What RV Life Taught Me About Rest and Trusting God with Jessica DeYoung

What happens when God invites you to slow down in a world addicted to hustle? In this powerful episode of the Hope Unlocked podcast, Kristin Kurtz talks with Jessica DeYoung about full-time RV living, surrender, faith, rest, and learning to trust God in the unknown. Jessica shares how life on the road in a 40-foot RV became a Holy Spirit-led journey of letting go of control, embracing stillness, and discovering peace beyond productivity. From divine appointments and God-winks to launching a podcast from an RV, this conversation offers encouragement for anyone feeling weary, overwhelmed, or disconnected from purpose. 

Jessica's contact info:

Email - email@PerspectivesIntoPractice.com

Website - perspectivesintopractice.com

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet Jessica

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Jessica DeYoung to the show. I am so excited to have her here today. We are like very recent, like close kindred sister sisters from another mother, but the same father. We'll just put it that way. So we have had just such a fun time getting to know each other. I had the joy of being on her podcast, and I cannot wait for her to share more about herself today. So before we get into your story and whatever it is that the Lord leads us to talk about today, would you be open to sharing a little about yourself?

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Yes. So I my me and my family, we travel full time, which is something that I keep hearing over and over is unique, which in the travel world, I feel like we're not unique because we're around all of our other travel friends, but we travel around the country and up into Canada. We've gone for about four and a half years now, and we absolutely love it. God has given us so many amazing opportunities to see his creation, to meet amazing people, and really just he's done a lot of stripping, a lot of stripping, and I feel like that's where we're we're gonna be talking about today, and just taking things away that are it's uncomfortable. And I never ever expected that to look like in this life, especially traveling. I thought it would be like full of abundance and goodness, and it is, yeah, but it's also full of a lot of teaching moments. And I'm so thankful that he allows me to go through this and allows the kids to see these teachable moments and the amazing conversations that we've been able to have through those movements and through the things that we're seeing that if we were stationary, we may never have been able to experience or witness. And of course, it's just growing them in an amazing way as well. And so, yeah, I have a wonderful podcast that you were on, and it's called Perspectives into Practice. And we love talking about what God is doing in your life right now and what he's teaching you through it, just seeing life through a different perspective, which is another thing that he's taught me on this wonderful travel life is getting a different perspective of things and actually applying that perspective to future moments so that you can grow and experience things differently. And yeah, God is just He's just so good.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

So good. Well, how how many kids do you have and their ages?

SPEAKER_03 2:57

Yeah, I have four kids. They are at this moment 10, 12, 14, and 16, but that will all change in August when two of them have birthdays, and then it messes up my brain and I never remember it.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Or like, wait, what?

unknown 3:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

So if I'm doing the math correctly, your kids were starting at 6 to 12 when you left left on your adventure. Is that right?

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Yes, yes. So like babies, it seems like to preteen, which wow, wow.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

I gotta know. Cause I I mean I've seen I know some people, I don't know them deeply, but I've followed people on social media who who do the travel life, and I I'm like, oh, that would be so amazing. Yeah.

unknown 3:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

An adventurist. I'm like, could somebody just toad me along for a while? What we're always welcome. Thank you. Just maybe trail behind. You can even strap me on top. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

