The Faith Filled Mom Podcast

Understanding the Parables

Denea (00:01)Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Filled Mom podcast. I hope today, wherever you are, that you just take a deep breath. I had a kickboxing instructor who always used to say, as you were going about what you are doing, don't forget to breathe. And that stuck with me. That has been, that was like back in Tennessee. So it's been a little minute since I've heard that.
But just that, as you are going about whatever you're doing, as you are going about your day, as you are going about laundry, as you are going about working, as you are going about doing pickup and drop off and all of the many things that you do, don't forget to breathe. Deep inhale, slow exhale. Our bodies need that, our spirits need that.
And I think it's good for our mental health too. Don't forget to breathe. Today's episode is going to be about the parables, understanding the parables. We're going to be going through five steps that can help us understand, get some understanding in what they mean. I'm going to pray a sin real quick. Father, thank You for Your word. Thank you that it is alive and active and relevant today, yesterday, and it will be tomorrow. Thank you that Your word will never pass. It is a sure foundation that we can read. It is a sure foundation that we can go back to when we need to be reminded of who we are. It leads us and it helps us understand who you are. We have a desire, God, to understand You and Jesus, and we want to understand Your Word. Holy Spirit, we invite You into this Bible studying session. Point us back to who God and Jesus are and help us with understanding with the text to saying, we love you God in Jesus' name, amen.
Okay, so I believe that it is because I am autistic that I tend to be, I'm very literal. Maybe you are not on the spectrum. Maybe you're just like, you know, I'm, have always just been like a straight talker, like very good to the point. I went in understanding people. You're like, yes, I tend to be a very literal person. Maybe you are on the spectrum and you can relate. Maybe you're a neurodivergent and you can relate. Regardless, I think these five steps can help us all in understanding the parables and really figurative language in the Bible in general.
Understanding the Parables
Now for today, we are going to be talking about specifically, we're going to use an example from the gospel. So it's going to be Jesus using this parable. The first question of the first, I guess the first step is asking ourselves, who is Jesus talking to? Now this is important because Jesus tailored his parables according to his audience. He made them relevant to according to who he was talking to right? He wanted them to understand the parable therefore he  made it make sense to them. He used things that were relevant to them and from their world and I think that is such an amazing. I mean, I think I know that Jesus is Messiah and I know that he's God. But I just wonder, you know, like what it would have been like just to see him like teach and talk. You know, he was such a great communicator that way. And I think that's one of the reasons why understanding who his audience is, because it gives us insight. It can help us lead or go to the meaning of the actual parable.
The First Step in Understanding the Parables
And that first step, I think, is understanding who he's talking to, because the parable is relevant to that person. It's going to be from their world. It was a way for Jesus to connect with his audience.
The Second Step in Understanding the Parables
Second step, we're going to reflect on who or what is being used to make a point in the text. So and don't try to like come to any conclusions or like any connections here. We're just going to observe and we're just going to look. You can write it down if you'd like. So who is he talking to? And then who or what is he making a point within the text in the parable? Is he talking about the particle sun? Is he talking about sheep and a shepherd? Is he talking about oil and lamps? Is he talking about a wedding and a guest? Like what exactly is being used here? just reflecting.
The Third Step in Understanding the Parables
The third step is to get any historical or cultural context, facts about the audience, the main characters or objects. So basically, we're just doing deep dives on the people that we observe in steps one and two. And we talked about on a previous episode, I think it was the one before this actually, about ways, number one, why historical and cultural context is so important and what are some ways that you and I can get them.
It's the episode right before this. Some of the answers were getting that historical survey. You can also use like a Bible dictionary. You can Google, but remember if we Google, we're going to do what we can to make sure that we're looking at a reputable website. What are some ways to see if the website is reputable? Well, I always like to see the last time the website was updated or the article was updated. Like how relevant is this? For me, anyway, the more recent something was written, the more I'm like, okay, maybe I can trust that something hasn't been updated or if it's from like decades ago, then I'm like, it still could be true. But I'm definitely a little suspicious. Another thing that I like to do is I like to do my own little deep dive, mini deep dive on whoever wrote the article or the website themselves. So I go to social media and look for this person or this publication or this website. And I like to see the type of things that they are posting. I feel like this gives me a little peek into who this person is. And the reason why I think that's important is because I think sometimes history has a way of being reported or told at like an angle versus just like giving people facts. And I think that is very important. So I want to see what else this publication is talking about. What else this person is posting. Those are just some of the ways I think that you can check to see if a website is legitimate. You probably have other ways. Definitely make sure that it's legit.
So we're going to gain the historical context, any cultural context, facts that we can about the audience and about what he's using or who he's talking about to make a point. And again, the whole reason, one of the reasons why we want to do this is because all of this is going to be relevant to the audience, which means it's going to be relevant to the point of the parable.
The Fourth Step in Understanding the Parables
The fourth step. Now we're going to use all that we have gathered. We're going to try to put it together and see what the main point of the text is. This is when you put it together. I do not like to do, I don't like to, I mean sometimes it happens right but I don't like to mix the third and fourth stuff. Like I don't like to get the historical context and then try and make a point. Like I, I try to make those two separate texts because I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. Like I want it...I want it to be its own separate step. So this is when we're going to put everything together to see, like, I think I know what the main point is. Step five is we're going to pray and ask for understanding in how we can apply it to our everyday lives. And I definitely think that step is important because, I mean, the Bible is, yes, it helps us understand God and who He is. And it also helps us understand how we are supposed to live. I think, I mean, all throughout the Bible, but I love just, I don't know, thinking about how Jesus lived and then comparing that to how I live. And of course, I have a long way to go. Thankfully, that's why we have the Holy Spirit that is doing this work within us until we go to heaven. But that's what this is for, right? It's to under, like, we don't want to just know the scripture and understand it. Like, we also need to apply it to our lives. And so that's to pray and ask for that understanding and how we can apply it. All right, let's get to the example. We are going to be talking about the parable of the lost sheep.
This is in Matthew and again, this will be in the show notes. So don't don't don't worry You don't need to jump to grab anything Relax listen Take it in. I've got you. It's in the show notes the parable of the lost sheep Matthew chapter 18 verses 10 through 14 and I am going to
I'm going to read those verses for you and then we'll talk about it. So this is Jesus talking. See to it that you don't despise one of these little ones because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of, I'm sorry, view the face of my father in heaven. What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray. And if he finds it, truly, I tell you, he rejoices over the sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. In the same way, it is not the will of your father in heaven that one of these little ones perish. And so, okay, we're going to use this framework, right? We're doing this together. Number one, who is the speaker? Jesus. Who is he talking to?
So he's actually, he's talking to his disciples. And the reason that we know this is from the text that's right before it. So this is also a really, this is a great way, whenever you are trying to figure out who the speaker is talking to or who Jesus is talking to and like, just figure it to language outside of the gospel, or if you're talking about the parable specifically.
When you're trying to figure out who the audience is, see if you can find out by the surrounding text, by the text that comes right before it or the text that comes after it. And if you can't, of course, Google it. But remember, we talked about those steps, right, and making sure that we have a legit website. But this answer
Who's the audience, who's he talking to? Actually comes from Matthew chapter 18 verse one. And it says, at that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, so they're talking to him. They asked him who's the greatest of the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus calls a small child to him. And that's when he says, and I will read some of this, truly I tell you, he said, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, themselves. Therefore, whoever humbles themselves like this child, this one is the greatest kingdom, greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So that actually gives us our answer. Looking at that connecting text. So who is he talking to? He's talking to his disciples.
And I want to point out to his disciples, could be, you know, the 12 disciples, they could also be other people who were following him too. So that's who his audience was. The second question is reflect on who or what is being made, being used to make the main point in the text or in the parable. So what was Jesus talking about in that parable?
He was talking about a shepherd and he was talking about the sheep, right? Now I do think that it is helpful to make a note that before the parable, although it's not used in the parable, before the parable Jesus is talking about children. He's talking about children. I remember they just asked him like, "who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom". 
Recap
So I think that is also really just a good point to when you're trying to figure out who he's talking to, the speaker is talking to and what is being used to make a point. I think it's just a good practice to see if you can read a few verses before and after the figurative language. Step three, get all of the historical or not all.
Get any historical or cultural context about the audience, main characters, objects that you can. So in step three, we're talking about his disciples. And the thing that I found really, really interesting was that shepherding, and this is throughout the Bible too, but just in that time, shepherding was a very, popular job. It was well known. He was most likely talking to working class people, right? He most likely was not talking about people in who were living in the earthly kingdom there. He was talking to working class people and being a shepherd was one of the most popular jobs at that time. So being that he was talking to working class people, they were probably very familiar with shepherds and shepherding in some capacity, whether that would be trading wool or whether that would be providing food for the shepherd to give to the sheep, or maybe they were like a hired on help to help the shepherd. They were probably very familiar with shepherding in some capacity. So that's why those are a few of the historical facts about like the working class people of that time. Maybe they weren't, it's possible. Maybe they weren't shepherds themselves, but again, they probably had some type of, in that time, people had a lot of connections to shepherds in some type of capacity.
The fourth step, using all that you have gathered, piece together what the main point of the text is. I put together that God values all of his children, and I am so glad about that. God values all of his children, no matter what our earthly position is. He values us all. So we should not look down on others because God values us all. His valuing system, and we've known this, right? For example, when you read the Beatitudes, there seems to be, and we know this to be true, there is a different ordering system and there's a different way that certain virtues are valued to God.
And the truth is that earthly possessions really don't make a difference. What we value here on earth, it's not that those things are important, but in terms of heavenly things, if we want to keep our eyes, our minds on things above, there seems to be a different valuing system. And so being that there's a different valuing system, it's important for us to know that God values all of us. Now, children, especially during this time, children and women were seen as less than. This was whether they were in working class or whether they were rich. They were seen as less than. And so Jesus is also making that point, right? He, again, there's that connection. Like, he knows that. He knows his audience. He knows what's going around, what's going on around him and how marginalized people are being treated. And he says, hey, like I know that things are different here, but in heaven, like in heavenly things, the way that God operates, we are not to look down on anyone. And so how can we apply this to our lives, our everyday lives?
How Do We Apply What We've Learned?
I think one of the ways that we can apply this is to one, understand that God absolutely cares for the marginalized. And I think that that is...for me anyway, because I am a member of a marginalized community. I'm an African American woman who has a disability. I'm autistic, ADHD and OCD. Hearing that is, it's a relief. And it also makes me sad, I think, because of the reason of why it's a relief. It brings up the realization that that's not always the case on earth. And that is, I think, what makes me feel sad about that.
But I am encouraged and I am excited and I'm thankful that the way that God views us and how he loves us, it's different than how this world does. And I'm so glad about that because God is eternal. This world is not. And so if anything were to be eternal, I am glad that it is how God loves and views all of his children.
I think another thing, another way that we can apply this to our lives is realizing that God pursues us. You know, in that parable, he's saying that a sheep has gone astray and sheep are defenseless. This is another, I don't know, I don't really know if this is an historical fact or a cultural fact, but this is just a fact about sheep.
They're pretty defenseless. They have no, I think their kind of defense, I guess, mechanism is to be still, lock their knees, and then what typically happens is they, don't quote me on this, but I think it's they're overturned. They go on their back and their legs are up in the air. They can't defend themselves. And so the sheep,
I mean, they need a shepherd in general because they need guidance. They need to be cared for. But they also need a shepherd because the shepherd is the one who looks after them and keeps them, you know, tries to keep them away from the prey and tries to keep them from being, like when a sheep is on its back, the shepherd is the one who turns it on its feet. And so, I mean, this picture here of, of our beautiful shepherd of God, that's who the shepherd is meant to be, is going after the sheep, right? Going after us because he values us all. He pursues us. And when we talk about going astray, I mean, that's all of us, right? We have all done that. We've all gone astray. This is...before we were saved and this is after we were saved, we all have gone and will go astray because of our humanity, because we are sinful creatures in our nature. That's who we are. Of course, this is not a license to just go and do whatever you want to do and be like, well, that's my humanity. No, no, no, no, because God knows our heart. But this is comforting in that
when we go astray, that God is not done with us. You know, it does not say, then the shepherd goes astray, or when the sheep goes astray, the shepherd just writes them off. No, that doesn't happen. The shepherd leaves the 99 to pursue the one that is astray. And I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that sometimes people write you off, right? But our God, he doesn't.
When we stray, he pursues us and he wants us back. This is why I think shame is so dangerous. This lie that the enemy plants that says, hey, when you do something, you need to hide it and you need to go away from God. You need to hide yourself and go away from God because what you did is wrong, you were wrong. God would never want to be associated with you after you've done that? Are you kidding me? Like that lie of shame from the enemy, I think that's why it's so dangerous because it encourages us to hide not just the sin from God, but it encourages us to hide ourselves from God. And this parable, this truth right here tells us that it is God's heart to pursue you and I when we go astray. It is not his heart to turn his back from us, it is his heart to pursue us, and then he rejoices, amen. That is so beautiful. And I think the way to apply this to our lives is to know that we've messed up. I get to go back to my father. I can go back to God and say, I messed up, I am sorry.
Please help me repent. I want to turn my back on sin and I want to come to you. Can you help me? God loves to help us get ourselves together. He delights in doing that with us. He doesn't expect for us to do it all on our own because he knows that we can't and I think that it's beautiful that this here it says that he rejoices over that sheep and that is for you and I to know that God is happy.
that when we go back to Him, God is not like, my gosh, here she comes again. No, God rejoices. God is so happy when we come back to Him. He says, yes, my daughter, I am so happy. Yes, my child, I am so happy. Let's try again. Let's do this again. Let me help you. And I think another thing for us to, to of course keep in mind, and how we can apply this to our lives is how are we treating the marginalized? It could be children, yes, like that is specifically who Jesus is talking to or talking about, excuse me. And I think it's just a, it's a challenge for us, right? Like how do I value people in my lives, the marginalized? In my interactions. Like how am I actually valuing them? Am I valuing them based off of what they can do for me? Am I valuing them because they have a lot of money? Am I valuing them because they can offer me opportunity? And of course, right, like we have different levels of connection in our lives, right? Our family, that inner, you know, friends, that's that like the second ring, the third ring might be like associates. Like it's, you know, there are levels to our connection, but I think that this is just kind of some reflection for us to think about. Like truly, if I had to reflect, how am I actually treating the marginalized? Because the way that we treat the marginalized as Christians,
It should align with how what's in the Bible. Right? Like not what we think is right. That no, it should how we're treating the marginalized. It should align with what is in the Bible. I'm going to pray us out real quick.
"Father, thank you. that you pursue us. Thank you that you are our shepherd and you pursue us and you rejoice when we come back to You.
We are so glad that this is your character. Father, please help us. As we are trying to work out and understand how we can apply this to our lives, please help us do that. Make us sensitive to the people and the opportunities and the situations that can help us live this out, that can help us walk this out. And father, give us, help us to be brave and in obedience to respond to these people and situations and opportunities in the way that is Christ-like. That is our desire, God. We want to be more like Jesus. We love you in Jesus' name, amen."
 
