April 30, 2024 • 44 mins
BUY MERCH: Wrestling With Life merch is finally here baby!!!!! Get your hands on a big comfy embroidered hoodie or trucker cap ;) More merch coming soon. Lesssss goooooo
Today we got one of my besties, Baby Bri, on the mic for a vulnerable convo about faith: how we've both wrestled with doubt, shame, and anger towards God and the Christian church in general.
Boy oh boy have I avoided this topic for a long time y'all. I have been so angry with the church for many years, but I'm finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Even if you're not a Christian and you don't believe in God, I encourage you to give this episode a listen. We cover:
- How judgmental people in the Christian church can be and why this is so harmful
- How it's easy to be turned off to faith for this reason
- How Christians can speak and model truth in love instead but still stay in your own lane
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Hey guys.
Welcome back to thewrestling with life podcast.
If we've not met before,hello, I am your host, Em Led.
Thank you so much for tuning in thewrestling with life podcast is all about
getting out of our heads together, baby.
So if you are an overthinker whotends to get in your own way a lot,
(00:32):
but you have a lot of big dreamsand a lot of goals and things that
you want to get done in this life.
Then you're going to want to press thatfollow button and join the wrestling
squad because that's exactly what westrive to do on this podcast, baby.
We got new episodes every singleTuesday and make sure to turn
on your notifications so thatyou don't miss a single one.
(00:54):
We have got an amazingguest episode today.
We got my friend Brie, aka Baby Brie,on the podcast We're talking about
wrestling with our faith, wrestlingwith shame, struggling with it.
Anger at the Christian church, strugglingwith anger at other Christians, and even
if you don't believe in God, even if youdon't identify as a Christian, anybody
(01:18):
listening can get something out of thisepisode because Bri and I talk really
vulnerably about trying to make sense ofthis world that we're in, trying to make
sense of God and spirituality and ourfaith and where we fit into all of that.
And the goal of this episode is justto make other people feel not alone
(01:38):
out there who are also wrestlingwith the same kind of questions.
None of us have it figured out.
None of us know what we're doing andall of us are just trying to do the
best that we can every single day.
And I feel like Bri and I sentthat exact message in this episode.
So Without further ado, y'all,let's get into the episode.
Wrestling fam, please allow meto introduce you to literally
(02:02):
one of my favorite people.
One of my best friends, someonethat I look up to tremendously.
The one and only baby Brie.
Hi, Brie.
Hi, I'm Lynn.
I'm so excited to be here with you.
Dude, I'm shitting my pants.
I'm so happy that you're here and we havelike a very hot topic, kind of, I guess,
a controversial topic to talk about.
(02:22):
And the reason why I'm bringing youin for this, you already know, is
because I look up to you so much.
When it comes to faith and Christianity,man, like you and I have both wrestled
with our faith at different points intime, but there is just so many different
ways that we could take this talk,but I want you to be the person for
(02:42):
this because you are just so grounded.
You are so level headed andwe've been friends for how long
have we been friends for now?
Is it four years, closeto four years, four years?
And every single time within theselast four years that I'm struggling
with my faith, you are the personthat I go to because you have such
a mature faith and your perspectiveson things are so level headed.
(03:06):
They're not like black and white andextreme, like they're very solid in
the middle and you just have like alot, a lot, a lot of wisdom to share.
And we got to give it to thewrestling fan today, baby.
You're so, so sweet.
Thank you so much for making mefeel more confident in my faith too.
Cause I definitely have, like yousaid, have had moments where I really
(03:27):
question where I'm at in my faith.
Yeah.
Which is natural in your hills andvalleys of your faith as you're walking.
But knowing that I have such a strongfriendship with you and you really do in
your questions as you're struggling reallypushed me to understand my faith better.
So I really appreciate you and whatyou've done for, for me in that way too.
I don't feel like I've done anything,but I appreciate you saying that.
(03:48):
No, no, that is so false.
Our conversations really havereally pushed me too, because you
definitely bring things in thatI haven't thought about before.
And Bring it into like a totally differentlight for me and help me realize things
and push me to find answers of to thingsthat I've never thought of before.
Oh, Bree.
Well, hopefully we can dothat for the listeners today.
What I really want to talk about isjust kind of the things that don't
(04:11):
get talked about in Christian faith.