So, what did it look like for you guys to step into

From Dream To Go Time

SPEAKER_02 3:54

this? Was there uh just take us on this journey, like take us back? You know, you've got a family. You, your your husband. I'm I'm guessing you both like were in agreement about this. So yeah, what did that look like? Did one of you have a dream? I don't know. Tell us, tell us. Yeah, every day.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Yeah, my husband had a dream for many, many years that we would travel. And I was like, Lord, Jeremy, I don't know what that even would look like. So you're gonna have to pray that the Lord puts that on my heart. And years after, you know, year after year, baby after baby after baby after, you know, he's a serial entrepreneur. So there was so many different things and jobs that he had started, and I'm like, I don't, I don't see how this is gonna work into our life at all. Well, about 2019, I had had my youngest would have been about three years old, and we I finally got the bug. The Lord was like, Hey, this this is I think you should do this. And I said, I I think you're crazy, but I'm gonna trust you and let's do it. So we bought we bought a trailer and we bought a new car to to pull the trailer and made all of our plans. And you know, we were gonna do just one little around the the country trip and then come back and reevaluate and see see what that was like. Well, right about that time was when all of the world went wack-a-doodle crazy in uh 2020 and everything shut down. And because of that, we said, apparently this is not our time. So we got all of our refunds back, thank the Lord, right before they stopped giving refunds back because everyone was trying to get one. And so we sat back down. We're like, all right, Lord, well, we thought that this was from you. What is the actual point? And so then we forgot about that dream for a little bit and then just kept going on with life. I had just renovated one of our uh boys' rooms. They moved upstairs and I turned it into a prayer room, and we blessed it and wrote scripture all over the the drywall and the subfloor. Just it was such such a precious place and just a soaking experience. And right after that, this would have been two, two and a half years later. The Lord says, Okay, it's go time. And we're like, Lord, we already did this. We we did it, we tried it, it didn't work. And he's like, No, but also I was like, I just got a prayer room, I just got a me room that is like all of my favorite things, and now you're saying, get rid of it. Like, I'm sorry, I don't, I don't understand. And so yeah, I I was, I was, I was sad, honestly. And I know it's like that's a material thing, like really, it's just a room. But in that time, that was the first time that I had had something just for me that I had completely renovated and designed myself. And I was just so proud of it. And you know, he he later reminded me that it's not about me. That place is for the next family that's gonna be in there. And we have always prayed over our house that it will be a house of blessing and a house of grace and love and just acceptance. And we had people over all the time, all the time. And they would come in and they're like, Wow, there's just something something different about here. I'm like, Yeah, that's my Jesus, he is all over this place, and so the Lord reminded me probably about a year later, because I went through a lot of, like I said, he stripped a lot of things away. And we bought a 40-foot motor coach and started traveling. And we did not sell our house in the very beginning because we were like, we need to know that we can fall back on our house just in case we don't like this. And we we felt at peace about that, and the Lord gave us this wonderful family that was gonna do a owner finance on the house, and it was just gonna be a really great thing. We're like, wow, we really get to help these with these this family, and they were non-believers when they came into the house and they had like began to get into church while they were in the house, and I was just so incredibly thankful. And that's what the Lord was showing me was this this is not about you, it's not about you. He reminds me of that all the time because you know, we can just get into our selfish little ruts and be like, Lord, why? Why do I have to be the one to move? Why do I have to be the one to change? Why do I have to go through these things? And you know, he's he's always like, because it's not about you, it's about me and my glory, and it's gonna be good, just trust me. And so that's what we did. We we

Stripping Away Control On The Road

SPEAKER_03 8:49

started traveling, and in the very beginning, I did not know how to rest. I did not know how to slow down because I wanted to take the what us travel folk call the bricks and sticks, like the house life. I wanted to take the bricks and sticks life on the road with me. And so I wanted it to be scheduled and rigid and everything planned out and knowing what was next. And you can't do that. You can't do that in this lifestyle. And so the Lord was really taking a lot of things. He was stripping away what I thought my identity was, he was stripping away what I thought was trust for him and showing me that he's in control. He was stripping away things that I had to be obedient for in order to move forward, and it was just one thing after another after another, and it was really hurtful in the beginning. Like it was painful, pain, it was very painful. It stripped away relationships that I thought were good and close, and he's showing me that they weren't, you know. I've seen I've seen there was a picture I've saw that said, I took away these relationships because I heard the conversations that you didn't, and something like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

