heard , I mean of what you're doing before , I guess partly because maybe the season that I'm in , partly because other things . But I'd love for you to just share , like how did you get started ? What , what is it ? Where are you going ?

Speaker 2 29:25

Okay , so I founded College Prep Excel . The business has been going about a year , probably about a year , I think . Officially I launched last June .

Navigating College Readiness as a Homeschooler

Speaker 2 29:39

I was working it from about March on , but one day , when I was homeschooling , like I said I think we schooled for about 17 years I was walking through my living room . I remember this . I was walking through my living room and it hit me Our oldest was in high school and I went oh no , I'm the guidance counselor .

Speaker 2 30:05

Oh my gosh , we don't have a high school guidance counselor . I'm the guidance counselor . Oh my gosh , we don't have a high school guidance counselor . I'm the guidance counselor . And and then I panicked because I went oh , that means if I mess up , it affects my kids , like if I don't know something . If you know , I have to know how this works . I have to find scholarships for them , I have to , I have to figure out when things have to be done .

Speaker 2 30:29

I felt this heavy weight and I remember digging in . First of all , let me say I don't think every student needs to go to college , like I really don't believe that . But God has called me to help those who do want to go to college and he's given me a different perspective coming from the homeschool background , because there is a bias against homeschoolers . In some cases homeschoolers are seen , as they're recognized , as advanced students because they've been taught how to learn and how to think in ways that other students haven't really by necessity , especially if you have a family with multiple children . And I have taught in the classroom . I've taught on several levels , every level , but I learned in our homeschool . You know , I had to make my children learn more independently , just because I couldn't sit down and teach physics , biology , chemistry and earth science consecutively and teach , you know , all the four maths , and that because I did bundle as much as I could together . But I had to find ways for my children to learn and me to interact with them . You see what I'm saying .

Speaker 1 31:53

Absolutely . I've always wondered how , how it works . My sister has six kids and I'm like Well no , it's , it's really amazing .

Speaker 2 32:02

Yeah , it really is , because these children learn how to learn . They do learn how to learn Well , well , so , and it's really funny , my kids , when they went to college , they were like gosh , this is so much easier . I'm like , yes , I did it all . Right , they know , but but I , um , gosh , I just I don't know . I've lost my train of thought a little bit , but I just remember feeling such a heavy weight to um , to help my child , help my kids .

Speaker 2 32:37

And I think a lot of times , as homeschoolers apply you , you get both into the spectrum . You either get somebody who's familiar with homeschooling goes oh , I want all the homeschoolers , they're great students . Or you get somebody that goes did their mama give them that A ? And you hear that a lot . And this is my perspective .

Speaker 2 32:58

While I've known a lot of homeschoolers over the years , I can only think of one or two families out of hundreds and hundreds who I didn't feel like did enough . But but my perspective is there was a time when our daughter was sick , came in , came out of cancer treatment with a lot of chemo , brain , a processing issue , and I remember talking to other moms and and saying I pushed my . What I'm getting at is . I pushed my kids really hard , not realizing that it was so hard because they were totally able to do it . I didn't realize that I was expecting more out of them is what I'm getting at . And one of the other moms was like you know , you can give them a word bank on this vocabulary test . I was like what ? Give them a word bank ?

Speaker 2 33:47

She was like , yeah , most schools are giving their kids word banks . On those . I was like what ? So I mean you have to take that into consideration when I say that I thought maybe they weren't . But my point is , when a homeschool mama and dad , daddy , when mom and dad decide they're going to homeschool their kids , they realize the buck stops with them and they love these kids more than anybody else . So there's this tremendous weight and if you talk to any homeschool mom , they will say I hope I'm doing enough . I thought it , it's almost the mantra of a homeschool I hope I'm doing enough . I hope they're prepared . I'm trying so hard . I don't want to mess this up enough .

Speaker 1 34:29

I hope they're prepared .

Speaker 2 34:30

I'm trying so hard . I don't want to mess this up , and so I really . When I talk to college admissions counselors , that's one of the things I tell them . I'm like you know , I can't guarantee that every grade point you see coming through is legit , but I have never met a homeschool parent that didn't expect excellence , didn't operate with integrity and didn't understand that the buck stops with them and they are not willing to let their child pay a price . And so what you're going to get in a homeschool student , the vast majority of the time is a student of excellence that has legitimate grades . But that's really that's what led me to put together an ACT prep course , because I feel like , as a homeschooler , you I don't want to say you have to prove yourself , but in some ways I mean you have to stand out . And I guess I started trying to help students stand out , because any student homeschool public , private , it doesn't matter anymore .