I have specifically Avoided this topic,to be honest with you on my podcast,
because it's something that I, I justhave been wrestling with so much and I
still have a lot of questions around.
And I feel like when I get on this mic,I don't want to fill other people's
ears with more uncertainty about things.
(04:32):
And so it's been a really difficulttopic for me to even cover.
Like I've mentioned, you know, I grewup in a strict Christian home on here.
I've mentioned that I've been wrestlingwith my faith, kind of questioning like,
The beliefs that I have versus how I wasraised, where does that leave me now?
Am I still a Christian?
And so today I just kind of likewant to hit on some of those.
(04:54):
really hard topics that make otherpeople question their faith as well.
So can you start by givinga background on your faith?
Cause I know you were raised alsokind of in a similar home as I was.
Yes, absolutely.
So I was raised in a Christianhome just like you were.
And I was actually homeschooled myentire life because my parents wanted to
(05:17):
give me, my siblings, a good Christianeducation and to be able to build our
family where we actually spent a lotof time together and grew together.
And that way also my parents had somecontrol over what we were learning
and like how we were learning it asfar as like a Christian perspective.
And so I feel like that really kind ofpaved the way for my faith, like my mom
has been very influential in my faith andjust the way she lives her life and how
(05:40):
her relationship with God is so real hasmade him a lot more real in my life So
she would do Bible studies with us whenwe were growing up to kind of bolster our
faith and to just give us a good solidbackground for just your typical biblical
stories that you hear about all the time.
And so I grew up with that.
And then we, I mean, I did like younglife and high school, went to church,
(06:05):
went to all the little small groups,all your typical stuff you do when
you're growing up as a Christian.
And then in college I decided to,obviously that's honestly where
we met was Ashland University.
And so that's associatedwith the Brethren Church.
And so There, I was involved indifferent campus ministry, still
trying to figure out, is this somethingthat I want to pursue more deeply?
(06:29):
I think I always knew that I was goingto believe in God and knew that that
was something that was important tomy life, but that was the first time
that I had the opportunity to reallykind of take charge of my own faith.
Right.
Because mom and dad aren'tthere to, to steer you anymore.
Exactly.
So you kind of have that.
ability to make that choiceyourself in that scenario.
And so I got involved indifferent campus ministries.
(06:51):
And I think that was the first time thatI actually had a lot of actually struggled
and wrestled a lot with my faith from thestandpoint of just being hurt by other
Christians there and not understanding.
how somebody who professes tobe a Christian could do some
of the things that they did.
Um, And so that really just had me inlike a tough place where I was wanting to
(07:12):
choose God, but it felt very difficult.
And so I didn't float from feelingclose to him to feeling really
far away from him and not reallywanting anything to do with him.
And then as I graduated,then I still felt like I was.
in that same kind of positionwhere it was ebbing and flowing
between interest and not interested.
(07:34):
And so it wasn't until I moved out toPhoenix two years ago that I totally
had a radically changing experiencewith my relationship with God where
moving somewhere where I only knewa handful of people really, really
forced me to trust him more and to seekhim out more because I didn't have.
(07:54):
well, I didn't haveanybody else out there.
And so I really needed something toreally focus on and to rely on because
everything in my life was changing.
And so that's where I reallyexperienced that God doesn't change
and that he is such a constant.
And so that's where I felt like myfaith has really, really deepened
within the last two years very greatly.
(08:16):
And so that's kind of where I'm at now.
I love that, babe.
And I love that.
I love that you had that experiencemoving out to Phoenix because I
just remember before you made thatdecision how it was not an easy one.
You were uprooting your entirelife and to see you two years into
it and what it's brought to you.
Like, I'm like, yeah, baby.
I love that.
God has been so, so faithful on that.
(08:38):
Yeah.
I want to back up to when you mentionedbeing hurt by another Christian in
college, because when I think aboutWhy I have struggled so much with my
faith, it was never really coming froma place of doubting God's existence.
Like, when I really look atwhy I've struggled, I've never
doubted that God is real.
I see him all over my life.
(08:59):
I see him working.
A lot of the struggle and anger that Ihave felt has come from other Christians
and the way that Christians kindof, I guess, put everyone in a box.
Like, if you believe in God, thisis how you're You should act.
These are the choices that youshould make if you're a Christian.