And I was like, Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

And I'm like, I feel that so much because I don't know what they what was happening on that side, and so that looked like a lot of slowing down when we got on the road. There was a lot of slowing down, and my husband, I remember when we first started, he would sit down and he was so excited to finally slow down. And I'm like, I don't even know what that is like. Yeah, it it I feel like it's easier for men for sure. Yeah, and so he would just be sitting in his little rocker watching nature, and I'm over here, like we could be sweeping, we could be clean. Yes, like I'm sorry, why are we sitting down doing nothing? And the Lord caught me. He was like, it was like that Mary Martha situation, like he's doing what I want him to do, he is slowing down, and you have yet to understand that, and you'll get it, you'll get there. And I'm like, oh my gosh, the whole sitting and doing nothing is so taxing on my brain because there's I just know there's so many other things, and so the Lord has been showing me continually to slow down, to choose trusting him over controlling the situation or the outcome. And saying, Oh my goodness, he's been teaching me to say yes, even when it's inconvenient. And so we went from very honestly, very rigid planning schedules to we knew exactly where we were gonna go and for how long, and then move to the next place and boom, boom, boom, boom. But what we realized very, very soon after we began travel was we didn't allow any room for the Lord to move. We didn't allow any room for new relationships to be be built and for a community to be grown in and in and through us and around us. And we were thwarting so many things that the Lord wanted to do for us. We're like, well, sorry, we can't stay longer. We gotta be blah, blah, blah. And and we, you know, we kind of like stopped and looked at each other. We're like, why do we feel like we need to have everything planned? Is it just for our convenience? Is it is that what it is? Or is it, you know, for it? Do we feel like this is what the Lord is saying? I knew that the answer was not that, but you know, it's something sometimes you just have to say it out loud and realize how ridiculous it sounds. Like, of course, the Lord doesn't want us rushing around and striving for more, right? He's he doesn't want us to be frantic, he wants us uh to be still and be with him and to pay attention and to be obedient in his promptings. And so we did. So we slowed down, and now we we barely plan. We we we know where we would like to go, and then we say, Lord, plan our footsteps, like plan what is in ahead of us, prepare the way for us, prepare the relationships that you want us to to have and to to cultivate and to to even just meet. And doing through the podcast, I have been able to meet many people that I've met online in real life because we're traveling and because we don't have rigid expectations of what this life needs to be and where we need to go next. And so we have learned to slow down, learned to trust him and just say yes. I mean, those those three things just keep coming up over and over and over. And I mean, I feel like even if you're in a a bricks and sticks and a stationary home, those three things are still so so important because you and I know that we're always looking for birds and feathers and what what are these little god winks that God has for us? And yeah, I did not do that pre-travel because I had to no I did not because I didn't have time. I didn't have time to do that. I had to be at this Bible study, and I had to go to this class, and I had to go pick up my daughter from this, and then I had to take my son to this over here, and we had to be at our homeschool tutorial, and it it it was something. Which is why I didn't know how to be still and sit with the Lord. And even though I would have my quiet time with the Lord and I would, you know, he he would have okay, I take that back. I didn't spend time looking for the feathers and looking for the little things in life, but the Lord did give me beautiful, sweet downloads. I call them downloads from him when I would sit still and and and and so when I wouldn't sit still, I'd wonder why I wouldn't hear from him. And he would gently remind me, well, sweet girl, if you'd sit still long enough to hear from me. And so he he started working on me, I would say in about 2016, right before he called me into ministry full time, he he was beginning to work on me and and show me that. And so it, you know, it's it's taken a long time, but remembering to ask him in the middle of whatever it is, Lord, what are you teaching me in this? What can I learn from this? What can I teach others about this? And that's that's where this these like downloads came from is that that beginning of asking questions. And so, man, if if you're in a in a season right now where it just feels like non-stop, go, go, go, go, go, and you're wondering, Lord, where are you? He is there in the stillness, and I invite you to be still with him, whatever that might look like, whether that's sitting on a couch with your toddlers going all around you, which sometimes that's what it looked like, or if it's sometimes happening to sit in your car and just say, Lord, I need you, or maybe it's going for a walk in the park or even just in your backyard. It doesn't have to be some grand gesture, it doesn't have to be some big thing, just remembering that he is not the one that has moved. It's us that have put too much on our plate that we just have to remember to come back to him. And oh, he's just so sweet and gentle, isn't he?

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Oh, girl, I'm telling you. So we've we've both been on, you know, I'm not traveling, but I had a very similar, you know, time frame 2017, 2018. It was like this unwinding from grinding season. Yes, so uncomfortable. And one of one of the words I I feel like we could just kind of hand to the listeners right now is what he kept showing me was like slow the go. Yeah. Just slow the go. I'm like, oh, oh. And it that was my response, oh, you know, like, but what does that look like? Because in our world, everything is so fast-paced. And it truly, I don't know about you, but you could tell me like it felt violent to try to rest. It felt violent to try to like slow the go. It felt violent to just sit still. And my body's like, oh, I could be doing all the other things. And my brain is like, what are we doing?

unknown 17:33

What are we doing?