I will put all of this in the show notes and I will highlight or...make the points in bold. That's what I've been doing. I hope that's been helpful. I would love to hear from you. Message me on Instagram. I'm at Danai Marable. I will put that in the show notes as well for you. But I would love to know how the outline is. I always do the outline like in the show notes. There's a transcription too that goes with each episode. But I do the outline of the of a transcription separately and then I put the points in bold.
to kind of help because I think it might be helpful to follow, but that's just me. I want to know if it's helpful for you. So I would love to hear from you. Message me, Danae Marable. I'll put it in the show notes on Instagram. I love you. Thank you so much for listening. I do not take it lightly that you chose to listen to this podcast. I appreciate your time and I just pray, that what we've learned and what we continue to learn together.
that it plants a good seed in you and produces fruit in you and your kids and the people who are around you. Thank you so much for listening. I love you and I'll talk to you next time.
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The Difference Between Grace and Mercy

Today's episode is about the difference between grace and mercy. Although they are commonly interchanged, they have difference meanings. I'll go over the definitions and an example for each in scripture. You'll find both the teaching points (in bold) and transcription below. 
Denea (00:01)Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Filled Mom podcast. I hope that wherever you are today, you know that you're loved, you know that you're needed. The kingdom of God loves you, you. People around you love you, needs you. You're loved and needed absolutely in this world. The light that you have, the light that you carry, the smile that you can give someone, the friendship that you have to offer to people.
Your kindness is absolutely needed in this world. Today we are talking about the difference between grace and mercy. And I wanted to talk about this because I know previously I have interchanged these, mixed them up. I have heard other people do it. It's very common. I know the difference now, but especially when I was the years of being, I guess, a newer Christian.
Yeah, I mix these up all the time. And I think other people do too. And I think it happens because we don't know the difference between them. So that's what today's episode is about. I'm gonna pray a sin real quick. Father, thank you that you offer us both grace and mercy. Thank you that we get to live in those and we get to experience them. We have a desire, God, to know more about you and Jesus. We also have a desire.
to understand grace and mercy and how can we also extend them to other people. Holy Spirit, please be with us during this Bible study time. We invite you in. Point us back, help us to understand God and Jesus. Help us to gain comprehension with what we are learning. We love you God, in Jesus' name, amen.
So like I said, I...mixed these up for years. And then I, you know, did my own, I guess, deep dive research and understanding what they are. And so if you do know the difference, I think that's great. This will be just a little recap for you. We are also going to be looking at them in scripture. If you don't know the difference, then absolutely that's great too. Everything will be in the show notes.
So sit back, relax, listen. If you're listening while you're on your run, I had somebody message me, I thought that was so cool. Said that she listens to me while she runs. Sit back, relax, I've got you. If you are prepared with your Bible and notebook in hand, that is great. If you are not, that is great too. Maybe you're washing dishes or maybe you are doing work right now. Maybe you're one of those people. I'm not.
I am not one of those people who can listen to music or listen to a podcast while I work. I don't know if that's because I do have ADHD, but I am not. But if that's you, then that's great. Come back when you're able to write stuff down. Everything, whenever that is, it'll be in the show notes. So for now, feel free to listen, sit back. You can do your work. You can do your laundry. You can do your run.
Or you can study if you have that stuff available either one all of it will be in the show notes for you If you need to come back and study if you need to just just listen right now.
That is so okay today like I said the difference between grace and mercy because I've heard them be interchanged like use and I know that I have in the past.
The Definition of Mercy
So that's what we're referring to grace, or excuse me, mercy is not receiving the punishment we deserve. As human beings, it is so important for us to know this and acknowledge it. We all have a sinful nature. Every single one of us, none of us, not one of us is righteous on our own. Judgment day, it is going to come, it's going to come, it's going to happen to everybody. And on our own, none of us can actually live lives that are worthy to getting us into heaven on our own. We have to know that. That's why Jesus had to come, right? Like we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it on our own. And so Jesus came, we needed a savior. God in his great mercy sent Jesus to save us. Jesus made a way for us to be saved and he makes it possible for us to get into heaven. I did a little deep dive, I guess, on a...
on the word mercy, some research. And in Greek, and I am probably gonna mispronounce this, eleos, this is the noun version. So in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, they often have different words depending on how a meaning, the meaning of a word. For example, love, like there are different types of like agape, phila, like there, or is it phila, always get that mixed up. But there are different words depending on the definition of how it's being used. And it's kind of the same for like nouns, adjectives. And so, in this script or in this text, excuse me, in this scripture is going to be used as a noun. means outward manifestation of pity. Now, an under, I'm sorry...for somebody in order, that's what I was trying to say, in order for somebody to have pity and to be able to offer mercy, they have to be able to be in a position to be able to help the person in need, if that makes sense, right? Like I, order for me to extend or be an outward manifestation of pity, and extend mercy. have to be in a position where I'm able to actually help someone.
An Example of Mercy in Scripture and Scripture Study - Ephesians 2:4
Ephesians chapter two verse four, I'm gonna read it to you. And again, if you're just listening, sit back, relax and listen. If you're ready to study, let's go. Either way is fine. It's gonna be in the show notes because I've got you. Ephesians 2:4," but God, who was so rich in mercy because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ. Even though," this is verse five, "even though we were dead in our trespasses, you were saved by grace." So who is talking? Paul. And this is all going to help us understand mercy. Who's talking? Paul. He's talking to the Ephesians. Who are a group of non-Jewish Christians? They are adopted sons and daughters. This is important because Paul is reminding them that, so it's important to know that they are adopted sons and daughters. And it's important to know that because this, book of Ephesians, it's broken up in chapters one through three. It is Paul reminding them about the gospel. He's reminding them about Jesus as Messiah. He's reminding them of God's love for them. The rest of the letter, Paul is teaching them how to walk in Jesus's ways and how to apply the gospel to their lives.
Now it's important, I think, to know that they are adopted sons and daughters because Paul is basically saying, hey, so the whole, like he didn't just open up the letter and say, in order to walk in Jesus' ways, you need to do X, Y, Z. He opened up the letter and he's kind of like pumping them up. Like, hey, do you remember, like Jesus, he came for you, a God, had great mercy for you.
And you, because of his mercy, you experience his grace and you experience salvation and you are empowered. Like he's pumping them up. Like this is their pep talk, right? And he's basically saying, because of God's mercy for you, because of that outward manifestation of pity that God took on you, you are empowered because Jesus, he died, he rose again, and he empowered you to walk in his ways.
What Paul's telling them to do is going to be tough, right? Like we know that we can admit that walking in Jesus's ways is actually really tough. It is, it is, it is, it is. It is actually a tough thing to be a Christian and like live it out and walk it out because we have to deny, sometimes we have to deny like what we've been taught depending on how you grew up and what people were, like, did you grow up in a Christian household? Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Sometimes you have to deny that, and that's tough. Walking in Jesus' ways is tough in general because we're humans. Remember, we have a sinful nature. It's going to cause us to deny our flesh. And sometimes, like, our flesh...it doesn't want to do things that's wrong, although I think if we're all honest, like, yes, that actually does happen. Sometimes, like, we just want to, for example, I'll give you an example. So I was trying to figure out, or, well, I'm not still trying to figure out because I'm going to obey. But I was trying, I have an hour today of, dare I say free time?
It's not really free time. I'm trying to figure out how to spend this hour, right? And I was like, well, no brainer. I could just study for seminary, like done. But I kind of felt this prompting, like I felt God being like, you know what, Denae, I actually want you to do something like recreational that you enjoy. Whether that's, know, plant chores that could be like listening to a favorite podcast or like, want you to do something that you, that you enjoy. And I was like, "nah, like I actually, I want to be productive and like, I, you know, I want to be doing something on my to-do list." And like, I've really felt God being like, I want you to do something that, that you, that not that seminary doesn't bring me joy, but like, that is not work. And so.
Sometimes our flesh just wants to do things, like be productive and take care of that to-do list, right? But being Christ-like means for us, for you and me, because we're humans, laying down that sinful nature. And so Paul is saying, hey, these things are actually, pretty tough to do. But again, before he even gets to that, he's pumping them up, reminding them that they have received God's.
mercy and all of the gifts that they have received because of God's mercy. These are the adopted sons and daughters. So I have to imagine that it would be really easy for them to be like, like if he just would have opened up the letter and be like, hey, you need to walk in Jesus's ways X, Y, and Z. I feel like it would have been an easy out for them to be like, "we're not actually like. you know, Jewish, like at our origins. like, can we actually do this?" You know, like I could see them or maybe it's just me, but I could see them starting to second guess. Like, I don't really know if this is for me. And I think that's maybe one of the reasons why Paul opened up with, hey, like God had mercy for you too. Like remember, that's why, that's why like a lot of people, especially Jewish individuals at their origin were so, upset with Jesus because they thought that salvation was just for them. And when Jesus came, he was like, no, it's actually open and available to everyone. And so Paul is reminding them that because of that, God's mercy, because of salvation, right? What happened, what Jesus did, we experience his grace and we experience his power. We are empowered to walk in his ways.
Mercy is the Gift That Keeps on Giving
And I think that is just a beautiful reminder for you and I in that gift of mercy. It's like the gift that keeps on giving, you know, because there are other gifts attached to it because God took that pity on us. We have the gift of salvation. We have the gift of we are no longer lost. We are found. You and I, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit: God is with us.
That gift of mercy that God took pity on us. It just keeps going and going. One of the gifts that we receive because of God's mercy is His grace. That was one of the things that I, I think I knew this, but I don't know if I ever actually like articulated it, that there's a relationship between mercy and grace. It is because of God's mercy that we receive His grace.
The Definition of Grace
Grace means receiving unearned favor or blessings. Again, I think that it is amazing to, I don't know, maybe like I said, I think maybe I knew that, but I don't think that I ever actually articulated the fact that there is a relationship between those two. So for this, for Grace, I guess for my word study.
An Example of Grace in Scripture and Scripture Study - Hebrews 4:14
If you will I went to Hebrew and again Sit back relax It's gonna be in the show notes for you. I went to the book of Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 and 16 and I will read them to you Hebrews chapter 4: 14 through 16 And I don't think I said it before I'm actually reading out of the CSB translation. So it reads, sorry I lost my place for a second, it reads, "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need."
Who's the author? I looked that up. The author is kind of unknown. Some people do think that it's Paul. Some people think it's Barnabas. Some people also think that it's...one of their disciples, but we do know that this is a teacher, right? We do know that this is whoever is writing this, are a teacher of God's word and his ways.
Who are they talking to? Who's the audience? Jewish Christians. And this is important, I think just to have some context. So Jewish Christians at this time were facing a lot of persecution and internal struggles. They were, at the time, there were people who were saying that, they needed to just abandon Christianity or this aspect of following Jesus and believing Jesus as Messiah. Then there were people who were saying you need to just go back to the Jewish rituals and walking in those traditions. You need to come back to that. Some people were saying that they needed to just abandon it all together and abandon the Greek.
Tradition so they were facing a lot of persecutions for following Christ for being Jewish Christians And then they had a lot of internal struggle. "Do I go back to rituals and Believe in that that can make me holier Do I or do I just abandon it and do this whole Greek thing?" Like I don't know they were they were going through a lot. So the writer is reminding the. That they don't have to work for salvation because of what Jesus did. And this is one of the reasons why I think knowing that they're Jewish Christians is relevant. It's because the writer is pleading to them, like, hey, you don't actually have to go back to the rituals and the Jewish traditions and trying to make you holier. You don't have to do all that because of what Jesus did for you already. You've already been given it. And I think it's also important to know that they were having internal struggles because again, the writer is saying like, hey, what you were thinking about that you could possibly gain by giving this up, you actually already have this freedom. Like you don't have to go to, you know, do this whole Greek thing so that you can be free and you're free now. And I think that is one of the reasons again, why some type of context is helpful. It's just helpful to know that this writer, that's why this writer is making this plea and it's relevant to us too, right? Like if we really get real about that, we have, we face persecutions as Christians, right? Walking in God's ways and holding certain values that the world doesn't agree with. And we face that internal struggle. "Like, I mean, I don't know. Do I give it up? Like, do I give it up for, to be free with what the world says that I can be free?" Even though we have freedom, right? It's kind of the same thing. The Bible, like I kind of sat back and I was like, "man, I'm so thankful. This is such a great reminder that the Bible really is relevant." So he's reminding them, hey, you don't have to go back. You don't have to give this these ways up because of what Jesus did for you. And a couple of things that I do want to point out.
So there are a few times that there's kind of like a, and I definitely have forgotten the English term for this, but there are like interjections that the author makes. And I'm going to point out three of them. One, therefore.
Whenever you see therefore, I heard Priscilla Shirer say this, "whenever you see therefore in the Bible, look and see what it is there for". Look to see what that author, what they're talking about before the therefore. And so this actually does, in doing this, it gives us some context because right in the beginning of chapter four, the writer is talking about entering into the promised rest of God.
And he's telling them that they can rest from works. Like that's in the verses before this, is exactly what he is talking about. So that gives us that extra context of the fact that they are maybe considering going back to working for that whole idea that they can work to be holy, that their rituals can make them holy.
Interjection again, I know there's a term for these things but but I just I don't remember what it is currently Depending on the translation that you have there might be a comma mine has like a hyphen a dash It could be something else depending on the translation that you have it says it's right in verse 14 therefore Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens
There's a hyphen, Jesus, the son of God, hyphen, let us hold fast to our confession. So whenever we see that, it's kind of, I guess, acting as like a prepositional phrase, Jesus, the son of God. So the writer is saying, like, since we have such a high priest, who is Jesus, the son of God, by the way, let us hold fast to our confession. I think that's important because he's giving context to why this high priest is so important to us, right? This is not just any priest that he's talking about. He is talking about Jesus, the son of God. He's talking about Jesus who was God. He's talking about Jesus who, excuse me, is God. He's talking about Jesus who is the Messiah. Like he's letting them know, like, hey, just in case you forgot who the high priest was,
its Jesus, by the way, he was the son of God. The third thing, the third interjection that I want to point out is in 16, verse 16, he says, therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Okay, so why can we approach this throne of grace with boldness? Like, why? Well,
We're able to do that because of who our high priest is. We're able to do that because our high priest, in verse 15 it says, our high priest, right, is not somebody who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way and yet didn't sin. We're able to approach the throne of grace because
The one who stood in our place was Jesus, the Son of God. That is why you and I have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace with boldness because Jesus kind of interceded for us, right? He acted on our behalf. That is why you and I have that privilege. So whenever you see therefore, whenever you see, I'm gonna call it the interjection again. Those interjections like whatever you see a dash or a comma that prepositional phrase look and see like what that context around it because all of that is going to help you understand the whole point of what the scripture that you are studying. So he's pleading to them that you and I, hey, we can approach the throne of grace in our time of need, which he's saying like, I know that being a Christian and walking in God's ways, is tough.
I get that. But you and I, have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace because of who our high priest is. That throne of grace. Remember that definition. It's receiving unearned favor and blessing. So he's saying you and I have that privilege to approach the throne that gives us that unearned favor with boldness because of who our high priest was, is, excuse me. And when we approach that, there's even more, there's more good news. When we approach the throne of grace, we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in that time of need. See, there's that relationship between grace and mercy. It is because of God's mercy that we can find grace and receive grace in our time of need and when we are in need and following this walk, right? And trying to walk in God's ways and try, and we need some grace, right? We need some unearned favor. You and I didn't earn it on our own. It is because of what Jesus did, because of God's mercy that we can receive that grace and helps us in our time of need. I think that is just this, I don't know, beautiful tapestry of mercy and grace and how they interact and how they intersect and how we receive them. It is because of God's great mercy that you and I can know that we are loved, that we are empowered to walk in his ways and receive his grace in our time of mercy when it gets tough, obeying, when it gets tough denying our flesh. We can receive that unearned favor, that blessing from God because of His mercy. And it just goes on and on and on. And I just think that is so beautiful. And I am so appreciative and so thankful that the God that you and I serve is this. This is His character. His character, He is the God of mercy. He is the God of grace. And it is because of His mercy that we can even approach this throne and receive this grace.
Father,
Thank you. This is who you are. This is in your character. We are so appreciative of these blessings, Father, because on our own, we don't deserve them. You created universes. Father, scientists don't even know how deep the ocean is, but you do because you created it.
You know how many pieces of sand there are on the beach and yet you want to give us mercy. And yet you are concerned. You want to give us your grace, Father. How thankful are we that you are mindful of us. Help us to walk this out. Help us to give other people mercy.
Help us to give other people grace, Father, that is so hard to do.
Help us, empower us, remind us that we are empowered, that the same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives on the inside of us. With that power, Holy Spirit, help us to be open and get out of the way when you are doing this transformative work within us to give other people mercy and grace, just as God did to us, just as Jesus did to us. Help us to do it to other people. Help us to walk this out. Help us to receive it. Help us to give it.
We love you God, in Jesus name, amen. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. you could, wherever, however you were listening to this, if you could review it, give me a rating. And this just basically pushes it out into the podcast platforms, spheres. so, y'all.
Okay, so in full transparency, when I podcast, I normally have, I gave up coffee. I think I said that on this podcast, but I do have like a cup of matcha each day. I didn't have that today and I think it's very apparent. What that does is it helps push the podcast out so that other people can hear it too. I appreciate your time. Remember everything is in the show notes for you.
There's a separate transcription, but I also put the transcription in the show notes and I highlight the points in bold to kind of help you like follow along as you're studying if you need to come back. Thank you so much. I love you and I will talk to you next time. Bye.
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How Getting Historical and Cultural Context Can Help During Your Bible Study Time