(09:20):
And when I say like Christians, I don'twant to like the point of this episode is
not to like spew hate at other Christians.
I want to make it very clear thatI recognize that I have played into
this exact dynamic at differentpoints in my life before I even like.
Woke up a little bitand realized how I was.
I used to be extremely judgmental.
I used to be one of those Christiansthat tried to tell other people how
(09:43):
to live and tried to condemn otherpeople for the choices that they made.
And the anger that I've had has beenoutgrowing that and realizing that
this kind of like black and whitethinking that comes from a lot of
different in the Christian churchis just so harmful and isolating.
And I have experienced like,okay, I'm now in my adult life.
(10:06):
I'm now making choices for myselfthat don't necessarily line up
with the upbringing that I had.
But that doesn't meanthat God loves me less.
That doesn't make me less worthy.
That doesn't make other Christians whochoose a different path better than me.
So that's like the anger thatI've been wrestling with.
But back to you, like, For you inthat experience, like, what was
(10:27):
it about another Christian hurtingyou in that way that jaded you
towards your faith in general?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I, it's just really hard becausenaturally as a Christian, you hold
other Christians to a higher standardof living because, yeah, because you,
you're like, they should know better.
Yeah.
And so when they do something to hurt youor do something that it seems completely
(10:49):
contrary to what you were told thathow Christians should act, then you
sit there and just question everything.
And you're like, how couldyou choose to do that?
Like you're, you're animage bearer of God.
So you're actively choosingnot to, you know, continue
that role in what you're doing.
And so I feel like that madeit really difficult for me
(11:10):
to really connect with God.
Cause I was like, okay, if thesepeople are, you know, supposed to
be called to a higher standard ofliving and this is how they're living,
then do I want any part of that?
Yep.
And so, I felt like it just reallymade me question God himself.
And so, I remember having aconversation with somebody about
this while I was still in college.
(11:30):
And they basically said to me thatultimately, We are image bearers of God,
that's true, but since we aren't God,we're not perfect, we're sinful, we can't
be God, so you can't expect somebody toact perfectly, and they're going to make
mistakes, and ultimately us people werenot reflections of God's true character.
(11:54):
So what you're seeing in humansis not who God truly, truly is.
And you need to seek out Godseparately from what you're
seeing from other Christians.
Yes.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
It's funny that you say that thatwas the source of your anger.
Cause I guess I've been on theflip side of it because I felt like
I was kind of being held to thatstandard that you're talking about.
(12:16):
That's what frustrated me because I think,like, very commonly in religion, there is
just so much emphasis put on the law ofit and how you should live in the choices
that you should be making, whereas, what'sGod's biggest commandment in the Bible?
Love one another, right?
Love each other.
Don't, like, don't judge each other.
(12:37):
Don't judge each other.
Act like you're better than someone else.
What is it like?
See the speck in your own eye before youcall the plank out and someone else's and
to me, like, that is the core of how Jesuswalked and lived and breathed on this
earth is he hung out with prostitutes.
He hung out with the tax collectors,the lowest of the low in society.
(12:58):
and he just.
breathed love.
Like that was how he lived in his essence.
And so what's so frustrating for me isthat the law is what so many Christians
get caught up in and like Bible slammingother people and saying like, this
is the little box that you have tolive in in order to be a Christian.
And in reality, I think a lot ofthose Christians, because we are
(13:20):
all sinful, we're all, we all havesomething that we struggle with.
We all have demons,ways that we're sinful.
A lot of those Christians just hidethose things that they're, they're
doing and then try to presentthemselves in a very like perfected way.
And that's where my anger comes in.
Yep.
Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Completely.
And I think that's something alot of Christians probably have
(13:40):
experienced, whether they'rewilling to admit that or not.
But it's so true.
I think naturally we're very shameful andwe like to hide all of our imperfections
and all of our sin and don't like to beauthentic and genuine in admitting those.
There's definitely a lot of valuein confession, but I think that
we're even through confession, we'restill very guarded because we don't
(14:02):
want to present ourselves to peopleas how broken we actually are.
Yep.
Cause you're like, that's hard.
That's, that's, it'shard to be vulnerable.
It's scary.
You don't know how peopleare going to react.
Like you're saying, like, if you'vehad a lot of experience with people
who've reacted poorly, then it makesyou want to shut down even more.