SPEAKER_03 17:34

Yes, yes. It really was like a pulling from the inside. I felt almost like a vibration. Like when I would just sit and do nothing, I felt so uncomfortable, so so out of place, so out of sorts, because that was not what I grew up doing. And I felt like that sitting still and doing nothing equals lazy. Therefore, you can't sit still and do nothing. You have to be moving constantly. And the Lord really had to take that away. So, yeah, it was very uncomfortable. It was very shocking and just not something I would like to experience again. So I think we're getting the Lord piece here.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Like test it out, try it out. Yes, you know, I'm really curious. I I want to go back a little bit if you're okay with that. So, you know, you it's not just you and your husband that decided to leave, but your your kids came along with you for the journey. I'd I would be curious to know, like, what was their thought? You know, what were their thoughts about traveling? What was their thought? Like, how did you approach them? You know, what did it look like for you to to start this adventure as a family?

Helping Kids Release A Life Of Excess

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Yeah. Did they understand? So we yeah, we did sit them down and talk to them and say, hey, we really feel led to do this wonderful thing. And we explained, like, we don't know what that looks like long term, but we would like to go travel and experience God's creation. And one of the things that the Lord was really highlighting that I missed earlier was that we we lived in a land of excess. We had way too much stuff the kids wanted for nothing. Birthdays and celebrations were hard because they already had everything that they needed and or even wanted. And so it was just, there was just too much of everything. Too much on our plates, too much on our walls, too much in our closets. Like it was just, it was too much. And so we, you know, had had told him about that. Like you live a very, very nice life. And, you know, my husband and I, we we always talked about how we want to be able to give the kids what we couldn't, we we didn't have growing up. And unfortunately, that land that landed us into doing too much for them and not not in to be put in debt. The Lord definitely provided in so many amazing ways. So we were we were not, we were still good stewards of our money, but we realized that it was getting to be too much. And so we, you know, we explained that to them. And of course they didn't want to leave all of that, they didn't understand why they needed to, you know, say goodbye to their friends. They didn't understand why they needed to put stuff in storage. And yeah, they they didn't they didn't understand a lot of things. And not sure what just happened. So they didn't understand a lot of what was happening, and our families really didn't make it much easier for us because they didn't understand why we needed to live everything and leave everything and why we needed to go travel the world when you know we had to there was just there was a lot of their own fears that were put onto us, and so our kids had a lot of questions that they didn't naturally think of, but they heard conversations. And so it was the the it was easier for the little ones. My 12 year old, he's yeah, he he had he was little 12 and a half. He had the hardest time because he was the one that he had gone to school for one year before we started homeschooling, and so he had friends from there. that he was with all the time. And so while we did, you know, we had friends from church and and homeschool group, but it wasn't, it was just different. And that the younger kids, they were, they were more accepting of it. And so it was, it was definitely harder for for the for my 12 year old, but they once they started realizing, and this actually has started within the last two years. So it took a couple years for them to finally like understand and get it, that the experiences that we're having, their friends back at home may never experience that. And what we have learned, and I love hearing when the kids talk about this is that our life, we don't live our life like a vacation because the vacation mentality is that you have to go and get it all done because you've only got a shortened period of time. And so you know people always say oh I need a vacation for my vacation and it's because you feel like you have to push everything in there, right? And so I love it when I hear the kids talking about how our life might look like it's a vacation but we love to experience the things and to slow down. And when we bring our any of their friends to our life our side of our our side of town and allow them to experience what life is like it's just it's amazing to see them experience our life from a different perspective because it's more about slowing