This episode explains why getting historical and cultural context when we're studying the Bible can be helpful. There are detailed examples of each in this episode. The scriptures referenced in this episode are John 4:5 and John 4:30. Here's the transcript for this episode with the main points in bold:
 
Denea (00:00)Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith-Filled Mom podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I hope that wherever you are today, number one, I hope you know that I really do appreciate you listening. Two, I hope and I pray that you are giving yourself some grace for the transition that you are going through right now or that you have just gone through.
It at the time of this recording, daylight savings time just passed. And let me tell y'all, it threw me. It threw me. It's been on my calendar, right? Like on your phone, you know, the time now it resets automatically. But like, I don't know if it's just because as an autistic individual who also has ADHD, changing.
Any type of change to my schedule or my routine, it typically takes me a little bit to get the hang of it, right? I feel like sometimes it's like I'm or I'm jumping to like double touch. I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to get the hang of it. I'm trying to wait for my turn to really, you know, get in and get the rhythm of it. But it just takes me a little bit sometimes.
But it threw me. And so I am trying today. told myself, I felt this yesterday and I told myself today, it was like, Denea, this is a transition for you and you need to be extra patient with yourself. You need to be open to any type of changes or shifts you need to make in your schedule. And that is so hard.
for me to do, to be open to changing, not just because it's change, but I think also there's something in me that, like I have to remind myself that it is okay if I readjust the expectations that I had for myself. Like it doesn't mean that I can't do it, it just means that I need to go about doing it a different way. And so whether you are neurotypical or whether you were.
a neurodivergent, I hope that whatever transition you are going through, and remember a transition, like you get to define what a transition, a major change, a major transition, you get to define what that is. So before you start thinking, well, I don't really know if that's a big enough thing. I don't really know if that's a big enough change. Maybe I just need to get over it. No, no, no, no, no, no. We're not doing that. We're not diminishing. We're not dismissing. You define whatever
A transition is for you. Think of it and then think of ways that you can be just a little bit more patient with yourself. What are some ways that you can give yourself just a little bit more grace? Allow yourself to move at a different speed than what you had initially planned while you're going through this transition or while you're just recovering from a transition. Today's episode is all about how historical
and cultural context can help us get more context when we are reading the Bible. I'm gonna pray a sin really quickly, real quick. God, thank you so much for your word. Yes, it was relevant back then and God, we are so happy that your word, it is still alive, it is still relevant, it is still active now.
We invite you in Holy Spirit into this Bible studying time, make us sensitive to the promptings that you want to give us now. And even after this Bible study time ends, whatever promptings you want to give us to help us understand more of who God and Jesus are, help us to be sensitive to that. Help us to be sensitive to understanding this text. Let it plant a root.
in us a seed that has strong healthy roots that produces fruit not just in us but in those around us and our families and our friends and the people that we walk past every day let it produce fruit in them too. God we love you in Jesus name amen. All right so when we're talking about interpretation which these past couple episodes that's really what we've been focusing on right.
I think I initially started that because it was like the new year and it's gonna be like a new goal and then I was like I really love actually Bible teaching and I got I got a lot of messages and Just comments and people were like, this is this is awesome. Like this is exactly what I need and so We're kind of in this groove the faith of mom podcast will always be some sort of Bible teaching podcast, it will always be centered around faith. It'll always be centered around how us, especially as moms, can have a fruitful Bible studying time. And I guess that's redundant because anytime we study the Bible, it's gonna be fruitful, right? But I think sometimes, or at least what I was feeling when I would study the Bible, I would be like, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea what I am doing, I don't know where to start, I don't know how to do this. And so that is what these episodes have been about. The goal. Whenever we are talking about biblical interpretation, the goal is for us to get as close of an understanding to what the author of the text was originally trying to say. That's what the goal is, right? The goal is not to read the text and make it fit what we want it to say. The goal is to understand with the author who originally wrote it, who was illuminated, the Holy Spirit gave the word to with that person, what they were trying to say. And so that's what these interpretation methods.
That's what they're going to help us do.
How Historical and Cultural Context Can Help Us When We're Studying Scripture
So historical context gaining historical context and cultural context are keys in getting more of a closer understanding to what the original author was saying. So how or what kind of is historical context any type of historical event that took place around the time that the author was writing? It could also be social or - we're going talk about that too. Any type of economic thing that that event that happened around that time. Any any type of event that can help us understand the foundation of why this person is saying what they're saying. It can also help us understand who the author is writing to. It can help us understand the circumstances, and why they are actually writing.
Where Do We Get Historical and Cultural Context?
Where can we get historical cultural context? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm going to give you a few places that I tend to go. And these are pretty broad, by the way. If you have other ways or places that you get your context, whether it be historical, cultural, just in general, let me know. Please, please, please message me on Instagram. I'm at Denea Marable. I'll put the handle in the show notes, but I'm always open to gaining more access to anything that can help me understand, interpret the Bible. So I love any type of historical or cultural surveys because they really, they tend to break down the historical events. They break them down - historically and culturally in a way that I don't know, it just makes me feel like I was there. And I think also it's because I was the type of person when I was younger and it's still me now, who rejoiced when I was given a book report. anything that called for like research and I absolutely love that.
Well, historical and cultural surveys, they kind of lay out the information that is kind of in a, I guess, time sensitive, time friendly manner, which is extremely important for us moms because, you know, mom life. And so I highly encourage you, you can get those at your local library, at your Christian bookstore. You can try your local bookstore, of course, and Amazon.
Bible dictionary is also really good for it can help you. It doesn't give you I feel like as much Information as a historical or cultural survey might but it is definitely helpful Especially when you were trying to interpret the Google good old Google just make sure that the site you are Getting this information from is a reputable website
I always like to, I think it's a good practice when you have the time, whenever that is, to when you're on a website, I like to check out their social media because that kind of gives me a little bit of inside information on who is writing this. Like if I am not already familiar with the website, because I don't want, and you do not want a historical...background that is slanted, you know, because that that's not true. Like history should not be slanted. History, it should be giving us a straight back. And so I always like to go, if I'm going to a new website, I always, before I take the information in, I always like to go to their social media and see who is this company? Who are these people? What other things are they writing? What other things are they posting? Because I think that can really be helpful. A Bible Atlas map, that can be helpful whenever you are, whenever you see rivers like the Jordan River or wherever you see any type of geographical reference in the Bible. It's just good because it gives you an understanding of like, wow, know, this person, really, they really had to walk far or "wow, they had to go around Samaria", which is very common and we'll get into why they had to or why in the gospel especially during that time, why it was very common for people not to go through Samaria but around Samaria. So those are just some resources that you can try out. So this is an example of how historical context can help us get a good, a better understanding to what the original author meant. So in reading the gospels, I think, I mean, historical context, of course, is helpful throughout the Bible. I think I'm still stuck on the gospel because my class, my class last semester was all about the gospel and the book of Acts.
Historical Context Example
And I just found the historical information, some of that absolutely fascinating. So I'm going to share some of that and then some other stuff that I've kind of come upon too. So in reading the gospels, some historical context that we're going to talk about specifically is like Rome and how it impacted the tension when Jesus kind of came on the scene. Why especially traditionally Jewish individuals were so upset with Jesus. And this is something that I had not known before, but it definitely opened my eyes to, it opened my eyes to a lot. So Roman law, what happened was when Rome kind of, I guess took over Jerusalem, Roman law was being imposed on the Jewish people. Now again, you we have to remember these, these are God's chosen people. And so they've had prophecy after prophecy of being saved and being delivered. And also we have to remember too, that this was kind of on the tail end of the silent years and scholars are they go back and forth between how many silent years. But it was something like three or four hundred silent years. So there was not a prophet. There was not a word from God about the Messiah. It was silent. so Rome has overtaken Jerusalem and the Roman law is now being imposed on them. This means that the language was also changing. Historically, the Jewish people, most of them spoke Hebrew (please refer to the beginning of the episode for correction). And so now it was starting to change to Greek. Also, traditions, a lot of culture was changing and it was also being imposed on them. It was calling for them to either have to practice some of their cultural traditions in private or have to get rid of them altogether.
So this is one reason why the Jewish people had such a tough time believing that Jesus was the Messiah. And it's one of the reasons why they were so angry with him because they were looking for Jesus to come and start. They wanted him to start a revolution.
And like overtake Roman government and they wanted him to be their new king. But the thing is Jesus did not come to start a revolution with the Roman government. He came to offer salvation to all people, not just Jewish individuals, but Gentiles too.
And this is one, and this is another reason why they got so frustrated with him because they were like, look, we've seen you do signs and wonders. We know that you are clearly doing things that nobody else has ever done before. It could be so easy for you to just strike them out and you yourself get on the throne. Like why aren't you doing this for us? But Jesus, if it's one thing that he kept, he kept saying many things over and over again.
But one thing he kept repeating was, I have to be about my father's business. I think one of the reasons why Jesus didn't want to be as violent, of course, as they want to be, well, he's not violent. But also I think he wanted there to be a lot of validity to what he was bringing. Like he didn't want people to think that he was just some dangerous man who was coming and threatening people with violence. Like he came to changes from the inside out. He came to usher in the kingdom of God. He came to bring us salvation. And that was his focus. Not overpowering Roman government so that Jewish individuals could be happy. Right? He came for a lot more than that.
And I think just knowing that this is really helpful because it helps us understand why there was consistently so much tension between Jesus and Jewish individuals. And it's why to this day that some of them still do not believe that he is Messiah.
Cultural Background Example
Cultural background, specifically, there's a lot, but I wanted to focus on the woman at the well - the Samaritan woman. We meet her in John chapter four. She is a Samaritan woman. She is from Samaria. Samaria, to me it sounds like some area, like you know like some area over there. And I feel like that's kind of the attitude that they had back then culturally. Like in order to pass through Samaria, to get to a town that was near it, people often chose to go days out of the journey, out of the way to pass over or around Samaria rather than go through it. Samaritan people were often seen as dirty or unclean or beneath others. And so that is one of the reasons why Jesus even talking to this woman, it is so counter cultural. And I don't know about you, but y'all, I am so happy that we get to serve a Lord, that our Messiah is somebody who is some, he's counter cultural. Jesus, he said it many times, he came to be about his father's business. He did not come to appease social, cultural standards. He came for so much more than that. And I feel like his interaction with the Samaritan woman is just proof of that. love their exchange because even it reveals a lot and even how it's set up tells you a lot about how shamed this woman feels, how shamed other people have treated her, how poorly other people have treated her.
In chapter four, at verse six, and I guess I should start actually at verse five. This is Jesus. So he came to a town of Samaria near the property of Jacob, where Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there and Jesus, worn out from his journey, set out the well. It was about noon or some scholars say it was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to drink water. And I mean, it goes on and it details their exchange, but just the fact that she came at noon or the sixth hour, that was typically the hottest time of day. was hot. And if you kind of notice, so the well, the source of water, you would think it would be very, very crowded, right? Like there were certain times of day where the well would be crowded because it was where they got their clean water from. And so the fact that Jesus, that she and Jesus are able to have this conversation, to me, it says that there's nobody else around. Why? Because it's the heat of the day. And she is so accustomed to avoiding people. She is so accustomed to...probably people looking down at her or talking very poorly to her, treating her poorly, that she wants to avoid crowds and she is willing to come to the well at the heat of the day. Samaritans were not treated kindly at all. And so this is Jesus. This is our Jesus being counter-cultural, talking to somebody, who is a marginalized member of society and pushing that aside to reveal himself to her as the Messiah. It's not just that she's a Samaritan, it's also that she is a woman.
Culturally, culturally in this day, women just in general, it didn't matter if you were Samaritan, it doesn't matter if you were a Jewish individual,  you were seen as less, you were seen as lower than everyone else. And so she's a Samaritan, she is a woman, and then we find out that on top of that, she has had many husbands and the woman and the man that she's living with now is not her husband, which in this day, culturally was...kind of like, know, a woman who's unwed, like, my goodness, like grab your pearls. Like it was, it was seen as like, well what's wrong with her? Like that's how they looked at it back then culturally. Now today, I would like to think that's changed a little bit, right? Like there are, there are many, like there are many reasons why someone may not be married and that's fine.
Right, like that person should not be treated poorly or as an outcast as a society. Like Jesus did not, he didn't stand for it then clearly because he reveals himself to her as the Messiah. And I can tell you, he doesn't stand for that now. I love the conversation, exchange that goes on between them because it's just proof that our Messiah. He doesn't care about cultural expectations. He is more interested in saving souls and offering salvation to all people, male, female. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is. Maybe you're a marginalized member of society. Maybe you're not. Jesus wants you to know back then and now that salvation is available to you.
They go on and they have this exchange. And he of course knows all of this about her. He knows that the man that she's living with now is not her husband. And he knows that she's had several husbands. And he still says like, you know, I am the Messiah. And this woman goes on y'all to evangelize. Like she goes on and she tells other people like, hey, I like come see a man in verse still chapter four. This is after they've had their exchange chapter 28 or excuse me, verse 28 chapter four. Then the woman left her water jar went into town and told the people come see a man who told me everything I did. Could this be the Messiah? And I love verse 30. It says they left the town.
and made their way to him. And I love that because it's like they were like, what? I gotta go see this for myself because of her evangelizing, right? Like that is what she did. She went and she spread the good news. Could this be the Messiah? And they were like, I've got to see. I don't know. I've got to see.
And so this is just, these are just some exchanges, some examples of how when we gain historical context, when we gain cultural context, it can help us understand what the author was trying to say. This conversation that happens in chapter four, like it's not just a regular conversation, right? Like when we put the cultural background to it, we can see like, my goodness.
Jesus was talking to a woman back in that day and he did not care. my goodness. Jesus, number one, was in a place and at a time, the hottest, hottest time of day, just to talk to her. He did not care about cultural expectations. Like it, it just opens up my eyes and I hope that it opens up your eyes and we can kind of see some of God's character when it comes to how marginalized members of society can be treated. And so I hope that the next time you go to study the Bible, the next time you have time, because remember we've talked about this, I give you tips, I give you certain methods, and maybe you go and you know what, the second that you sit down, you hear, like, you know we've all.
We've all had that. You know, that's okay. You can always have a part two to your Bible study, or you can have a part two, three, four, and five if you need. know, like you can have, study this however you study it. Apply it however it serves you. But I hope the next time that you were able to apply Googling, getting a book at your local library, local bookstore.
Amazon, wherever, historical context survey, biblical cultural survey, Bible Atlas, a map. The next time you can Google it, just try it and see how it helps to give you a little bit more understanding, like in depth of what the author, the point that the author was trying to make. We learned today that number one, from the historical context, I feel like
the author was trying to, and this is something that you kind of see throughout the gospels. And I think honestly, even in some of Paul's letters too, the context kind of helps us understand that Jesus didn't, he didn't come to appease people. And that's good news. He came to be about his father's business. He came to be, he was on a mission to usher in the kingdom of God. He was on a mission to offer salvation to all. The cultural context that we studied, it helped us understand more of the character of Jesus and more of the character of God and how he feels about marginalized members of society. I'm gonna pray us out. God, thank you for your word.
Thank you that we're not just reading stories, God. These things actually happened. And these things were relevant for the people who firsthand got to read them and they're relevant to us now. Help us understand how we can apply what we've learned today in our Bible-studying time and how we can apply it whenever we come across marginalized members of society.
Help us to understand Father that there are some times that when we are about your business, so to speak, we might not appease people. Help us to live that out. Help us to walk that out. Give us the strength to obey in that. Help us to be brave and courageous as we're trying to walk that out. Holy Spirit, we want to acknowledge you and we want to thank you for everything that you just did.
in us and everything that you're going to do after this Bible study time as we continue to use what we've learned today. We love you, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I would love it if, yeah, if you use this, if you use these tools, these techniques, historical context, cultural context, message me on Instagram and let me know what did you learn?
Or if you have another way, I listed some ways that you can gain historical and cultural context. So if you have some other tools, resources, let me know those too. I love you. Thank you so much for listening and I will talk to you next time. Bye.
Contact:
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How Do We Hear God's Voice?