So I think that it's also definitelyrooted in pride for sure, too, because
we're naturally very prideful peopleand want to be perfect and want to,
(14:25):
you know, have this picturesque, youknow, image to us that other people
see and we try and present that.
So then you don't show people, you know,your sinful parts because we naturally
just are shameful of those things.
Yes, a hundred percent.
I think I kind of find myself in aunique position, especially running this
podcast, because I have purposefullyexposed those parts of myself.
(14:49):
Because I recognize that that's sucha problem in our society, it's not
just with Christians, it's everybody.
Like, it's a human thing.
And the more and more I live my life ina vulnerable way, the more frustrated
I get with people who don't do that.
And I'm actively trying to remind myself.
How difficult it is and how long Ihid those parts of myself, how long I
(15:11):
tried to perfect and like present thebest MLED that I could wherever I went.
And I think we all willstill do that forever.
I don't think it's, I don't thinkit's normal or human instinct to
like lead with like, here's allthe horrible things about me.
Nice to meet you.
You know, like, I would like tointerject here and tell everyone that
the first time that Emily and I hungout, we didn't really, I mean, we
(15:35):
knew each other in college, but likewe weren't, It was like passing by.
We knew who each other was andwould say, hi, how are you?
And all of that.
But the first time we actually hungout, we just absolutely trauma dumped
on each other, our entire life story.
And I remember walking out at dinnerand thinking she was never going to
talk to me again, because I absolutelyjust downloaded all this horrific stuff.
(15:58):
Babe, that made me adore youbecause I was like, do you know
how rare it is to have like, Realgenuine conversations like that.
Like we both sat there and justlike I felt like you saw me
I was like brie gets it bro.
Brie understands me That's exactly howI felt honestly walking out of that and
I think why I value our friendship somuch is because you are so genuine and
(16:19):
naturally when people are more willingto open up and be honest about Their
imperfections where they're strugglingwhat they're working on then naturally
who you're talking to is more willingto open up to 100 I'm Just very much so
in all of the way that you've lived yourlife and especially with this podcast of
opening up to All these people that youmight not personally know, but you're
(16:43):
letting them into your life and showingthose vulnerable sides of you in hopes
that, you know, you're going to makea difference in the world and in their
lives to be a little more vulnerable too.
Hey, thank you.
Of course.
That means the world to me becauseit's been very difficult and I
don't ever want to like undersellhow hard it is to wear your heart
on your sleeve and be vulnerable,especially Doing something like this,
(17:03):
but there is so much value in it.
And it's something that our worlddesperately needs because everybody
is constantly wearing that maskthat I'm so frustrated with that
you're so frustrated with it.
It's like, God, can youjust say something real?
Can you just be honest aboutsomething that you're going through?
I don't want to hear thehighlight reel of your life.
We all deal with that enough asit is with social media and people
(17:25):
sharing their, their high highs.
And it's like, you don't need to traumadump on everyone you meet, right?
Like we had a unique situation wherelike, we felt really comfortable
and safe with each other inorder to do that really quickly.
But that's not like a, that'snot a good thing to do.
Like don't just start telling randomstrangers all of your personal history.
(17:46):
Like make sure that it's safe.
Make sure that they're not goingto use that against you and that
they're like a quality person.
But I encourage anybody.
Who is like really, really strugglingthat taking that risk to be vulnerable
and sharing like your frustrations or youranger or the ways that you're insecure
or the things that you don't like aboutyourself, there is just like a power
(18:09):
that is taken away from those deep,deep feelings when you say it out loud.
Absolutely.
You're no longer hiding.
And it feels so good to justkind of let that out and let it
be a reality, but also know thatyou're not stuck in that reality.
Yeah.
And that's kind of the first stepinto actually making a difference
and changing something in your lifeis talking about it with somebody.
(18:30):
Cause they're also probablygoing to give you a perspective.
You're no, you're sitting here andyou're overthinking that you're
probably not thinking about dude.
Um, and honestly, People relateso much to what you're going
through because we're all human.
So we go through very similar feelingsand progressions through things.
So most likely they've experiencedsomething really similar, but I
think we talk ourselves down andexpressing how we're feeling because
(18:51):
we think we're so special and thinkthat we're going through it alone.
Yes.
Even though that's so not true and thatthat also I think stems from pride too.
That.