Speaker 2 35:33

College has gotten so competitive and if God's leading you to college , then that's great . But we all need scholarships . I don't know anybody who can just write a check for college . I know there are people out there . I'm not one of them , but I feel like we need scholarships , and so when you have two students back to the homeschool , and so when you have two students back to the homeschooler thing , you have two students and they have the same grade point , they took basically the same classes how do you distinguish between those two ? And that's where the bias comes in . I think oftentimes that public or private school child is going to be selected over the homeschooler because they're thinking well , I mean , do we know that they really did what they said they did ? And so I feel like it's really important to demonstrate your college readiness if you're going to pursue that . And so I really encourage people to take dual credit courses and I also really encourage them to take a test the ACT or the SAT .

Speaker 2 36:31

But I chose ACT . I really feel like the SAT is on its way out . I feel like the ACT is a better test . It covers more subjects . Sat is gone , fully digital , and ACT is on paper . It gives a STEM score . The new SAT is adaptive , so it's not even standardized anymore . You know you get a different set of questions based on how on the second module , based on how well you do on the first , and I'm just like that's not even standard . You've got some kids getting easy questions and others getting hard . So I found , though , statistically , our students in the country country well , let me just give you the statistic this crazy last year , 40 of the students that took the act did not meet any of the college readiness benchmarks none , and I'm like these are college-bound kids taking the test , so that's very telling . And then only one in five met all four , showing they were college ready . So I feel like you know they , they really need , they really need ACT prep .

Speaker 2 37:41

But what I do in my prep class is different than anything I've ever seen . I mean , yeah , I teach you tips and strategies . They're proven , they work and they will help get your grade up , get your score . I um , I think one of the things that is kind of the secret sauce . I work a lot individually with my kids in one-on-one , in groups . I mean , their parents are always looped in . I tell them upfront your mama's going to be on this text , on this email , whatever . I want them to know what we're doing and what we're talking about .

Speaker 2 38:14

But I teach them to be their own detective , and really the course is called Unlocking the Mystery of the ACT , and they learn to break down and analyze their practice tests and find those knowledge gaps that we all have . There's no shame , we all have them . And people are like I can't believe I didn't know the difference between possessive singular and possessive plural nouns , or I didn't know comma placement , or I had trouble with transitions in paragraphs and they beat themselves up and I'm like you unlocked a key and they beat themselves up and I'm like you unlocked a key , you found a key . No , this is good . This is really really good . We want to find the knowledge gaps because then you can go back and study that and refresh that and learn it . It'll help you on your test . You'll see the test scores come up , but it'll help you in life . Now you understand it . So , hey , this is a win .

Speaker 2 39:10

So I help them do that and I can coach them through when we start to see trends . I'm running out of time . Every time I take the reading test or whatever it is . Then I'm able to coach them through that and I see these students go from ah to oh , yeah and I just I love it , I love it . But the big thing , that's really really different . I mean , that's different . The individual attention's different .

Speaker 2 39:36

But I work with them on mental preparation for this test . I help them go from test anxiety to confidence . I help them , like we talk about the difference between a spirit of excellence and a spirit of perfectionism . They're big , big , big difference . One leads to life and the other leads to destruction . But I also teach them life skills that they need that affect their test but they carry throughout life .

Speaker 2 40:06

So I teach them how to what a goal actually is , because they think they know , but they usually don't how to manage their time , how to set goals , how to achieve you know , work toward them , how to manage their time . We talk about wellness , like how , how you move your body , what you feed your body , the amount of rest you get it all factors in to optimal mental performance on test day . I mean , they kind of go into training a little bit and so I deal with mindset and I teach them about growth versus fixed mindsets and we , we work through their limiting beliefs and you know all these things . I've never seen a class do that right . Yeah , I , I see such a transformation in these students and it's , it's .