Making room to hear God's voice can be tough. We are always needed and there are so many things to do. But hearing God's voice is a way we can connect with God, receive direction, and more. This episode starts by going over what God's voice is and is not. Then, I give ways we can make room to hear God's voice in our lives. Finally, I'll go over some of the ways God can speak to us. 
Here's the transcript for this weeks episode. The points are in bold. 
Denea (00:01)Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Fills Mom podcast. I hope that wherever you are today, I hope you know that I'm thankful that you're listening. I really am. I so appreciate the fact that you are listening to this podcast. And I hope that you're able to do just one nice thing for yourself today. I'm not talking about going on a shopping spree. I'm not talking about going to a spa or anything like that. I'm talking about, can you drink some water? Can you take three deep breaths? Can you maybe go for a walk, move your body, sit outside? Can you nourish your body with a piece of fruit, with a vegetable? Can you say something nice to yourself, about yourself? What is one nice thing? Minimum -That you can do for yourself today because you are so deserving of it. Today's episode, we are going to be talking about God's voice, what it's not, what it is, how can we make room to hear God's voice? What are some ways that God speaks to us?
I'm gonna open us up in prayer. Father, thank you that you are always speaking to us. You don't sleep or slumber. You are mighty. You are always present. You are always attentive to us, Father. When we talk to you, you listen. You are always speaking to us and we want to hear more of your voice. We want to make room for more of your voice, Holy Spirit. Help us as we're studying how to hear more of God's voice, what it might sound like, what it doesn't sound like. Remind us of God's character, help us learn more about who God is. We love you, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.
Examples of What God's Voice Is Not
I thought it was good to start with what God's voice is not. God's voice is not harsh. It is not shameful. It is not critical. It is not mean. It is not judgmental. God's voice will not go against His word. I think it is really important to know that so that we can distinguish that like we can distinguish some of the thoughts that we have. Personally speaking, I know that I sometimes have like a negative thought track will just play on repeat all day. And then I will have to practice self-awareness and be like, ooh, God would not speak to me like that. So why am I speaking to myself like that? Like, why am I being so harsh talking to myself right now?
Examples of What God's Voice Is
It is good for us to know what God's voice is not. Now, what God's voice is. I think it's important to know that God's voice will sound like you. How you talk. That is how God's voice is going to sound. It's going to sound familiar. Now, God's voice is loving. It is compassionate. It is just. It convicts out of love. Peaceful and quiet.
Now to go back to that convicts out of love. Conviction is out of love. The Holy Spirit draws us in. He alerts us to and he convicts us of something that we need to ask forgiveness for and we need to repent from because he knows that sin tends to make us separate ourselves from God. God has not moved.
Right, like as his child, God is close. But sin tends to make us kind of like hide and separate ourselves from God. And of course we're not really hidden from God, right? But we start to have this mentality of hiding, trying to hide certain things from God. And that very quickly turns to shame. And sin also is destructive, we know this. And so the Holy Spirit,
It's like, hey, whoa, kind of acting as that like alert, like that light, right? Like, whoa, hey, hey, hey, there's something going on here. You need to pay attention. Bring it to God. That is the beautiful thing about conviction. God is not like, girl, you need to go ahead and figure that out. And then when you do come back, no, he's like, OK, my daughter, my beautiful daughter, bring this to me. I want to help you navigate this. He convicts out of love.
Ways You and I Can Make Room to Hear God's Voice
What are some ways that you and I can make room to hear God's voice? I think reading the Bible is a great start. Reading the Bible is a great way for us to become familiar with God's character. When we read the Bible for context, we can start to identify like certain themes about his character.
And we can start to become more familiar with who he is. God's voice will always go along with his character. So becoming familiar with his character helps us become familiar with his voice. We can also ask him to help make us sensitive to his voice. You and I can create small pockets of quiet time. I say small because sometimes that's all I can do. Because life be life in, grocery trips be grocery tripping, like stuff laundry be laundering. We know laundry never stops. Like small pockets of quiet time. I think the enemy would love for us to be like I only have like 30 seconds. What is that really gonna do if I sit in quiet time and seek God's voice? 30 seconds y'all can be a lot. If you have 30 seconds, use it. If you have 20 seconds, use it. I think it's important to say here that when we go and just sit in silence or in a quiet-ish atmosphere, I say quiet-ish because you know, kids be kidsin'.
It's a quiet-ish atmosphere. I think it's important to say it is okay if at first it feels kind of awkward. You're not doing it wrong. I think our brains are wired to just always be thinking. Like I think that's just kind of become the norm for us. And so that's what they're used to. Our brains are used to taking in some type of sensory, some type of information.
When Sitting in Silence Feels Awkward 
I also think it's really important to say here, you have not failed. If you go sit in silence and you immediately start thinking about your grocery list, or you immediately start thinking about your kid or your spouse or your friend or something that you're worried about, you have not failed. Again, that's what our brains do. Like God gives us grace to be human. He knows that we are human. Practice awareness and then...Get back to silence. It is okay if it feels awkward. It's okay if your mind wanders. Just get back to it. And I say pockets of quiet because I think myself included, I am so used to having, taking in information.
Ways for Us to Make Room to Hear God's Voice
And I think it is okay sometimes to say, you know what? I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna hold off on watching that video or that sermon that I wanted to watch. Right? not even like, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. I just think that we are so accustomed to noise because noise is so easily accessible to us now on our phones. Maybe you have a podcast that you want to catch up on or a show or a movie or a sermon. And I think sometimes it's okay to be like, you know what? Nope. I'm going to do 30 seconds. I'm going to do my 30 seconds today. And I think that's okay. Get out in nature.
Now this one, have a very, ooh, I really love this one, but let me tell you, around this time of year, like I just miss sitting out in nature so much. And I do have, like I have ear muffs, I have a scarf, I have gloves, I have a heavy coat, I have all of that, I have beanies. But I'll tell y'all, like if it's below 40 degrees, which it has been all January, all February with the exception of today on the day of recording. This is in February. And I have not been going for walks. Like I haven't been sitting. We have a screened in porch. Haven't been sitting out there with the blanket. Absolutely not me. I have not been in our hammock. I do have in my office in this recording room, I have a lot of plants. There are like 90 plants around our house in total. Most of them are in this room.
And this does kind of give me a taste of nature and I'm really thankful for it. I do miss sitting outside. When we're out in nature, there's something that just connects us to, I don't know, God. it just reminds us of how big He is and how small we are. I think sitting out in nature also reminds us of God's provision and all of the beautiful things that He's created. And there's just something about taking in that fresh air that is good for us in spending time with God. Another way to hear, make room to hear God's voice is prayer. Express, of course, your petitions, express your gratitudes. And I think in prayer and in quiet time, it is a good practice for us to say every now and then, like, God, I'm listening. What do you want to speak to me today? And just wait.
And just wait and see if you get a response. This again, you have not failed if this feels weird. You have not failed if you don't hear anything or if you don't feel anything. It's just, it's a practice, right? We do it. We practice it. We practice that muscle. We build it up. Fasting is a great way for us to make room to hear from God. Now, yes, we can fast from things like social media.
I think that's a great fast. Also, I'm talking about fasting from things like meat or fast food. Whenever we're fasting, heard our pastor say this a few weeks back, whenever we're fasting, gives us an opportunity to press into God's grace, right? To lean on Him a little bit harder, a little bit more than we usually do in our day-to-day lives. And I think that is a really good way to hear from God.
And I think submitting to the Holy Spirit is a great way to make room to hear from God. Now, when I say submitting to the Holy Spirit, asking the Holy Spirit, there's a situation as a person that you're dealing with. And you're asking, you're gonna ask the Holy Spirit, how do you want me to deal with this? What do you want me to do? How do you want me to deal with this person? And then submitting and obeying to what the Holy Spirit says.
Now, when we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, what's happening is that He's doing that work within us when we obey, that only the Holy Spirit can do, that is transforming us to become more like Jesus. So in that process, when we obey Him and submit to Him, we are becoming more like Jesus. And we're also opening a pathway to hear, to make room, to hear more of God's voice.
How Does God Speak to Me if I'm Autistic or Neurodivergent?
I get asked this a lot from my neurodivergent friends. Well, I'm autistic. How does God speak to me? I have ADHD. I don't even know if I can focus on God's voice. Let me tell you this. There's grace for that. God knows you. God created you.
He knows how to talk to you. He knows you. He loves you. You have the same line of connection, of communication to God as someone who is neurotypical has. Do not compare how you talk to God, how you hear God to what you think it's supposed to sound like or to what someone else says it sounds or feels like.
Some of the Ways God Can Speak to Us
How does God speak to us? I think this also kind of depends on the person. Some people, I personally have felt more of like an impression, like a gut feeling. Or sometimes I will hear like thoughts, but I know like it's not a thought like from me that I'm thinking. I think some people have also said they've heard it audibly out loud. I think this is something that only you can answer because our God is personal.
Right? Like, praise God for that. Our God is personal. He speaks to all of us differently. I think our job, our responsibility is to know that He's always speaking to us. And I think our responsibility is to be open and make that room. I think sometimes God can be specific and say, hey, don't do that. Or hey, text so-and-so today. Has that ever happened to you?
You've text someone or maybe somebody has been on your mind all day and you were like, forgot to text her. I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and you cannot get this person off of your mind. You're like, my goodness, let me go ahead and reach out to her. And that person is like, you know, it was just really nice to hear from you today. You know, they just, they just needed that in their spirit. They just, they just need that pep. That is one way that God is speaking. God can use us to speak to other people. God can use other people to speak to us and confirm things. God speaks through the Bible. God speaks through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will always point us back to God and Jesus and helping us learn more about them. Helping us do that transformation work, right, that only the Holy Spirit can do and helping us become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit can help us understand God's character, can help us understand God's voice. God speaks to us through dreams.
I think that is something that I forgot her name. Her first name is Stephanie. I'm going to try to put it in the show notes. But she often talks about that. She actually just wrote a book about this and how God speaks to us through dreams. I think if you are ever wondering and she can put this, first of all, more eloquently, more detailed than I can. But I will say that if you are ever wondering if God is speaking to you through a dream, I think you should ask yourself, like, how did you feel when you woke up? You know, like, did you feel panicked? Did you feel judged? Did you feel ashamed? I think answering questions like those can kind of help you. And again, we we have the blessing, y'all, of asking God to give us confirmation like, God, I'm not sure if that was you or that was me. Can you please give me confirmation? Like we, yeah, we can do that. We can go boldly to our father and ask him for confirmation. I just think that is absolutely beautiful. I think that whenever you have noticed something happening to somebody that is unjust and you have had this feeling within you like, hey, that's not fair. Y'all, that's God. Our God is just. Have you ever had a feeling that you just have, that you want to extend kindness to this person? Maybe you know them, maybe you don't, but you just feel this, I don't know, this prompting that you need to be kind to them and that you need to smile towards them or you need to give them a compliment or like we were talking about earlier, that you need to reach out to them. You need to text them or you need to call them. Y'all, that is our compassionate God speaking through you. God is compassionate. Think about those moments when that has happened to you.
And see if you can notice how you felt. Was it like a gut feeling? Was it like a thought? Try to practice some self-awareness. And if you're like, well, I don't know, was so long ago, I'm not really sure, that's fine. The next time it happens, see if you can practice self-awareness and see what that looks like. You can also ask.
God to help you become more aware, remember more sensitive to his voice and what that sounds like and what that might feel like. God wants to help you in hearing more of his voice. I think I've said this before on another episode, but sometimes I forget like, it's okay to ask God for help with being a Christian. You know, like it is okay to ask God for help in like obeying his word.
We can ask God for help in hearing His voice. You and I, have the opportunity, the blessing of asking God to help us hear more of His voice, make room for His presence, make more room for Him in our lives. We can ask God to help us read the Bible. We can ask God to help us want to read the Bible. God loves to help us become more like Christ. We can absolutely do that.
When You Think You've Heard God Tell You to do Something, But You're Afraid to Take Action
And I think that if you were ever unsure, I'm gonna close with this, if you're ever unsure of whether or not you've heard God's voice and you're like, oh, just don't wanna make a mistake, right? Like, I'm not sure if I've heard God's voice. I don't want to make a mistake. I don't wanna do the wrong thing. Let me encourage you with this. There is never a mistake that you or I, that we can make.
that is bigger than our God. God can cover, He can more than cover any mistake, every mistake that you and I will make. There is grace. He has more than enough grace, more than enough mercy, more than enough forgiveness, more than enough guidance for us whenever we make a mistake. Don't let the fear of making a mistake
keep you from trying to act out and respond to God's voice. It is a practice. I really believe that seeking God's voice, becoming familiar with what it might sound like or feel like, it is a practice. And the only way to practice is to put some action behind it. God can cover it. Father, thank you for your voice.
Thank you that you are always speaking to us. We are hungry to hear more of you. We want to hear more of you. Father, if we're being honest in this world, that is tough. There seems to be always something that needs, that is begging for our attention. Somebody always seems to need us. Something is always there to distract us. Please help us make room.
more room to hear your voice, please help us become familiar and sensitive to the ways that you were speaking to us and what you were saying. And please help us obey you. Holy Spirit, please help us become more like Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank y'all for listening so much to this episode. I do ask that you rate it. Rate it wherever you are listening to this episode.
It just pushes it out for more people and I did not say it in case you are not hands-free. Why do I always get that confused? Can somebody please message me on Instagram at Denea Marable. I'll put it in the show notes. Is it in case you are not hands-free or in case you are hands-free? It's in case you're not hands-free, right? In case you are not able to write any of what I said.
In case you're not able to write it down, I'm going to put it in the show notes for you. And this transcript is there for you, too. I love you. Thank you so much for listening. I'll talk to you next time.
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Detailed Example of How to Use the S.O.A.P. Method When You're Studying the Bible

In today's episode, I'm giving you a detailed example of how to use the S.O.A.P.  Bible Study Method. 
Below, you'll find the transcript that has the steps in bold to help you go along and practice this on your own. 
 