Learning To Stop For Wonder

SPEAKER_03 23:32

down. It's more about turn you know if if anyone in our car sees something that they want to that they want to see we immediately stop and turn over. Whereas before you know we wouldn't we're like oh no no well well maybe we'll see it again or oh that was really cool. And so when their friends come and we do that they're like really you just pull over yeah you want to see it give us an example like what that's so we yes because in my mind I'm I'm picturing this so yeah just recently my son or I guess last year my son got a lifeguarding job and he became really great friends with another lifeguard there and I call him my other son and they are just best friends. So we had him come out to us when we were out in Washington Oregon area and we said hey we're going to go down the Oregon coast why don't you come come visit with us and he said great so we got him out here and we start trying driving and we had walkie talkie so they were driving the truck behind us and we were in the bus and we are in walkie talkies and they're like oh my goodness do you see that rock over there? We're like yeah as soon as I can pull over we'll pull over so we find whatever opening with our 40 foot bus that we could pull over safely we pull over and then we go and explore whatever that was the rock the the tree the flowers the whatever it is the waterfall we pull over right then and we go experience it because life is too short to pass up those opportunities. So why why why do we do that right? We're like oh well that was so nice but but you could also stop and go look right and so it was so absolutely amazing to see our life through his eyes because that's not how they vacation they drive drive drive drive drive drive drive and then they get there and then they enjoy it and then they drive so the whole oh we can stop before we get to our destination aspect was right. It's like who does that right yes and that's I mean it it yes it makes our trip longer we know that and but that's also the point right that's the point is to stop and to slow down and to see or what is there something here that you need to to do with us is there something that you want to show us is there an experience that you need us to have or a conversation that we need to to to do and he is just he's so gracious and so so good in that and and so we try to teach others that but it's really hard unless you experience it.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Yeah well it invite us into a moment where maybe you guys were like without even somebody in the back going hey hey I saw this this you know object let's stop did you ever have like you know Holy Spirit like hey we need to go like we we need to take a hard left unexpectedly have you ever had any of those moments yes so there was we knew that we were in an area where there was a waterfall but we had an absolutely no idea and I just kept feeling like it was around the corner.

SPEAKER_03 26:37

I'm like I Jeremy I think it's around the corner and he's like you've never even been here I'm like I know and so sure enough we come around this bend and I'm looking to the left because it's this gorgeous river on the left side and my husband's looking on the right even though it's a cliff and I'm like I don't okay look at the cliff that's cool. I'm looking at the water as I'm driving this big bus and he says oh my gosh and from the from the road if you don't look immediately where you're going you'll miss it. And so I almost missed it. I saw the tail end of it and I said that is that is it that's it we have to stop and he's like how do you know like we we have to stop so we actually drove this was a place in Oregon that there's not many exits and especially exits big enough for our 40 foot bus and truck to turn around and so we actually had to go I want to say 10 ish miles down the road to find a place to turn around to come back to it. And when we finally got there we were it was packed the the parking lot was packed and I said Lord I I really feel like this is what you're leading us to can you give us a parking spot please because I don't feel like this is for nothing. And if it is then that means that we're driving 10 more miles out of the way to turn around to go back the way that we were supposed to go and sure enough he gave us a spar spot right there in the in the front and so we parked we got out we walked up this magnificent side of this mountain to see one of I think it's one of the country's tallest waterfalls and it's been in movies. I didn't even know anything about this yes and we took this this hike up and it there was just so many amazing God moments around every single turn and it was kind of like you walk up and then you turn back up on itself just to get up to the top and my a couple of the kids went with me to the top and it was just like God was speaking the entire time either to me or to them or to conversations and things that we saw like little bitty mushrooms on the side of the it was just there were so many amazing God moments that had we not stopped right had we not driven that 10 miles out of the way to drive 10 miles back to hope to maybe find a parking spot right like we could have just said well that was nice you know we can see pictures online not even the same but that intentionality is is what it was and I feel like there was a con I can't even remember I feel like there was a conversation that my that my husband had with my daughter because they stayed back with the dog. Yes and it was just it it was exactly what we needed to do at that time and we did not have a lot of time left in the day truthfully like it normally we would not have done that at all except for this big strong prompting to pull over and because we don't like to get to our spots at dusk or dark because it's harder to find parking spots and and to park and so we we do you know that is one of those things that we do plan. And so it was you know it was getting later in the day and I was like oh Lord I'm gonna need your favor for the sun to stay up for us because we still have driving to do even after this wonderful amazing experience that you're giving us so please please keep the sun in the sky for a little bit longer. And we did and it was we had to see a gorgeous sunset when we got to our place in this amazing state park and it was just everything that we needed and I remember sitting down on the picnic table afterward and I just took a really deep breath and my husband said are you okay and I was like thank you thank you for obeying the Lord's prompting to to do this. Thank you for like allowing our family to experience these things that we probably would never have experienced before for being open to do these things when I don't know if we would have if you know we didn't have this this prompting to travel and it was just such an amazing day. And then you know it ended with just such a beautiful reminder of God's goodness in the sunset. And so that's I mean that's just one we've we've been on this road for almost five years now and it's just it just keeps getting better.