Speaker 1 40:57

I just love it I love it if you guys could only see judy's face right now . She's beaming , she's radiant because she's talking about something that she loves and she's helping to unlock these kids . As you guys know , it's Hope Unlocked that's the name of the podcast . She's unlocking hope in these kids and I love that . You get to like what I like to say . Flip the script . You know these kids come in . They're like oh , I didn't know this . And you're like well , maybe you didn't need to know it , but now you will . You know you're , you're taking something that felt very negative to them and they walk away with hope . They walk away with these keys for life . And , as you were talking about even ACT , it's kind of fun . Um , have has he given you like even an acronym for you with act ?

Speaker 2 41:52

for your business , an acronym I mean not really an acronym per se he's given me , you know , like kind of my I don't know if it's a tagline or a long log line , I don't really know the difference but but you know , kind of helping students stand out . That's just the thing is , they're just not cookie cutter . You know when , when , when students are being evaluated , you're looking at numbers and and you don't see that there's anything different about these kids and what I tell them and I need them to understand . I had this conversation with one of my new students . She goes I said so what do you like to do ? What do you do ? I said , okay , listen , I want to know what is unique about you . There's nothing unique about me . Oh , I bet there is . I know there is . I know that there's something amazing about you that's different from everybody else around you , because that's how God made you . So I know there is . So as we talked , you know , I just kind of I was like so what do you do after school ? You know I'm just cause . The more I understand what motivates them , the more I can use that as I coach them to , I can make things relevant to them , and so it turns out , this girl was like an amazing swimmer , really , really good . She had a , she had an injury , had to have some surgery . She doesn't do that anymore , but you're still . You still have that knowledge and those , those patterns and all the benefit of the athletic training that you've learned all these years . It still forms who you are and I can speak to her as an athlete . You know and , and then come to find out this girl . Her dad has a business and she works with her business . She is amazing , I'm telling you . So he makes signs that go on businesses . Like you , you would see them on a business , something I'm not going to tell you the name , but you would recognize it and she's wiring these signs after school . Like wait , hold up . You are doing the wiring in these signs that are going up on that business that I drove by the other day . What she's like ? Yeah , I said OK , let me just tell you there aren't many people your age that can do that . I was like find what makes you unique and stand out and learn , go deeper in that , develop that and follow that line into adulthood . You know , find the passions .

Speaker 2 44:39

I have a son who wanted to be a firefighter when he was in high school and the fire department's literally two doors away . My husband's the chaplain and he would go with his dad and attend these meetings and so when he turned 18 , he was still a senior in high school he said I'm going to take the class . I want to get certified so I can start going on calls . And so he did . He took 120 hour class 120 hours as a high school student , passed the class , got certified , started going on calls . So when he's applying for scholarships like , make sure you put on there that you're a volunteer firefighter . You know , when you write your essays , make sure that you point out you went on a call last night . It there is something amazing about every single one of these kids that I work with and part of it is helping them see

Finding Purpose Through Obedience and Trust

Speaker 2 45:32

it yes , yeah , amen .

Speaker 1 45:36

and how many people out there you know , as a coach myself , like , just because it's so innate in or maybe it's kind of gone dormant for a while , or somebody you know , maybe you were a really amazing dancer when you were a kid and then somebody said something to you that kind of knocked your , you know , off your path because you took something to heart that really you know what I mean . Like it caused something to go dormant , but you get to come in and encourage and exhort and call them up into these places so they remember who they are and they can take that with them . That's invaluable . I don't have you seen the movie a million million miles ?

Speaker 1 46:23

a million miles away . Part of my coaching tends to be like movies . I'm like , oh wait , a second , this movie . I watched this movie and , um , I don't . I'm not going to give away the movie , but you know , it is very rare and maybe it's just my experience and maybe what I've seen and can potentially gather . It's very rare If you have a classroom of you know , let's just say , kids are in public school of 30 kids , it's . It's probably very rare that your teacher would actually sit down with you and call out the golden you and even as I'm not a homeschooling mama , I give you guys all props for that . I think it's amazing . It was not my calling but like , like you said , having multiple kids , it's hard to sit down and to have somebody who's an outside neutral You're neutral and I'm imagining that they can really open up to you once you kind of break the shell a little bit , right .

Speaker 2 47:41

Kristen , I absolutely love working with these students . They are and I mean , probably half my students are public schooled or private school , but I'll work with anybody . But I just have such a heart for homeschooled families specifically , because I know they don't have that support in most cases . They just don't have it , and and when the deadlines pass it's too late . And so you've got this student who could change the world , yeah , but you know , maybe they need scholarships and literally can't go to school without them and um , and they missed all the deadlines because nobody told them what they needed to be doing when , and so that's part of my business too is , you know , consulting with families and helping them create a roadmap that's going to get them to where they want to go , and helping them understand that whole process . You know , god blessed my family like I still stand in awe , but all four of my kids got through without any debt .