Denea (00:01)Hello, hello, it's Denea, host of the Faith-Filled Mom podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being here. Real quick, I just wanted to say, it is such a gift, a privilege, an honor that God meets you and I where exactly where we are. He did this with us when we first met him.
If you think back to your journey of the first time you really prayed or the first time that you had this idea of God saving you, right? That just that idea felt personal to you. Think back to that moment. God met you exactly where you were. He didn't expect you to become perfect in that moment, right? He knew that over
Over time, the sanctification process was going to happen with you and I, and that is such a privilege that you and I received that. And I also want to say it's a gift for us to give it to ourselves and other people. Mama, wherever you are, whatever you find yourself doing today, I hope you know that it is a gift to meet yourself exactly where you are right now. Maybe there are 50 million things that you want to accomplish today, but the capacity is just not there. Meet yourself where you are. Be kind to yourself, knowing that today, yes, you try, but today you don't have to be perfect. And give that gift. See if there's anyone around you. Ask God to lead you in giving that gift to someone else around you.
Like I said, thank you so much for being here. I am so excited about today's episode, but I feel like I say that about every episode. think this season of the podcast, I mean, I've been excited every single episode that I have recorded. I've been excited, but I think this season I'm really tapping into Bible teaching. Bible teaching is something that was in within the past year. I think I've had an awareness, that I was really passionate about. Like I wasn't able to articulate it before, but within the past year I was like, I really like this. And so this season of the podcast, have really been praying and I've been trying to be obedient and I've been trying to be bold and I've been trying to be brave because I definitely do not do this in my own strength. I don't prepare these episodes in my own strength. It's just something that I am passionate about.
And today, we are going to use the soap method in real time. Now I say in real time, this is not live. You are listening to this after I've recorded it, but I'm going to walk you through how to do that and here's why. I have talked about the soap method before. I've even kind of like given examples, but not to the extent of looking at the text in its original language and then connecting that to how we can apply scripture because that's how you and I get context out of the Bible. When you and I search the scriptures and when you and I also search the internet and looking at and all of these tools that we have and trying to get to that original language and trying to understand what the author of the text meant and when we understand that and kind of connect it to how we can apply it to everyday life that's how you and I get context out of scripture.
We don't really get context reading one scripture face value and trying to connect it to how we can apply it. Can it be helpful? Absolutely. Read your word.
Right? Like it can absolutely be helpful. I'm not saying that just reading the Bible at face value is not helpful. That is absolutely what I'm not saying. What I am saying is if we want to go deeper as far as getting context and meaning behind the original way what was written was intended and then apply that, to how we can apply it to our everyday lives and connect that to how we can apply it to everyday lives, that is how you and I go deeper. So I'm gonna do that today. We're gonna do that today. I'm going to write this out or type it out step by step.
So if you are not able to do this with me right now, that's perfectly fine. Girl, come back later. That's fine. It'll be typed for you right now. Just listen and do whatever you are. That is so fine. I'm gonna pray this in real quick. Father, thank you that you left us with your word. This book, Father, is alive and it's active and you breathed on these words, Father. Thank you that we, one way that we can know you, one way that we can learn more about your character, one way that we can learn more about our identity is studying the Bible.
Holy Spirit, we invite you right now. We want you to know that this is an atmosphere, our hearts, our minds, our spirits. We are open to you doing the work within us while we are studying. Help us to recall scripture. Help us when we don't understand what we're reading, help us to go back.
to you, to God, to Jesus, knowing that you give us deeper understanding. You can help us when we feel stuck in studying the Bible, you are here and we invite you in. We love you, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so tip, whenever you are reading or using a Bible teaching method, which the SOAP method is a, excuse me, Bible,
studying method whenever you are using a Bible studying method for the first time. Or I think even when you're like still kind of getting the hang of it, I think it is a really great practice to use it on a scripture that you have heard before that you have read before that you are familiar with in some in some kind of way. So today we are going to do that with Psalms 23 one.
Y'all know that is is my one of my favorite groups of scripture. I have talked about this before. So if you've listened to previous seasons or previous episodes, you've probably heard me talk about Psalm 23, maybe not verse one, but maybe another verse in Psalm 23. So that is what we are going to do today.
I had to get a sip of my matcha. I do apologize. All right, Psalm 23, one and no. I'm sorry. Let me review what the soap method is in case you have not seen that before or heard before. Okay, so the soap method, it is a Bible study method. I personally, this is just my personal opinion here. So do with that what you will.
I think this particular study method is great for people who need a little guidance in studying, but who also need a little bit of freedom and creativity when they study. I'll just name some other methods. The word study method.
That particular one, I think it is great if you love doing historical deep dives. There are a lot of different ways and methods to using that one. Verse mapping, that is great if you have a lot of, I feel like, and ability to focus and a lot of creativity. Soap, the soap method, it just works well for me.
I've talked about it before. I've posted about it before. have ADHD. I am also autistic. So when it comes to focusing, I'm challenged by that, but I do, I need a little bit of freedom when I study. I need some guidance, right? I need some structure, but I also need a little bit of freedom. So the SOAP method, just works for me. It stands for, each letter is an acronym, stands for a word. Scripture.
observation, application, and pray. When you look this up, you might see scripture observation, apply, praying, some variation, that's what it stands for. So that's what we're gonna work through today.
So S, we're gonna start with that scripture. And this is when we are going to read the scripture or write it out. So, the Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. And I am reading from the NLT. That's the translation anyway that I'm using. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. And when you're at this stage, the S, we are not looking for anything right away. We are just simply reading the scripture. We're simply writing the scripture. Oh.
And it's also important to say I'm moving right along with these. But in your private study time, do with your time as you wish, whatever works for you. If you just also think that that S stage is also really good to just kind of like meditate on a scripture. So if you want to sit on that scripture, sit on that stage for just a little bit longer, that step.
Absolutely feel that freedom to do that. I'm just moving right along with these. So S, saying it, reading it, writing it, the Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. observation. So with O, we are, and this is kind of where the creativity comes into play. So we're observing anything that catches our attention. Now I will tell you what catches my attention.
There is a good chance that there's something else that catches your attention. Also, there can be multiple things that catch your attention. For the sake of just recording and podcasting, I'm only going to be going over one thing that catches my attention. And that is the Lord. That grouping, that word, those two words. I absolutely love that David says that because
To me, it puts emphasis right on like, who is the shepherd? Like, why is it that David can say that he has all that he needs? because the Lord is his shepherd. That's why, right? It doesn't say like, my brother is my shepherd. I have all that I need. My friend is my shepherd. I have all that I need. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. So that kind of stuck out to me when you're observing.
Maybe you notice that words are repeated in a scripture. Maybe you notice all of the adjectives or the adverbs in a scripture. Maybe you notice that the tense changes. Maybe the writer goes from present to past tense. Whatever catches your attention, that you just make a note of it. You can circle it, just make a note of it. So that's what catches my attention.
Now, the application step. So you're gonna look at whatever you observed, whatever caught your attention. And this is where you get to do a little bit of a deep dive, which I love. Okay, so the Lord, I wanted to see, remember, we're trying to get back to that original language, that it was written in, because the original language, is going to help us understand what the writer David what he meant how he meant it Before it was translated into you know other versions of the Bible still the scriptures, but just translated differently, The Lord translates to I'm probably going to pronounce some of these wrong. So please bear with me Adonai Roi, which means the Lord My Shepherd. And the interesting thing that I thought was that the root word of RoI is rahah, which means watches over their flock, connecting the idea of seeing with care and protection.
Just think about that, y'all. How amazing is that? Put that in the context of who our God is. We know that throughout the Bible, we are described as his sheep, right? We know that in previous verses, or excuse me, we know that in other verses of the Bible, you and I are referred to as his sheep. How beautiful is it that our God, your God, watches over his flock, that's you, connecting the idea of seeing with care and protection how he nurtures you. I think that is just so beautiful.
Now, when we talk about the application step, how can we apply this, right, to like, live it out to our everyday lives? One thing I wanted to see was how many times and in what ways Adonai Roy appeared in scripture? Whenever you're studying scripture, it is a great practice if you can, right? If time permits, because we all know life be life and kids be kids and we all know grocery runs be grocery running. Like we all know how this works, right? So please. by all means, you know, I'm sitting here and I'm giving you tips, but know that in one Bible study session, you don't have to go through all of these tips if you don't have the time for it, or you can maybe do some of it and then have a part two. Have a part two. That is completely fine. So one thing that I wanted to see was how many times and in what ways Adonai Roy appeared in scripture. And you can Google this or you can use apps like the Blue Letter app. No, Blue Letter Bible app. There you go. It's really, really helpful for Bible occurrences and it's really helpful for getting the original language as well.
And so in looking at that, I noticed that there is a theme. This is God's Character like it is his character to nurture us as his sheep I noticed that with these Bible occurrences it is God's Character to oversee us it is his character to notice us We are not unseen by God. It is his character to see us to protect us to guide us.
That is who our God is. We are his sheep. He is our good shepherd. And I gathered from that that God wants to provide and tend for us. I'm going to make that personal. wants to provide and tend to you. God wants to provide and tend for me. You are cared for. God oversees your life, not just you, but all of the aspects of your life. And I also gathered that I am not in control. Now, I will be honest here because I am human. I want to be in control all of the time. do. I do. I am not one of those people who go with the flow.
I can't if you tell me what time we are starting to go with the flow and then I need to know how long we're going to be going with the flow. And then I need to know are there going to be snacks? I need to know if we're going to have water and I need to know then what time are we going to stop going with the flow so that I can get back to whatever I need to do. I want to be in control. But the thing is I'm human and as much as I want to think that I am good at being in control, I'm really not. Like there have been so many times where something has maybe worked out in another way and I was like, huh, well yeah, that tracks actually. Like that's actually better than I had imagined, right? It's not like that every time. That certainly is not the case. We live in a broken and fallen world, but I can admit there are certain things that work out and I'm like, oh, well.
Good thing I am not running this show because that is not what I had in mind, right? Like we are not good. We were not created to be in control because that is a very, very heavy God-like burden. That is a heavy God-like burden that you and I are not supposed to carry. God never wanted us to carry that. So we don't. So we're not always in control. That's a good thing. That's good news. It's greater news that God is the one.
Our good shepherd is the one who's in control. And then we pray. Holy Spirit, thank you.
for connecting us, always pointing us back to God. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for always pointing us back to Jesus and reminding us and showing us and revealing to us who God is and his character. We thank you, God, that you are our good shepherd, that you nurture us, that you see us. it's good to be seen by other people, Father, but there is something that is so...magnificent and Holy about you being the one who sees us. Thank you for nurturing us, for protecting us, for guiding us, for overseeing our lives. Thank you Father for controlling our lives. You're the one who's in control. You have given us will, but you are the one Father who is in control. We don't always understand it, but we are thankful Father that you are the one.
Who knows all?
We ask Holy Spirit that even after we have studied the scripture, keep revealing to us things about God's character. Even after this time has passed, keep revealing to us and help us to be sensitive to your voice. In Jesus name, amen. All right, mama, to recap, the SOAP method, scripture, observation, apply, pray. We're going to read the scripture. We're going to write the scripture.
We're going to say the scripture. we're going to observe, we're going to apply, and that application step, we're gonna look to see how the writer, what they might have written in the original text, whatever we observed. We want to know what did that look like in the original language. And then if you have the time, look and see how whatever you observed.
How does that occur in other places of the Bible? Is there a theme here? Does it reveal something about God? Does it reveal something about Jesus? Does it reveal something about God's redemption plan? Does it reveal something about our identity? And then think to how you can apply that in your everyday life and pray. I always think it's a good practice to pray before and afterwards. That is not in the acronym, but I do think that's a good practice.
I also want to say if you get stuck on any of these steps, do not give up. Don't stop studying. This happens. If you get stuck on a step, go to the next one. If that doesn't work out, I think it's a good practice to just stop and meditate on that scripture. What does that mean? That meditate? I think it means different things to different people. But I think if you get stuck on a scripture or, you know, in this Bible study method, if you get stuck on a step or a phase, just think about the scripture. You can repeat it over and over to yourself. You can look at it. You can just keep reading it over to yourself. You can pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal something to you.
He'll do it then or later. But don't think that you have failed by any means. Studying the Bible is a life long journey. We don't just study the Bible and then boop, we're done. We've read the whole Bible up, we're, no. Even if you've read something 50 times, you might go back and read it 51 and see something that you've never seen before.
That is because the Bible is real. That is because the Bible is alive and it's active. And that is because studying the Bible is a lifelong journey. Don't give up. Share this podcast with someone, someone who's trying to maybe get more context out of the scriptures, someone who maybe wants to start studying the Bible, but doesn't really know how, what that looks like, or someone who just needs some encouragement. Thank you so much for listening.
Talk to you next time. I love you. Bye.
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Email: deneamarable@gmail.com
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Website: www.deneamarable.com

What are Breath Prayers?

In this episode I’ll talk about what breath prayers are and we’ll do some together.
IG: @deneamarable
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Threads: @deneamarable
Email: deneamarable@gmail.com
Website: www.debatable.com

What is the Davidic Covenant?