Trusting God With Unexpected Turns

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Oh well and I even as I'm listening to you you know share this story and like you're I told them seeing it probably is different than what you experienced but I I feel like it translates into life even for people who aren't traveling but it can translate and be a parallel to you know just our days and letting him lead the schedule letting him lead our time letting him lead the next step so like what would you say to somebody who is really maybe having a hard time kind of following those hard left turns unexpected ones yeah I would say you have to lean into the Lord this is something that when he gives you those unexpected turns ask him the questions that are on your heart because he is not he is not afraid of your questions.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

He embraces them and if you're willing answers them in in a way that he wants you know he he gives you and so being intentional with your time and your thoughts you know the Lord says or the Bible says take every thought captive. So think about your thoughts in the I'm too busy or I can't make that work and when he asks us to do something in that obedience which sometimes is very stretching sometimes it's uncomfortable sometimes it's absolutely inconvenient and it might make you late to wherever you're going to but it will always be worth it because he's not asking us to figure it out he's just saying will you trust me will you do what I'm asking you to do and while it might seem it might seem hard right now I promise you that when you trust him when you allow his will to be your will things just work it just it's like it's like a well oiled machine in your in it I I it's been it's happened so many times in my life and I look back and go no other way but God that's it no other way but God.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

And when you allow him to do that in your life oh friend man it it literally will change it and you just but you have to listen yes absolutely well I have a few just tangible questions about traveling if you're okay answering some people are wondering because I I always wonder about these things. So prior to you know hitting the road you know the first time you guys left you had a a trailer and then you have a a bus now a 40 foot bus.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

Had you guys trailered anything before had you but I'm gonna just say bust before have you ever bust out before no so that was uh that was it we had tent camped that we were tent campers and what's really funny like yes yes which is very nature very nature heavy and we did a lot of planning to do it I remember everything was in tubs and in plastic bags and it was labeled because that was just the easiest way for my brain. Yes right and so that is one of the big reasons why when he when Jeremy kept saying oh yeah I think we should do this full time and travel I I just could not wrap my brain about how that would work with all of these littles and how much stress it is like that's just that's just too much. And so we did tent camp and I remember on our last tent camping trip before we got the go to buy a bus and travel full time there was a motor coach similar to ours that we have now parked with their TV out and they were sitting outside watching TV and I just remember Jeremy and I looked at each other judging them truly because we're like that is not camping why are they in the state park that is not camping and now here we are taking our home which is a motor coach to these state parks and it this is our life right so we do camp in the woods we do do all that thing all those things but I just remember so clearly kind of poking fun at well must be nice right and because we're over here you know roughing it with the arch tents and inflatable mattresses right so no we had not we had not done any busing we had bought the trailer but we didn't even get to use it for what we wanted and what I we honestly we were amazed that when we bought the the bus that there was no training.

Driving A Bus Without Training

SPEAKER_03 35:55

They just give you those I was gonna ask you like how did like because there's a lot we we had a fifth wheel at one point and yeah there's a whole there's a whole bunch of things that go along with that kind of uh trailering I I never had had driven because I just don't trust myself enough with that but you know just my my curiosity has me wondering like did you guys just figure it out along the way like God was just showing you what to do yeah so my husband is he he has got a beautiful autistic brain and he can see how things work and move and and very physics minded and so he knew how things worked so he knew that when the back tire was here then you could turn and you'll you know you'll make it and he he could he could do all those things. I was like I'm gonna be a passenger princess and good luck driving and the Lord humbled me real quick and said actually you're gonna be driving and I was like I don't know about that well my husband has a vertigo issue and and cannot drive so the Lord like humbled us both because he hasn't been able to drive for about three years long distance he can go a little bit like parking and parking lots and stuff but he can't go long distance and so I have driven the bus for three years and I I had to learn real quick. And so now I feel like I'm really good at driving I could do it by myself and that's because he has such a beautiful brain he's able to tell me where to go and then I tell him hey don't tell me what to do this time I want to try to see if I could do it myself and I and I surprise myself sometimes that I've actually retained all of this wonderful knowledge that he's given me to drive and yeah they they don't they don't have trainings for that they just give you the keys to this massive 4000 pound 40 foot and 40 have fun. Yeah 40 foot 40 yeah that's amazing well and again it it's it's another parallel to you know things in in life one would think you have to have training to be able to do certain things right yeah right yeah what would you say to that and like God says go yes I would say that the I haven't had college prepared training and driving a bus yet no no and I mean it's been there's so many things in my life that I have not been trained for but the Lord has said that this is what you're going to do. When he called me into ministry that was a big one and I'm like I am not an author or a speaker Lord I don't know what you want me to do and he's like do you trust me when he called when he asked me to to you know go on the road of course he's like hey do you trust me there's no training in this we have to figure it out on the way when I started the podcast I had no idea what I was doing yeah but he said do you trust me and I did and so when when he tells you to do something and you say yes to it you can believe that he will bring you through it he will give you the ways he will give you all of the things to do and we just have to walk in it and that's really hard just recently and you know about this he's asked me to oh he's asked me to host a retreat and it's coming up at the end of June and I feel so ill prepared for it but I'm trusting him I am praying that he gives me one step each day to do and I I'm trusting that he's going to fill the seats I'm trusting that he's going to provide a place for us to be and a provision for all of the food like I am trusting him in that and I am at peace in that and man if he I mean he he will do it so so well and you know it just reminds me that some of some of the deepest work that God does isn't visible. It's things that we have to learn and to grow in ourselves and I'm just so thankful that he gives me that opportunity to grow and to learn and then all the while teaching others and sharing my experience in the middle of the mess while it's happening.