Speaker 2 48:52

I'm like how does that work ? Yeah , it's , it's the lord . It's the lord , I mean it . I gotta tell you , when I think our oldest might have been 10 , which means our youngest was around five I remember my husband sitting all that we had met with financial advisor and he told us what we needed to save per month per child to send them to college . And he lined them all up on the couch and he looked at me , said you know , your mom and I have been talking and we decided that we had to make a choice . We could either feed you now or we could say for college and have enough money set aside to send you all to college . When you got to that point and we decided we ought to feed you now . Right , you're gonna have to work really hard , you're gonna have to get scholarships because your mama and I , we can't do both I understand I still laugh about that because I remember they were babies .

Speaker 1 49:59

We just want to eat . We don't even know what scholarships are , but we need to . That's adorable , oh my gosh . Well , you are a joy and I'm so thankful for the work that you're out there doing . If you could think of you know , as we talked about before , and what I always say with this podcast , as I like to say Seedcast to the one that's listening to you . Is there anything else that you would like to say to him or her ? Maybe just a word for them , as there may be either a mama or a student .

Speaker 2 50:38

anything else that's coming for you or a student , anything else that's coming for you . Well , you know , kristen and I were talking about this before we got started , but sometimes God calls you to do things that don't make sense to anybody else at all . It's happened over and over and over . We don't have time for all the stories , but I think I've learned one thing along the way when we are obedient to God , when we're in his will , whether it makes sense or not , he works it out .

Speaker 2 51:21

Homeschooling our kids there was a season where we didn't homeschool our kids . Um , we had started . My mom moved here . She was terminally ill and I couldn't juggle . I did for a year , but I couldn't juggle her needs and their needs and feel like I was doing a good job for either , and our kids went to school for a little while . God opened every door and he closed every door when it was time for us to come back home . I just feel like learning to rest in him , learning to trust him . You know this business is a daily exercise in learning to trust him . He led this .

Speaker 2 52:07

I've been advising families for probably 10 years . My husband and I have been talking about you know there's one of me and the need is so great . Maybe we need to formalize this into a business . We need to find a way to help more than one family at a time . But I think it comes back to surrender , it comes back to obedience , it comes back to trust and I'm constantly having to remind myself because this , this new business venture , has been a big growing experience for me . But I'm constantly having to remind myself that he says clearly in his word he we all know Jeremiah 29 , 11 . I know the plans I have for you , declares the Lord , plans to give you a future and a hope .

Speaker 2 53:03

But the next couple of verses get glossed over a little bit . I think we have to remember them . You will call upon me and come and pray and I will listen and you will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all of your heart . And I really I feel like . And the thing that he pointed out , it's funny . He and I had a conversation not too long ago and he brought that verse to mind and I said , oh yeah , I know that verse . It's on the wall in my kitchen , it's on the wall .

Speaker 2 53:38

And he's like , yeah , but read it again . Declares the Lord was what jumped out at me . He's like , have you thought about the power of my voice ? I'm like sure , and he goes , have you ? And I'm like maybe . And he took me back to Genesis 1.1 .

Speaker 2 53:56

In the beginning , god created the heavens and the earth . He spoke everything into being and he used the voice , the voice that created everything around us , everything that I see when I look out my window , me , the people in my home and outside my home . That same voice that created all this is declaring and speaking over us these plans that he has for us . And so why are we getting tied up and twisted up and not knowing what to do , when he has this plan ? It's a good plan , a plan to bless us and give us a future and a hope . You know , when we seek him with our whole heart , we find him . He doesn't hide from us and he hears our prayers , and so that would be .

Speaker 2 54:47

My encouragement to you is , if you happen to be that person that knows you should , should be spending time with him , but don't want to , or whatever it is , he already knows that . Let me just relieve you of that . He already knows that it's not an epiphany for him , but it might be an epiphany for you , and I'm just encouraging you to give him that five minutes and let him speak to your heart with that same voice that he declares over you with , and the same voice that he created you with , because it's a beautiful thing , and he does have a plan for us , and he does have a plan for us , and he does have a plan for you and you don't have to figure it out yeah , yeah , amen .