This episode answers questions like “What is the Davidic Covenant?” And “What does it have to do with us?”
Although the Davidic Covenant is mentioned in other scriptures, this episode focuses on 2 Samuel 7:12-13
Connect with me on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok: @deneamarable
Website: deneamarable.com

Ways to Stay Close to Your Source of Provision

This episode is about Staying Close to Your Source of Provision in the midst of chaos. 
The scripture for this episode is Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is My Shepherd; I have all that I need." NLT
Staying close to our source of provision (God) can be challenging but it's necessary. God has what we need at all times. 
Transcript and Episode Notes (Episode Points are in bold) :
Denea (00:01)Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Filled Mom podcast. Today's episode is all about how to stay close to your source of provision in the midst of chaos, in the midst of living in a broken world, in the midst of fill in the blank. I want to go ahead and pray first. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you are
Thank you that you were always close to us. And we thank you God that you were God. Your ways are higher. You know a lot more than we do. You are high and holy and lifted up in your rightful place. And yet Father, you love to be our source of provision. We thank you Father. We just ask for your wisdom and your guidance. In Jesus name, amen.
So today we're coming from Psalm 23, verse one, the Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. This scripture, this group of scriptures, I've said it before, it is absolutely my favorite. One of my favorites in the Bible. It is just so comforting to know that God is always with us. This scripture, this verse in particular, to,
kind of get context behind it because we've been talking a lot about that right like getting context behind scripture it is important so let's go ahead and kind of set the scene so the person who wrote this scripture is David David was a shepherd before he was king before he was anointed appointed to be king he was a shepherd and so if anybody would be saying
The Lord is my shepherd. Like if anybody would know the time and commitment and care and provision that a good shepherd can provide, it would be a shepherd themselves, right? It would be a shepherd. Like David, it says that David, you know, knows, he knew what it was like to fight off predators who were seeking his sheep, right? He is somebody who has been, he is,
He knows about that life. Like David was a shepherd. So for him to be calling someone else a shepherd, that to me, it makes me look at this verse in a different way. David knew that he was the source of his sheep's provision. And so that made me think like, what am I doing to stay close to my source of provision?
So that's kind of what we're going to talk about today because that's, that's what it is, right? Sheep have to stay close to their shepherd. Now we do know, you know, Jesus said that he would go after the one, right? He leaves the 99. but it's also important for us to know that we got to stay close to our source. So how do we do that? Here are a few practical ways for you to implement that today, this week, number one,
pray and go to God and be honest with God about how you were feeling. The beautiful thing about God is that he doesn't have an ego. You know, like we can tell God, like, hey, I'm really disappointed, God, that you worked this out in a way.
that I didn't plan for, that a way that I didn't want. And to be honest with you, I'm feeling a little disappointed right now. I need you to help me navigate this. Like we can go to God and tell him how we are honestly feeling because the truth is he already knows. But I think he wants us to be honest with him because whenever we're honest with someone, I feel like it just opens up.
I don't know, possibility of intimacy that wasn't there before. Like have you ever had a friendship mama where you and your friend are just kind of talking and maybe you or your friend admits something that you've been struggling with and you just kind of talk about it for a while and you feel closer after that conversation. There's something about just being vulnerable and honest with a friend.
that just takes your relationship, that can take your relationship to the next level. And I think that's a great way. God is a safe person for us to do that with, you know? Like we don't have to worry about like God gossiping about us, or we don't have to worry about God trying to throw that back in our face later. Like that's not who he is. That's not what he does. God is a safe place for us to be vulnerable, for us to be open and honest.
Another great way to stay close to your source of provision is to turn down the noise. Turn, turn down, turn off or limit your use maybe of social media. Stop scrolling so much. Podcasts. Hey, I love podcasts. Well, I'm on a podcast right now, but I'm telling you that it is okay sometimes if you need to skip an episode.
so that you can prioritize carving out a few moments of quiet time with you and God, do that. Like whenever we say, you know, decrease the noise, I feel like, or maybe this is just me, I tend to think of like only bad stuff, you know, but like the thing is there's nothing wrong about trying to listen to a biblical podcasts or watch a biblical teaching on YouTube. You know, there's nothing wrong with that.
But the truth is I don't believe we were always created to be consuming. We gotta take a break. We have to create time for reflection. That's something I talk about often. Pausing and reflecting, that kind of helps us process things, right? Like that's one reason why our brains were not created to just go, go, go, go, go all of the time.
So every now and then, like, yeah, I think it's good to be like, you know what? I'm going to listen to that another time. I need some quiet time with God. And I think it's important to know that when you create, when you're turning down the noise in order to prioritize quiet pockets of time, number one, the quiet time does not have to be like 30 minutes long. If you have it, that's great. But I also want to say it can be two minutes.
And I've said it before, it can be 20 seconds. If that's what you have, because we all have had those days before. And I think that that's okay. If the time that you have, the little bit of time that you had to prioritize towards quiet time, God sees that you were surrendering your little, the little bit that you have. God sees that. He knows what that sacrifice is for you.
you could be choosing to do something else. Like he knows that. He's not offended if you just have 20 seconds of quiet time. And in that quiet time, like for me, I'll be honest sometimes, it feels odd. Sometimes I don't initially hear from God. I don't get a prompting, but I think it's a practice. And I think the more that we do it, that just kind of flexes and builds that muscle a little bit of.
quiet time and then we can start really being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And then we can start understanding what it actually, what is that sensation? Like what does it feel like to be prompted by God? What does it feel like for you when God is speaking to you? Because it might be different from someone else, but the only way to know that is when we practice it. That's the only way to do that. So start practicing. Whoops.
I know if you heard that. A picture just randomly fell. Start practicing that quiet time. Right? And in this quiet time, I think another reason for me why it might feel a little bit odd at first is because this quiet time is to create a time for God to speak to us. And I'm not saying like you can't during this time, you can't say anything to God. No, like if you feel prompted to pray, pray, talk to God.
But I think it is important to have time where we are just still in just letting God know like, hey, I'm open right now, like to hear what you're saying to me today. Because the truth is God is always speaking to us. I think we just have it like, you know, the noise turned up so loud in our lives, not intentional. And again, it's not all that, it's not bad stuff all the time. You know, it can be just day to day stuff.
But I think it's important to prioritize that. Another great way to stay close to your source of provision is to surrender. Surrender maybe how you wanted, know, a certain outcome that you have. Surrender your desires or how one, maybe you want to respond to somebody, react one way.
Ooh, you want to tell that person something and maybe it's warranted, right? But surrendering your fleshly desire and seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance so that you can walk like Jesus, that is a way, that's a great way to stay close to your provision. That's a great way to keep your eyes on God is to seek the Holy Spirit, seek His guidance and how you should respond in certain situations.
When we do that, it's kind of like the same thing. We're building that muscle. We're creating the Holy Spirit is transforming us from the inside out. Something is being built. We're getting stronger, right? Like those actions, they're starting to become more like Jesus. Even if you don't feel it, that is so important to practice that serenity. It's another practice. It's another practice because we're human. It's another practice because
It's got to feel like surrendering to the Holy Spirit and surrendering our desires. I feel like it looks different in every season. Right? Like the more, the more life you live, you're going to be called to surrender different things and that it's going to look different and that's okay. That's how it's supposed to be. But that is why it's a practice and it's a practice because we're not always going to get it right because we, you know, we, got that human in us. Another great way.
to, I think, stay close to our provision is to put on praise and worship music. And just when I put on praise and worship music, I heard somebody say this and I thought it was so beautiful. Like try to imagine God in front of you. Just the smallest glimpse.
of what you could imagine that would look like, right? And the good thing is there's really no right or wrong way to do this. It's just getting that imagery and then just start worshiping Him just like He's right in front of you. I think that is another great way to really stick close to your source of provision, praise and worship. know, God is worthy. He is high, He is holy, He is lifted up in His rightful place.
And I think that we have to declare that, we have to declare that to our atmospheres, we have to declare it to ourselves and remind ourselves of that often. It is so good for us to do that. There are other great ways to stay close, extend kindness. God's kindness and the love and the compassion and the patience that he shows us and the grace and the mercy that he shows us. We are supposed to be extensions of that.
Right? It's supposed to flow. It's supposed to flow through us. It's supposed to flow to us. It comes from God. We share the gift of patience or grace with someone else. And eventually it will come back to us because that gift, it doesn't expire. It doesn't end. It's supposed to flow through us and to us. think that's another great way. Be an extension of God's grace to somebody today.
Maybe that's someone else or maybe it's you who needs it. Be an extension of God's patience today. Woo, Jesus, that's tough. I know, I know, I know, I know that is so tough, right? But the truth is, that's tough. The truth is though, I mean, it's an extension of God. And when we show other people that like, we might think it's something small, but it's just showing somebody a glimpse.
of the goodness of God. That's another great way to stay close to your father. That's another great way to stay close to your source of provision. And then the last way, if you're not sure, ask. You know, like I get caught up in sometimes thinking that like, I don't know how to explain this, that I'm supposed to Christian right. That makes sense. And so in order to Christian right,
I'm supposed to know all of the answers. I'm supposed to have all of the answers. Therefore, I shouldn't be asking God to, you know, to help me with trying to stay close to him. Like I'm supposed to know how to do that. When that is not true. That is absolutely not true. I think that that is more of like a performance thing.
You know, and our relationship with God, it is a relationship. It's not a performance with God. It's a relationship with God. And so I just want to remind you today, if I'm, you know, I'm sitting here talking about how to stick close to your source of provision and you're like, okay, what? Like how, how am I supposed to do that? Or maybe you're thinking like, okay, yeah, I could do that in another season, but in this season right here tonight, like I don't.
even know I'm having trouble getting out of bed in the morning like staying close to my source of provision like I don't know how to do that. I just want to remind you that's okay. It is so okay if you don't know how to stay close to your source of provision. Right now it's okay if you don't know how to show kindness to other people. It's okay if you're you're listening to me talking about praise and worship maybe you haven't actually done that before.
maybe you are new to the Christian faith and you're like okay yeah I know praise and worship songs but like what what do I do when I'm by myself like at church you know I get it I'm around other people but what I just want to remind you that there is no such thing as quote unquote being like a "the right type of Christian" or "Christianing" right. It is okay for us to say God I need your help with this walk right with with with with this walk of being a Christian I need your help.
with this walk of becoming more Christ-like. I need your help with this journey. I need your help showing this person compassion because I really don't know how because I've done X, Y, and Z. I need your help with showing this person patience because God, I have tried multiple times. I don't feel like I have it today. God, I need your help in staying close to you as my source of provision because God, I feel so tired. I feel so exhausted right now.
I just want to remind you it's okay to go to your Heavenly Father for help. He loves to help us. He did not send Jesus to die on a cross just to be like, okay, y'all have fun. I'll see y'all in the next age. Like he sent Jesus to the cross so that he could fellowship with us, so that he could sit with us, so that he could be with us, beside us.
He wants to do life with us. He loves helping us. We're not bothering God when we ask him for help. He loves it. He loves to help. He loves to fill us. He loves to lead us. He loves to guide us. He loves to comfort us. He loves all of that. Go to him. I'm gonna pray us out. God, thank you so much. for your word and just thank you, God, that you are our good shepherd.
Thank you that you and you alone are our source of provision of all things God. How blessed are we that we have you, that you are our source of provision. Right now, God, we ask that you would give us your wisdom and discernment and help us. Help us as we are doing this walk of life as Jesus followers. How do we stick close to you, God?
as our source of provision. How do we show other people in this broken world? How do we show them compassion? How do we show them patience and mercy and your kindness, God? How do we do this life? We need you. We need you to show us. We need you to tell us. We need you to give us discernment, empower us, make us sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, we welcome the work that you wanna do.
within us to transform us to be more like Christ. Help us to boldly obey the promptings that you give us. We love you, Father. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. It was Psalm 23, verse one, but I will put that in the show notes in case you were doing 50 million things right now and you're like, okay, Psalms, I got Psalm.
19 she said I got it. Don't worry. I will put it in the show notes. Am I the only one who does that? I'm like, okay, don't worry. I'm gonna I've got this I'm gonna remember it and then like three hours later, I'm like, I don't got it. I don't I didn't remember it. I'm gonna put it in the show notes for you just in case if you could review this podcast wherever whatever platform you're listening to it on review this podcast, it just helps push it out to other people or you can send it to someone
If you think that you know someone who maybe is having a tough time right now and you're like, hey, when was the last time you spent time with God? And they're like, ah, I don't have time for that. I don't know how to do that. Send them this podcast. Maybe you can teach them. Maybe you can help them. I love you. Thank you so much for listening. I will put all of my contact information and the scripture in the show notes for you. I will talk to you next time. Love you.
 