SPEAKER_02 40:26

Yeah yeah it's incredible you know I I often will ask people on the podcast like what is something stretching that's you know coming up for you this year and obviously you know like you have a lot on your horizon in the vision and I I truly think some of the most powerful things that I mean we're called to do and we have a choice we can say yes or no he's not gonna like heavy hand us and be like forcing us to do something but it's often in those most uncomfortable things like maybe free for me starting a podcast was like probably one of the most like like what are you serious kind of moments like me? Like what are you talking about? But it's been through that that and I'm sure this has been for you too like we've like you I've I've met some of the most incredible people we get to share people's stories and get their voices out there and like can you imagine if we would have said no we would not we likely probably would not have met yeah no you're you're probably on that would be very slim I I'm I'm just saying and and all of the people super close to me right now that I I would not have met them had I not done the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

I mean I say that because but I'm not I'm not all knowing and I'm not God but yeah I think that if it were to happen it would have been a lot more difficult. But the podcast has just been such a beautiful place to meet people to share their stories and to allow the listeners to experience their stories and learn from them and hear their different perspectives and different stories and see themselves through other people and go, wow that is just incredible if God can do that for them he can do it for me. And it's just the best.

Building A Podcast From An RV

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Okay so you're and I want to capture this too like so you're traveling and you have a podcast how long ago did your podcast start last February. Last February so you you get the prompting like some people are you know this is what most might think well yeah I don't have a studio I don't I don't have a studio I don't have all that I need to have a podcast so yeah what did you have any excuses that came up anything that came up for you?

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Oh yes I did I actually was disobedient for I want to say at least six to nine to twelve months because the Lord and I were doing so many awesome things and when I when he's gave me this idea that's all I thought it was but I didn't think it was from him at first I was like Jessica you don't need one more thing on your plate and then he brings it up again and I'm like Lord but I mean that's cool. Like podcasts are cool everyone's doing one awesome great but what about this book that you like don't we need to finish this book and he's like I want you to do a podcast and oh but Lord what about that online course that we're working on I thought that that was going to be the whole big ministry thing and he's like I want you to do a podcast so I just kept coming over and over and at this point I didn't have any tactical excuses it was all things that he had already told me that we were working on and so when I finally was like Lord okay okay fine let's do what does that even look like to do a podcast And he what's funny is that the name Perspectives into Practice actually came from a section of a devotional that I had written back in 2017. And it was called Perspectives into Practice, this little part of the book, which was putting into practice what you had learned from the devotional. Because a lot of Bible studies and devotionals will give you really great information, but then the whole turning it into actionable steps for your life, it's kind of misses the point in a lot of ways. And so that is the biggest thing that I wanted to get learned to teach in this devotional. And so I called it perspectives into practice. So when I finally sit down to go, Lord, what do you even want me to? What is this podcast idea? And he reminds me, perspectives into practice. And it's about teaching or hearing what God is doing right now in women's lives. And there I end every podcast with a perspective that the listeners can put into practice today. And if you actually put these things into practice, it really does change your life. And so I my podcast studio is in my truck. Sometimes I have a background, sometimes I don't. Right now, I'm currently standing in my bathroom in my RV because it's got a it's quiet back here. And it it does not look like what I thought it would look like. It is not polished, it is not again. It does not look like what I thought it would, but it is exactly what the Lord has asked me to do. And I'm being obedient in it each step of the way, even though it's messy, even though it's not perfect. And He is just blessing my socks off with it. And every person that I get to interact with, whether being on their podcast or being on mine, it has just opened so many wonderful doors to see him working in our lives. And it's just, I'm so thankful that I said yes and sad that I said no so many times earlier. But you know what? His his timing is always perfect, and we cannot thwart his blessing even in our disobedience. He is so good and gracious that when we do say yes, because the the truth is that even that delayed obedience, it that was disobedience. So I didn't think about that in the beginning. I just thought, well, Lord, I'm doing all these other great things for you.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:28