Speaker 1 55:29

well , would you be open to praying over this woman or man potentially , who is ? Who is listening today as we fly out of this next , this podcast today ?

Speaker 2 55:42

Absolutely .

Speaker 1 55:43

Thank you .

Speaker 2 55:45

Father , god , first I just want to thank you . I want to thank you for this . It's a beautiful day outside my window . I am so thankful for the day you've given us . I'm thankful for Kristen and for the connection you've made with with Kristen in my life . I just love this woman and thank you for her ministry . Thank you for her obedience to you , her surrender to you . It is truly encouraging to those around her , including myself .

Speaker 2 56:15

Father , I want to pray for , for the listeners today , anyone that's listening to this message today , tomorrow or whenever . Father , I just lift them up to you , lord . I know you know their heart . You know their heart better than they know their heart and so , father , I just pray that you're going to whisper into them . Whatever truth it is that you want them to get out of this podcast , father . If it's about the courage to start the business that you've laid on their heart .

Speaker 2 56:49

If it's about educating their kids whether they're educating them in their own home or supporting them coming out of a school , a traditional classroom situation , because the parents are still the ones in charge , father , whatever it is , if it's about taking that college journey with them , wherever these feelings of inadequacy come in , lord , wherever these , I don't know what to do , or I can't do this , or I don't know how to help them , or I don't know how to help myself , or I don't know how to help them , or I don't know how to help myself , or I don't know how to do , whatever it is .

Speaker 2 57:23

I'm just hearing these cries as we're praying , lord . I'm just hearing all these arguments against surrender , father , I just pray that they would surrender to you right here , right now , that you would unclog their ears , that you would remove the barriers from their ears and help them to hear your voice . I pray that you would remove the scales , father , from their eyes and help them to see themselves the way you see them . Help them to see others the way you see them , father . Help them to see where you're working around them . Lord , I pray that you would draw them into a closer , more intimate relationship with you . And , father , I pray blessings upon blessings on them . I pray , lord , that they would step out in faith and take the leap to follow you and trust you in whatever way you're moving . And I just lift all this up in Jesus name .

Speaker 1 58:26

Amen , judy , thank you . Thank you for being a brave voice that's setting others free . I just see so much goodness coming out of what you've shared here today and I just thank you for being on and being brave , right ? I'm going to close with our anchoring verse for Hope , unlocked it's . May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that , by the power of the Holy Spirit , you may abound in hope . Romans 15 , 13 . And I see something happening with you . I gotta tell you that's like .

Speaker 2 59:00

That's my anchor verse . I have it on a pillow , Literally yes .

Speaker 1 59:05

Yeah , I always say it's one of my anchoring verse for this podcast .

Speaker 2 59:10

That verse that when , um , some of the biggest challenges in my life I mentioned my daughter's cancer treatment um , that verse and the other verse that has really gotten me through a lot is oh what is it ? 20 , psalm 27 , 13 , I think it's . I would have despaired if I had not believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living . But those two verses when I'm struggling , it's funny how you'll forget about them and then the Lord will bring them back . And but may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace . And believing so that I love the all . It's not some , it's all . All joy and peace . And believing so that that tells you why , so that you may abound in hope that's overflowing by the power of the holy spirit . Love that verse , kristin right and abound .

Speaker 1 1:00:00

Like that word , even if it's like it's boundless , it's limitless , being a hope igniter , I'm like this is so perfect , Like it was for me , probably like you too . It's like when a verse , when he highlights something , it's almost like it just flies off , Like oh , this is this is book . Like , oh , this is it so well . Thank you again for being on . We will share Judy's information if you want to get a hold of her in the show notes . If you have , do you have a website ? Right now ? You could just even speak it out .

Speaker 2 1:00:34

Yeah , just HTTPS or wwwcollegeprepaccelcom . It's all one word and it's college . P-r-e-p-x-c-e-lcom .

Speaker 1 1:00:49

Love it , so I will link that in the show notes . I'll also link her contact information . Please reach out to her . I cannot wait to hear more . Maybe have you on again for part two , but please reach out to her to hear more about what she's doing and how she is blessing these , the next generation . So thank you again , judy . I will be on with another episode next week . Have a good day . Thanks for having me . You're welcome . Thank you .