Faith, Autism Motherhood and Disability Advocacy with Sunita Theiss

This episode of the Faith Filled Mom Podcast features Sunita Theiss.
Sunita is a believer of God, wife, mother, neurodivergent, writer, disability rights advocate and so much more.
Sunita will tell you her story, share her experience of being neurodivergent and raising neurodivergent children, and encourage you to lean into God’s grace.
We talk about Faith, skincare, autism challenges, the Bible and so much more.
Follow Sunita on Social Media:
Instagram: @sunitatheiss
Twitter: @sunitatheiss
Substack: @sunitatheiss
Visit her website: sunitatheiss.com
Transcript: Denea (00:00)
Okay, hi everyone. So I have a special treat, one that I have been excited about for a while. Her name is Sunitha Theiss. She is a believer, a mom, advocates for disability rights. I don't want to give away too much because I want her to be able to tell her story. She's also a writer.
and a speaker and I am just so thankful for you to be on here today. Thank you so much.
Sunita Theiss (00:34)
Thank you for having me.
Denea (00:36)
Absolutely. So I want to go ahead and get straight into it. Can you first kind of briefly say how you came to know Jesus? How did you start to, I guess, get into like a relationship with God and get to know Him?
Sunita Theiss (00:52)
It was kind of by accident. So I grew up Hindu, my well-meaning, but in hindsight, think misguided Christians had said things to my parents, like my dad was really sick. And so would say things like, if you accept Christ, you will be well. And like, that's not how God works, right? Like God is not a vending machine. And so I was...
trying to make my parents mad and like rebel. And I went to church with a friend who invited me, which like I did like more typical forms of rebelling in high school too, but like also this. And so it was kind of hard to be the only kid, also the only Indian kid a lot of the time whose parents weren't there. And in hindsight,
sort of knowing what I know about myself now. It was just hard to figure people out. a few years, so I stopped going. And then a few years later, when I was in college, my dad had passed away and I'd moved across the country and back. And I don't know what you call it, if it was Providence or God just endlessly pursuing me.
Denea (02:01)
Sorry.
Sunita Theiss (02:15)
I found the Bible that a youth pastor had given me in high school and I just remember sort of angry and bitter and praying, God, if you're real now is a good time. And a lot of stuff just kind of happened in those few weeks following that and things I didn't think could be explained away by coincidence. I felt like God had done things. And so I reached out to that same friend from high school and I was like, hey, are you gonna be home for winter break? Can I go to church with you?
I just want to say thank you. And so I went with her to church and then another friend from high school had recommended the church I attended for over a decade. so the three of us went to church and I ended up just continuing to go back there. And I got baptized there and was super involved there for about 10 years. And then, you know, even after we got married, we'd gone to my husband's church for a while and we went back and
I'm still very connected to that community there. So that's the short version. Yeah.
Denea (03:18)
That's awesome.
Yeah, I love how God just meets us where we are. You know, like that's, that's, yeah.
Sunita Theiss (03:26)
uses our rebellion, uses our,
and what's been really remarkable is that my mom is still a Hindu. She's an extremely devout and prayerful person and everything she does. And her faith is also like just so moved by loving her family. But she, it was so hard for her at first. And she is also in a place where she's like, I see that this has been good for you. And she will come to,
Denea (03:38)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (03:56)
our Christian homeschool group with my kids and I, and she will do, you know, and so she...
Denea (03:59)
that's awesome.
Sunita Theiss (04:04)
I, she's, she and I are, you know, we believe different things, but I also think like we have a lot of room for one another. And she can see that this has like consistently born good fruit in my life and in my relationships, including mine with her. So.
Denea (04:16)
Yeah.
Yeah,
that's awesome. So switching gears a little bit, what encouraged you to get an evaluation for autism in ADHD?
Sunita Theiss (04:33)
Yeah, so I mentioned before that I didn't know why I was having a hard time socially as a teenager, even in that church context. But I've thought I had ADHD for probably almost 15 years. I've been trying to get a provider to talk to me. But I was a gifted kid. I was professionally successful. I was a woman. I was not hyperactive in my body.
Denea (04:40)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (04:59)
And so I'm sure there were providers who thought I wanted meds, one even said as much, but I never got my diagnosis. And then after I had my son, I started seeing a therapist who said, I totally see it. Like, do you need a formal diagnosis? And I didn't at the time. And then my son was diagnosed with autism. And then we were exploring if that might also be.
Denea (05:04)
Yeah. Wow.
Thank
Sunita Theiss (05:28)
what was going on with my daughter. She was having some behaviors and some challenges that I felt couldn't be explained any other way. And after I talked to the pediatrician, I talked to my mom and I said, these are the things we're thinking about. I'm probably going to get her evaluated. And she goes, you did all of those things as a kid. And it was like this light bulb went on. I was like, wait, is it more than ADHD here? And so I had planned to get my son reevaluated anyway, because we had been.
Learning about PDA, felt like the first evaluation didn't really capture some of the ways he's gifted and some of the strengths he has. And so we had found a practice that we felt was a better fit. And so I scheduled both my kids. And then after I talked to my mom, I called him back and I said, do you guys do grownups? Like, I just get myself on the schedule too? And so.
Denea (06:17)
Wow.
Sunita Theiss (06:22)
Yeah, then they were able to get us in sooner than expected. So I got a diagnosis in the same week as my daughter. And I think, I mean, it's just, so good to know. It's so good to clarify. It hasn't been easy. There have been a lot of tears, but I think it's been a net positive because it's enabled me to be so much kinder to myself. And...
Denea (06:28)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (06:52)
to shed and unburden myself of lot of pain and shame I felt growing up that I couldn't do things, I needed more help than other people. It's still super hard to ask for help. think we're told we shouldn't need it, I think especially as high achieving women. But I'm learning, I'm learning to ask the people I trust for help, I'm learning to...
Denea (07:04)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (07:19)
My kids are really good at advocating for what they need and so they're teaching me a lot. So yeah, so it was my kids and what I had in common with them, especially my daughter and here we are.
Denea (07:33)
Yeah, I love that. I mean, I love in general that we're that we're talking about this, but I feel that there were so many things that you said that I know that I can relate to. Man, I think I first noticed that I was different in like middle school and high school. And people to me were just exhausting. I'm like it felt it felt exhausting. Let me say this. People are not exhausting. It felt exhausting for me to try to
figure them out. You know, like it was it was tough for me to try to navigate, like fitting in, you know, it seemed like it was a puzzle. And I just felt like, oh, if I could just figure this puzzle out, you know, I said, I could fit in and then I was like, I don't know, I feel like it's just harder for me. Like, I don't, I didn't really see anyone struggling. Like everybody just kind of seemed to naturally
Sunita Theiss (08:03)
Yeah.
Denea (08:29)
you know, have like cliques and friends. And like you said, as somebody who has a job, you know, on the outside, I feel like people are just like, you don't have autism. Like you're married. You don't have autism. You're a mom. Like you have a job. You have this. And it's like, okay. First of all, just like you said, there are so many internal battles. I feel like that we as
Sunita Theiss (08:46)
Yeah.
Denea (09:00)
neurodivergent adults deal with on the inside that we don't express. And another way to say that is we mask, right? Like we diminish our neurodivergent needs. We diminish the need to ask for help. We diminish the need to stem. We diminish all of those things. And so to the outside, it's like, oh, why do you want to do that? Why do you want to get an evaluation?
Sunita Theiss (09:08)
Right.
Denea (09:29)
And so I just, hope that there's somebody who's listening who kind of hears that and it just gives them permission to take whatever the next step is for them. I love that you said that it allows you to be kinder to yourself. That is so beautiful. And I'm like on the verge of tearing up because I mean, I know as somebody who does have autism and ADHD,
you start to kind of compare yourself to other people like, why is this so hard for me? This is just a simple thing, like I should be able to do this. And then it's like, okay, as a child of God, we have to realize that the way that we speak to ourselves, it should also be in line with like something that God would say to us, you know, like the way that he speaks to us, even when, you know, we're not on the right track, even when we decide to, you know, do our own thing.
Sunita Theiss (10:03)
Right.
made.
Denea (10:27)
God is still a very much loving father to us. And if the way that you're talking to yourself doesn't mirror that, then I think it needs a little bit more looking into. So I love that you said that this brought you to kind of just be kinder.
Sunita Theiss (10:43)
Yeah, I mean, I think sort of getting my diagnosis and then I did a very intensive bout of EMDR therapy in the same year, which was a journey. And I think combined, I came to understand and realize that like a core belief I had about myself was that I just do things wrong, like everything. And that's wild.
Denea (10:54)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (11:11)
to go through your life and persist in a belief that you do everything wrong. When yes, like we live in a fallen world, we are broken people, but not everything. And to believe, to go in with the expectation that like, I'm going to fail at this too. And then to be able to look at myself and go, I don't have to get this right. I have support around me. I have a God who stands in the gap at all times.
Denea (11:17)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (11:43)
And what a relief and how much freedom is there in that to know that I'm not doing this alone. I am not a failure that my whole story has been redeemed and I will find out how it ends, but God already knows. And then to clarify my diagnosis and to rest in the knowledge that God knew that about me too, right? Like before I knew my kids were autistic, God knew.
Denea (11:55)
Yeah.
Okay.
Sunita Theiss (12:12)
before I knew I was autistic, God knew. And I don't know why I had to be 36 before I found out, before I could clarify that, because for years I had just been like, I don't fit in, I struggle. I'm not like everyone else. I experienced deep anxiety and depression over the course of my life. And now I have this and I know this and I'm just like, okay, now I have a context within which to put all of these other things.
Denea (12:28)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
and
Sunita Theiss (12:41)
And I could see how it could really create barriers to someone's different faith. But for me, it has just like strengthened my faith to know that God knew and that he's there and he's been there and he understands the timeline. He understands the arc of the story and I don't have to.
Denea (12:53)
Yeah.
Yeah, that is so beautiful. I I absolutely, I thought I was wrong. know, like me as a, just as a person, like I just thought that I was wrong. And it does, gives you clarity, and I love that you said it gives you, like it allows you to put certain things in context. And that is such a gift.
Sunita Theiss (13:13)
Right.
Denea (13:29)
be able to do that. was like what I heard that was like yeah light bulb moment like that is what it does like it you know it allows you to put certain things in context versus just that core belief of I'm wrong or I'm always gonna fail at this because you know everything is so much harder like it it gives you a little bit of context and it allows you to lean into God's grace more.
What does that look like for you now? Because you said that it kind of has strengthened your faith. How has your faith changed since your evaluations?
Sunita Theiss (14:04)
I think it's a sweeter and gentler relationship, maybe. like I said, I take a lot of comfort in knowing that God knew this about me even when I didn't. I, I choose to believe that he didn't let it pan out this way.
without knowing that there's beauty and redemption in this story. And I feel like I'm already experiencing that, that like, there's been so much hurt in my life, relationally, professionally. There's been so much grief outside of just the context of how I experienced the world. And I really hate when people blame the fallenness of the world or sin as like a cause for autism or disability.
because the reality is the gospel story is that God experienced a disabling injury, he experienced grief, he experienced pain, he came as a baby, he had to develop speech and motor skills, right? Like, Barry Present, who wrote the book Uniquely Human says in the introduction of that book that there's no autistic behavior that isn't human behavior. if
Denea (15:08)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (15:24)
like the stage and age and frequency and persistence and repetition may vary, but there's nothing that is autistic that is not human. And if we believe that God, that Jesus is fully God and fully man, then he has experienced humanity the way that we experience humanity, even if there are variations in the specifics of how often and when and where. And so...
Denea (15:32)
Yeah.
Yes.
Sunita Theiss (15:50)
The short answer to your question is that I feel more seen and more understood and I don't feel like this was a mistake. I don't feel like I made a mistake.
Denea (16:01)
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, it fires me up whenever I see threads or just, I don't know, social media in general, that autism and sin intertwine. Because that's not
the case. And so that's why I love that these conversations are starting to be had. think a lot of that comes from just ignorance. And so I think the more that we that we talk about it, especially within like the Christian community, the more that we talk about it, the more that we educate. I'm just I'm really praying and believing that that that's false belief.
just goes away because it's hurtful, it's not true. I mean, it's not biblical. And so I love that you went over that. But yeah, I can definitely see how that would make way for you to have more grace, like more freedom within your relationship with God and yourself.
Sunita Theiss (17:22)
Right, I mean, I think, you know.
If you look at scripture, when Jesus is resurrected and he encounters his disciples, he looks at Thomas and he says, put your hand in my side. He says, in my side. He doesn't say, touch my scars. He says, put it in my side. They can see the wounds in his hands as well, which means the resurrected glorified body of God still had a visible disabling injury.
Denea (17:40)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (17:58)
What does that mean? Like, I think, you know, it's hard for me to contextualize because people are like, well, in heaven people won't need wheelchairs. And I'm like, maybe, but that's not in scripture, right? Like we don't know what everything in body looks like. And the one we do know about the one that there is a spiritual account of still had wounds. So how like...
Denea (18:14)
Right, Yep. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (18:27)
I love that there are things about our faith that are a mystery. I'm excited to find out. But that was kind of an eye-opening thing for me to think about, especially since getting my diagnosis. And I think it's not exclusive to Christianity either. I I grew up Hindu. My dad was very sick. We never used the word disability at home, but he had many disabilities.
Denea (18:51)
No.
Sunita Theiss (18:57)
And there were things people would say about karmic consequences of past lives leading to the life that our family had now. And that's so performance oriented and it's so anxiety inducing and it's so ableist. And so I just, if we believe that God is compassionate, that God
God is with us in these moments and these experiences. He has experienced the full extent of humanity, then why not this too?
Denea (19:32)
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, amen. I like you said, I think it's good that we don't know. Like there's, I heard her name is Faith Yuri Cho.
Sunita Theiss (19:37)
Thank
Yeah.
Denea (19:47)
She said that it is good that we serve a God that still has some mystery. It's good that when we read the Bible that there are some things for us to, of course, seek God's wisdom and seek the Holy Spirit and seek Biblical counsel, but at the end of the day, it is okay if there are just some things that we don't know on the side of heaven that we still have left to find out.
Sunita Theiss (20:13)
Yeah, and it's funny because I sometimes wonder, we don't know people who are far more intelligent and educated than we have made it their careers and their lives to explore these very specific things in scripture, and that's amazing. And I also sometimes pray that it just won't matter, right? That the day will come when Christ returns and I'll be like, what were all those things I wanted to ask? No, it's cool.
Denea (20:26)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right, yes, doesn't
even matter.
Sunita Theiss (20:42)
And because when I get frustrated about things that I've experienced, whether it's the grief around our fertility issues and pregnancy laws and in the darkest moments of that journey, I've been like, I just want to get face to face to God and be like, why me? Why did you choose me to go through this? And then I go, I don't think it's going to matter. I don't think it's going to matter. Because when I am...
Denea (21:02)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (21:11)
face to face with my Lord and my God. I'm not gonna be like, what were you thinking? Why did you do this to me? I'll be like, thank you, you're here. And that's, you know, there's comfort in that too.
Denea (21:20)
Yeah. I don't know.
Yeah, absolutely. So you talked about that scripture when Jesus was talking to Thomas. Are there any other scriptures that you cling to when either you or your children are experiencing some of the challenging parts of being autistic?
Sunita Theiss (21:51)
There are so many. So I start every day. I have a reminder on my phone that just has the verse with Proverbs 16.3. So commit your work to the Lord and he will establish your plans.
Denea (22:07)
Mmm.
Sunita Theiss (22:08)
So at 7.20 every morning, an alarm goes off on my phone that just says Proverbs 16.3. And that's a reminder that everything I do is I can commit to God that can be done for the glory of God and that he will then see it through. He will establish it. He will set it on a firm foundation. I've needed that reminder so much, especially in this season of like,
Denea (22:25)
that.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (22:38)
I'm working, I'm homeschooling, I'm writing, I'm with my kids all the time. And there are a lot of plates spinning and all of it can be done for the glory of God. So that's how most of my mornings start. And then I think everyone will probably tell you Psalm 139, but I'm okay with that. I think there are things that are pervasive in our community and in the church for Christians. But, you know,
Denea (22:50)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (23:07)
It's really wonderful to know that God knew us before we were formed. knows he will know us to the last of our days. My kids and I love to sing a song for Philippians 417. So can do anything through him and gives me strength. so that's those are probably like the three most recurring. I also there are variations of this in.
Denea (23:12)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (23:35)
different gospels, you know, just reflecting on that if he can do this for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, like what will your father do for you? So there are a lot of worship songs along those lines, so I tend to listen to those throughout the day.
Denea (23:47)
Yeah.
Yeah, I
love that y'all have a song that you sing together. I think that is just awesome. I mean, for everybody, for you, but also for them, making sure that they're actually getting that scripture in them. And plus, I've been personally working on memorizing scripture, and so I've heard that songs, that's a good way.
Sunita Theiss (23:57)
Yeah.
Yeah.
singing.
Denea (24:20)
Yeah to do that so I love that you're incorporating that now with them. So like you said you have a lot of plates spinning. How do you intentionally like care for yourself as someone who is autistic and has ADHD and just ask somebody who has spiritual needs ask somebody who is a person right outside of being a mom like how how do you do that?
Sunita Theiss (24:46)
Yeah, I will.
so I use noise canceling headphones. have them right here. I, I find that because sometimes there is sensory mismatch. like, I don't do well with a lot of sounds, around me if I take that back, I don't do well with certain sounds and I have one child who stims vocally very loudly and
Denea (24:54)
Mm-hmm, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Sunita Theiss (25:18)
you may hear it at some point as my kids are sort of passing through my house. So, and we've had to talk about sort of what the boundaries are around that because I want everyone to be able to regulate in the way that they need. And then another thing I do is I'm at my best when I'm exercising and moving my body a few times a week. I really enjoy lifting weights. I think
Denea (25:22)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (25:45)
I didn't have these words when I started doing it, but it's really, really good proprioceptive input, like just to move, to do heavy work. And then something that is sort of, that I'm working on recently is I used to prioritize my work based on urgency. And now I'm trying to prioritize it based on how much margin I have. So instead of this is a high priority or a low priority,
Denea (25:51)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm
Sunita Theiss (26:13)