But we have to remember that.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I would love for you to share. So you you have the perspectives into practice. What would be a practice you'd like to share with us today? It is you've shared a lot.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

I have.

SPEAKER_02 46:48

I have something that somebody can take away today that's just coming up on your heart right now.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

Yeah. Take

One Practice To Start Today

SPEAKER_03 46:57

time to be with the Lord. Like I said earlier, whether that's sitting on your couch or in their car or walking in the in the grass outside, He is inviting us to walk with Him one step at a time. And when we learn, when we learn and respond to Him, even in those small ways, it everything really does begin to shift. So my encouragement would be to slow down, even when it's hard, even when it doesn't feel comfortable, because He will extend your time, he will extend your prosperity, the things that you have to do, your your countenance out to the world. He will expand that when you give him the opportunity to. And that's something, especially as as young mamas, it it might feel like you are doing something and it's so inconvenient, but God is gonna bless it because it's for him.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

Yes, so good. And I would normally ask people, like, hey, would you speak to the one? But I you just did. Speak our word over the one. You you just did. And I think it means it speaks even, I'm sure it speaks over you as well. Sometimes when we speak these things, it's like a boomerang that we need to hear. Have you experienced that before?

SPEAKER_03 48:16

Oh, absolutely. He constantly throws my words back into my face when I think, oh wow, this is such a great word for people. And he's like, Hey, remember when you said that? Yeah, we're gonna work on that now. I'm like, oh man, I thought I was over it. No, we're never done growing. He is constantly refining us and teaching us to be better. And I'm so thankful for that. I never want to stay stagnant in where I was or who I think I am.

SPEAKER_02 48:43

Exactly. Oh my gosh. Well, I just love you. How can people get a hold of you and maybe hear more about your retreats that's coming up?

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Yeah, at perspectivesindopractice.com. That you can listen to all of the podcasts on there. There's blogs on there. You can reach out to me. Tell me if you're interested and want more information about the retreat. I would love to talk to you if you would want to be on the podcast and share what God is doing in your life. Reach out to me at perspectives into practice.com and let's chat.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

Yay. Well, thank you. I'm gonna put all of your contact information in the show notes. You're such a dear friend and sister, and you guys need to get to know her better. Go listen to her podcast, get in touch with her. I would love, would you pray us out today?

Prayer And Closing Blessing

SPEAKER_02 49:29

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 49:31

Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this time. Thank you for speaking over us and thank you for teaching us to be still. Lord, you know that we live in a really busy world where being still and intentional is really hard sometimes. But Lord, I know that you are creating us into taking time for you, into creating us into being more in your image. And including that in in the middle of that is that intentionality. When you say to stop, we do. When you say to slow down, we do. When you say to jump, we say how high. Father, I just pray that for every person listening, Lord, that you will help them so gently as you are to to implement this in into their lives, or to help them to slow down, to help them to notice the flowers on the path, to notice the eagles in the sky. Father, you are such a good, good father, and you love us so much. And you are continually showing us little winks, little pieces of you all over your creation. And I just I just pray that every person listening gets to see that, gets to experience that, because I know just how wonderful it is. And I know that you it you were so good for each of your daughters and your sons. Father, be with us today. Be with every person listening, give them peace and patience and love and just goodness over their whole life, Father. We thank you, Jesus. We love you so much, Father. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 51:06

Amen. Well, thank you so much, and thank you for being a brave voice who's setting so many free. I'm gonna close with the hope unlocked anchoring verse. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 15, 13. So I will be back with another episode next week. Thank you, listeners. Thank you, Jessica.

SPEAKER_03 51:31

Thank you.