Does this require a lot of mental margin and focus or does this, is this something I can do quickly in a few minutes? Is this something I can do sleep deprived? Does this require a lot of executive function? And so taking a better pulse on my capacity and then doing work there. And sometimes that means that I have to like, you know, I have to meet a deadline, right? Like I work for other people, have clients.
Denea (26:31)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (26:43)
But generally over the course of the week, I'm able to find the pockets where I can do the deep work. I'm able to
Denea (26:48)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (26:49)
fit in the other pieces as I have margin. But I've also been trying to apply that to my self-care routine. like if I'm sleep deprived and I get up in the morning, I'm not gonna do a full skin care routine. I'm just gonna wash my face and brush my teeth. If I have time and energy and I can think about all the steps, like we are using serums.
Denea (27:01)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yes.
Sunita Theiss (27:11)
We are flossing. are, you know, like we're gonna, we'll do it all.
But if I can't, then like the best I can do is some, just splash some water on my face, put some moisturizer on and brush my teeth and go. And that has helped my days feel less overwhelming because I've always had a very like all or nothing. Like I either have to do the full routine or I'm failing. And I'm like, oh, like I can decide what I have capacity for. And so.
Denea (27:18)
Yes.
huh.
Yes.
Sunita Theiss (27:38)
That's a very sort of practical thing. I'd love, I have this visual of like a menu where I can be like, I have margin in the morning so I can do this and I don't have margin. And so I just haven't had the time to like build it and laminate it and try it out. That's kind of what I'd love to do is just sort of have, these are my high, medium and low margin options.
Denea (27:47)
Yeah!
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (27:59)
my morning routine here, my options at lunchtime, because then you can apply it to like meals. Okay, I don't have a lot of capacity. So we're eating thawed leftover soup that I froze six months ago. But like, actually, I am super excited about cooking. And I have the capacity to think through 10,000 steps. And so we're gonna have this elaborate meal, right? Giving yourself grace to be where you are, and sort of planning ahead to be wherever you might be at the end of the day. So.
Denea (28:08)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
My mind is blown right now because...
Sunita Theiss (28:31)
It's super new thing. if you don't already on Instagram, there's a woman named Iris Wong. Her Instagram is eftoolkit. And she's a former speech therapist who does a lot of executive function work. And she and I, we meet up and we've become friends. We meet up on Zoom. She lives in California. But this came up in a conversation with her.
And so I've just been experimenting with it since I talked to her about, she's like, what if you did it this way? And so now I'm trying to figure out like what it looks like, but.
Denea (29:03)
My mind is blown because because I I mean like all or nothing it's like either like just like you said like I had that that dilemma this morning of So the mornings when I wake up are typically high anxiety just
Sunita Theiss (29:10)
Yeah.
Denea (29:20)
like switching from sleeping to like starting my day. And like I feel, I told my husband, I was like, I feel like the rest of the day when I wake up, it's just like staring at me in the face and it's just like, they're waiting for me. And it's so hard for me to jump into it. So I've started a skincare routine, but this morning I didn't sleep well last night. So I was like, I'm just not gonna do it. Like I don't, like it doesn't, like I don't have the capacity for it. And trying to figure out what I've done.
Sunita Theiss (29:43)
Yeah.
Denea (29:49)
Previously is like, okay, is this urgent important or not urgent? But then that doesn't leave room for my capacity. And so I think that is something that I'm going to look into incorporating that when you were sitting here talking I was like, whoa, maybe that's why like Tasto feel just that that was amazing for me.
Sunita Theiss (30:03)
Yeah.
Well, I think it's a very sort of,
it's a very like narrative thing. The other thing, the other person, oh, I can't remember her name. I'm trying to see if I have her book here somewhere. There's a homeschool mom. I can't remember her name. Oh, I think I found it. Pam Barnhill. She writes about having like, like as you're planning your homeschool year, like what's the minimum viable product, like the minimum viable school day?
Denea (30:39)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (30:39)
Like if you had to only do one thing
every day, what would it be? And then like, and it's kind of that same application to like my personal routine or to my work is like, what, what would I have to do? So it might be like for my kids, it's like we do a math, a language arts and like a Bible story. And like, if that's all we do, great success. If we can do all the other stuff I'd love to do, that's amazing too. But I think it's also like combining that into how I navigate my own personal needs. because
Denea (30:43)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (31:09)
Taking that approach to the homeschool day has also helped relieve some of that pressure
on myself.
Denea (31:14)
Mm-hmm.
That's awesome. So you mentioned getting your son evaluated for a PDA.
Sunita Theiss (31:23)
Yeah, so PDA is not something you can get a formal diagnosis of most of the time because it tends to co-occur and it's pretty broadly understood to co-occur with autism. It will be listed in their autism diagnosis as a presentation of autism, a profile of autism. The way I explain it to most people is that he has a sort of non-stereotypical presentation of autism.
where he has, it's sort of a cluster of traits that is actually frequently I would, I speculate misdiagnosed his oppositional defiance because there's high anxiety and an extreme fight or flight response. And that can be seen as being oppositional or sort of combating the authority around you. But I'm realizing,
Denea (32:03)
Mm.
Sunita Theiss (32:20)
My son and I, I relate to it a lot too. I think I've just, I have a fully formed frontal lobe at this point and I have done a ton of therapy and I have a lot of skills in place, but I, my internal resistance when people tell me to do things is still similar. I just have developed a skill set that doesn't make me externalize it. So I think it kind of defies all the wisdom about parenting and education.
Denea (32:26)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (32:47)
Because our kids, PDA kids, PDA adults, like they don't really see hierarchies or if they see hierarchies, they find them like arbitrary, I guess is maybe a good way of putting it. So like, my son doesn't necessarily see himself as subordinate to us in our home. And so to cultivate that authority and respect, right? Like it has actually come with giving our children a lot of autonomy.
Denea (32:58)
Okay.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (33:15)
and lot of agency and input into how we do things. We have very specific boundaries and non-negotiables, but there's a lot of freedom inside of that. like in a homeschool day, it might be like, here are the five things we have to do. What order do you want to do them in? Right? Because I don't need to have that control. Like I'm ready to do all of it.
But I know that that's really hard for other parents because they're like, well, this is what we have to do. And then it's like, okay, but like,
Denea (33:43)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (33:45)
Do you have to do math first? Do you have to, know, and or.
I'm trying to think of like other examples. Like in the mornings when we're getting dressed, like I would be like, put on your pants, do this, do this, do that. And then it was just like 10,000 demands were being placed on this child and every demand is feeling like a threat to his brain. It's feeling like intolerable. And so for me to slow down and say, hey, I'm so happy to see you. I love being your mom. How's it going?
Denea (34:21)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (34:23)
here's what I'm thinking for today. What do you think? What do you want to wear? And then instead of guilt-dripping my kid for going out, for wearing shorts and a tank top on a day when it's 22 degrees outside, I might say, hey, do you want to just like, can you run out and tell me how cold it is so that I can decide what I want to wear? And then he'll be like, man, it's cold. He goes, I think we need to bring some pants. Whereas a year ago I was just bringing pants and a long sleeve shirt and a jacket in the car. And now he has.
the ability to say like, I think I would like to choose this. Because that's what adulting is, right? Like it's going, here is the context in which I exist. I will have to make choices now. And I'm not always going to make good choices. And so how, like what a gift it is to me and to my kids that like we get to practice that so much more than most people. That's not to say that PDA is not without its challenges.
Denea (34:53)
Yeah. Yes. Yep.
Yeah.
Sure.
Sunita Theiss (35:23)
As a kid I did and I think my son has, I mean, I know he does, like he would lash out physically a lot. Now I understand that he felt so threatened. That's all his brain could do. Like his fight or flight is all fight. But going upstream and going, okay, you don't get here in a vacuum. There are things that have happened throughout the course of the day that made this feel like the moment where.
Denea (35:30)
Okay.
Bye.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (35:51)
you are not safe anymore. so, and I think with maturity, with time, with flexibility, you know, we're getting to see all the ways that he's so thoughtful and so gifted and so curious about the world and creating room to lean into that too. So the way that we homeschool, I call a lot of audibles.
Denea (35:53)
I don't know.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (36:18)
And I think that's one way we accommodate the PDA is that like, I might be like, here's the lesson. And he'll be like, I hate school. I'm never doing school again.
You are bad at being my schoolwork partner. That's what he said to me recently. And I went, okay, what feels hard? What feels hard? What is what feels hard? And is it a little hard? Or is it too hard? And it finally came out that like the work was boring. He found the work boring. And I'm like, yeah, I get it like dopamine.
Denea (36:34)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (36:47)
big for me too. So I said, let me take a 15 minute break. And I came up with something that was more tied into an interest he had. And we still accomplished the same work, right? Like we practiced the same phonics.
Denea (36:57)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (36:58)
We still did adding and subtracting. We still found a way to review the memory work from our homeschool community. But we did it in a way that like tied into something he was interested in. And yeah, it was more work on my part, but like I'll do the work all day if it engages him and fosters a level.
Denea (37:10)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. That is, like you said, it's not without its challenges, but I think that is a beautiful... But that's just a beautiful story of grace. You know, that's what I hear. And I think that, like you said, it's probably tough for...
One reason that it's tough for lot of parents is because it calls you to relinquish control or what you perceive as control. And it calls you to step in to be more grace-filled toward yourself and your children.
Sunita Theiss (37:52)
Well,
and I think that's not unlike how God is with us, right? Like if we believe God gave us free will, and I do, I'm not going to use it appropriately all of the time, right? And so, and he doesn't shame us for it. And like if I choose,
Denea (37:57)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (38:20)
to sleep in and I have to skip my quiet time in the morning and then we're rushed and so I'm eating garbage food as I'm going out the door. And that's not me being a good steward of my time or my body. This is a very benign example. But I'm not gonna be like, you screwed up, you're out. His mercies are new every morning. I get to start over the next day and do it again.
Denea (38:30)
Bye
It's a very relatable, it's a very relatable example. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (38:49)
And I think, I don't know why we don't extend that same grace to children, really, as a society. And I feel like there's another PDA mom who has said a lot of times to me that PDA children are the canaries in the coal mine. They alert us to when things are not right, because they're wired not to tolerate it. And so...
Denea (38:54)
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that.
Sunita Theiss (39:16)
slowing down is not a bad thing. Having more grace and compassion for yourself and your children is never a bad thing. I think what people get wrong about PDA, about dropping demands, about increasing autonomy is that it can come across as being overly permissive. It can come across as giving your children free reign or letting them be in charge in your home. that's not it at all.
Denea (39:23)
Amen.
Sunita Theiss (39:44)
We have, like I said, we have very specific boundaries about what it is and it's not acceptable, but we involved our children in those conversations. My son and I, a couple summers ago, sat on the porch eating popsicles and we came up with family rules. Our number one rule is we keep everybody safe in mind, in body and spirit. And there's a lot that umbrellas up under that. The rest of the rules umbrella under that.
Denea (39:59)
Mmm.
Sunita Theiss (40:13)
But we'd agree together that should be the number one.
Denea (40:16)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (40:18)
And,
and so when he's lashing out physically and he can't, he's not in control. It's almost like he's, he's blacked out. He's like fully in this like limbic state of like, I just need to feel safe. but I can talk to him about it later. And, and even now as he's, as he's maturing and he's able to be more present, like to say, I'm the boss of my body. I'm going to keep my body safe. I'm going to walk away. I'm not going to put him in a timeout.
Denea (40:23)
of
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
home
Sunita Theiss (40:48)
I'm say, I'm gonna step away and then he can come to me and we can repair and we can reconcile when we're both ready. And like, that's a skill I know most grownups in my life struggle with. So if my seven year old is starting to figure it out, then like my hope is when he's 27 or 47, like that's just a skill that is in his tool belt.
Denea (40:54)
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah. What are, if you had to pick, I'm sure there are a lot more, what are three things that you wish churches knew about welcoming and ministering to individuals and families with disabilities?
Sunita Theiss (41:33)
so following on what I was just saying, I think, the first thing is that disabled kids become disabled adults and that there needs to be thought and attention given to that transition. And there need to be accommodations in place for that transition and for the adults in your community, because they don't just grow up and disappear. If you want them to participate in the life of the church, you have to be mindful of that. and following that, I think,
Denea (41:53)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (42:01)
disability inclusion requires a cultural shift from the top. It's much more than spending money or buying fancy equipment or setting up a sensory room. It is what are you preaching about? Who is preaching? Who is on your elder board or your best read or your lay council, whatever you call it. Who is a greeter on Sunday mornings? Who is leading small groups? Who is speaking into what the life of the church should look like?
Denea (42:21)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (42:29)
And if that's not reflected in the community, then the culture will never change. That was like two and a half. So I guess the final thing is that.
Denea (42:33)
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (42:42)
It's my it's my belief in my conviction that we get it, we don't do a good job of recognizing that every person is an image bearer of God, and therefore every person belongs in God's family. Every individual has the right to access and be involved in the life of the church, because we are all members of one body. And we are doing a huge disservice.
Denea (43:07)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (43:12)
to a significant portion of Americans in the American church, but people worldwide by excluding them or not creating room for them to feel like they could belong.
Denea (43:18)
Yeah.
Woof. That, that'll preach. that is, I mean, yeah, that, wow, that, was really powerful. And, I mean, just, just all of that, because you can talk about making little changes here and little changes there, but at the end of the day,
Sunita Theiss (43:25)
you
Denea (43:46)
What does your leadership team look like?
Sunita Theiss (43:49)
so at our church, it's, it's predominantly men. but we last year added a pastor whose title is, associate for compassion ministry. And he is spearheading a disability ministry among many other really amazing community initiatives. so I'm on the working group for that. And he has brought in disabled individuals.
Denea (43:54)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm, yeah.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (44:18)
as well as professionals and parents. And he's very emphatic that it will be a ministry of belonging. It will not be a separate space, but it will be about transforming the way we do church to be more inclusive. And so I will keep you posted on it. I'm excited to see where it goes. I think it's really cool that
Denea (44:22)
Yeah, that's awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah!
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (44:46)
that he's part of our church and that, you know, they're doing work in low-income communities, they're doing work in prisons, they're doing, you know, he's just, how can we love our community better? Like, I think that's a good way to explain his job. And our church leadership has been very accommodating and mindful of what we need. I've had to be kind of a squeaky wheel at times, but.
Denea (44:48)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Sunita Theiss (45:13)
You know, we had we had an incident where someone asked us to leave a service because my son was like stimming and singing a song that they were not singing. And and I had like my my daughter was like eight weeks old. It was like one of the first times we'd gone to church since having a baby. And and so I leave crying and my husband is angry. And this our church is a lot of older people, too, which I love most of the time. And
A group of women who run our hospitality team, like sort of surrounded us. They gave my son this huge piece of cake, kind of talked to my husband down. And then one of them texted our pastor and just said, like, Hey, this is what happened. And so he contacted me and said, I need you to know your family is always welcome. And that was more than three years ago. And so if they don't have the resources in place, they are open to talking about it. And I think that's what, that is what matters. That's what I mean about like.
Denea (45:55)
And.
Wow.
Yeah. Definitely.
Sunita Theiss (46:13)
It starts with a
lot. There are people at our church who probably think I'm like the worst parent in the world because of what I permit my kids to do. And I know that our leadership sees how much we love our children and they are working very hard to involve us and to get us plugged in and to accommodate us within the capacity that they have.
Denea (46:25)
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome. Really quickly because we're about to run out of time, which I hate because I have more questions that I wanted to ask you. But I want everyone to know, and I'm going to put all of these links in the show notes, but what are you up to? How can people find you on social media, your website, all of that good stuff?
Sunita Theiss (46:54)
Yeah,
thank you. So I do a lot of writing about all of this that we've been talking about. I try to create free resources for parents and families. and I both write for a key ministries blog. And then I'm homeschooling, I do some consulting. So all my writing is done in the margins. I just...
Denea (47:10)
Mm-hmm.
Sunita Theiss (47:20)
I had created a Lent and Christmas resource for neurodiverse families and I'm working on a Lent and Easter one. that will be hopefully sometime next month. I will have that out since Ash Wednesday is the beginning of March. People wanna connect with me. I'm at Sunita Theiss on everywhere, Instagram, Twitter, threads. My website is sunitatice.com and they can find links to all of those things there too.
Denea (47:28)
I
Sunita Theiss (47:47)
And if people want to reach out via email, it's on the website, but hello at sanidotice.com. I'm happy to talk to people too.
Denea (47:55)
Yeah and you have you have a speaking engagement coming up too right with key ministry.
Sunita Theiss (47:58)
Yeah,
I have a couple. I'm speaking at, I'm leading a discussion group at PDA North America's conference in March, and then in May, I will be speaking at key ministries conference about how churches can come alongside late diagnosed adults. I'll be there and hopefully more to come this year.
Denea (48:07)
Mm-hmm.
That's awesome. Yeah,
absolutely. There will be more to come. I will put all the links in the show notes so people can find you and just thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this conversation. But also thank you for the work that you do like on that you showcase on social media, I should say, because you're not doing it on social media, but you
Sunita Theiss (48:25)
Thank you.
Denea (48:47)
Allow people to see and really know I think I'm trying to figure out how to say How to say what I what I like it you're starting a real conversation about it that is very authentic and That is absolutely appreciated and I'm just I'm just so thankful that you're doing that So thank you for sharing your words your gifts your writing your wisdom with all of us And I appreciate your time
Sunita Theiss (48:58)
Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah,
I'm so glad we connected. Thank you.
Denea (49:19)
Thank you.

Jeremiah 29:11 in Context

On this episode of The Faith Filled Mom Podcast, I talk about the context behind Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah 29:11 is a scripture that's often taken out of context and the meaning behind it reveals beautiful promises from God. 
In this episode, I'll talk about this verse as well as Jeremiah 23:5. 
For Digital Resources including Bible Study Method Tools and Christian Neurodivergent Encouragement you can visit my website: www.deneamarable.com
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