Oh, well, I'm just different.
Like, nobody could understand me.
I'm so different.
I'm so quirky.
No, you're not like that.
No, no.
But you're so right.
(19:12):
Like, we're all guilty of it.
I know I am.
And it's like your egogets in the way of you.
I think it's also like a fear of like,I don't want this person to pity me.
I don't want them tolook at me and feel bad.
I don't want to dump my problems on them.
And I know, especially me, likewhen I used to have such a like
tough exterior all the time.
I didn't want people to see me as a weakand I didn't, I didn't want people to
(19:34):
like underestimate me and think like, Oh,this girl needs to get her shit together.
But again, like I said, you're notgoing to be like that with everybody,
like pick and choose, but there'ssomething so freeing for real.
You actually feel like you're living lifeand not pretending and going through the
motions when you finally drop the mask.
Absolutely.
And the people that you share that with,like you were saying, you need to make
(19:56):
sure that they're trusted individuals, butthey're going to be there to support you
and help walk you through those things.
And ultimately, like, it's going tostrengthen your relationships so much.
more and it's going to be a deeperrelationship because you're actually
seeing the person for who they are.
Facts.
And it's not a surface level relationship.
Exactly.
That's how you build thatdeeper connection with people.
How do you think that God tiesin with dropping the mask?
(20:20):
For sure.
Yeah.
I mean, like he, He's created us.
He already knows allthese things about us.
And yet we still sit here and tryand hide all those things from people
and maybe even God himself too.
But he is so, so intimately involvedwith us, whether we realize that or not.
And so there's no hidingthose things from God.
So he, he wants to be involved.
(20:41):
He wants that.
It's like any other relationship.
He wants you to communicate with him.
He might already know all of thisstuff, but the more that you're able
to pray and pray, not being just,Hey, God, I want this, but prayer of
like, Hey, let's have a conversation.
I'm gonna sit here andlisten and also speak to you.
And so he wants involved in allof that because he created you,
(21:03):
he loves you, and he knows allthose things about you already.
Facts.
So, it's, I think that
it's super important that we're,we're not only telling other
people about these things, but alsogoing to God with these things.
Yeah.
Because ultimately, we can tell peopleall we want, they can give us good
advice, but the, the one who's actuallygonna make changes in our life is God.
Because we can't do that alone.
(21:23):
Bruh.
I feel so convicted.
You say Wrestling fam, really quick, Iam screaming, crying, throwing up, y'all.
I'm popping in to let you know thatmy merch is finally here, baby.
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(21:45):
that you are absolutely in love with itand it's finally ready for you, baby.
If you want to be one of the veryfirst people on the wrestling squad
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When I tell y'all that I am obsessedwith how this merch has turned out, that
(22:07):
is the understatement of the century.
The hoodies, bro?
Oh my God, they are embroidered.
They are oversized andcomfy and the colors, bro.
I'm literally going to be buying oneof every single color for myself.
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(22:30):
You guys need to go get yourhands on this right now.
It's a great way to support thepodcast and a great way to support me.
So if you've ever listened towrestling with life and you
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Well, this is the next best thingthat you can do to support me.
Besides give me a hug.
So go get your hands on some merch baby.
Now let's get back to the episode.
(22:53):
I want to know what your prayerlife is like, because I used
to pray every night before bed.
Like me and my family used to do that askids and then going into like college.
I think I got away from ita lot like communal living.
I don't know.
I felt like I guess weird doing it infront of other people because I pray
out loud like in my bed at night.
Absolutely.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
And now in my adult life, I'mstarting to get a lot back into it.
(23:16):
What is your prayer life look like?
So um, recently I just had this reallycool epiphany of like, Hey, like I can
be anywhere and I can be just havingan active conversation with God.
Like, and I'm like, I could besitting at my desk at work and
nobody would have any idea.
Yeah.
And so when things come up, I'mtrying to make it more of a habit to
just go straight to God with things.
(23:38):
Instead of, Oh, I have to wait untilI'm in my bed at night to talk to him.
He, we have free access to him.
That was his whole, whole point withthe, you know, going to the cross.
It's like, Hey, we don'thave to have that barrier.
Like we're, he's, he's an open book withus where we can be an open book with him.
Yeah.
And so I've been trying to do a lotbetter of realizing that and taking
advantage of that because he'sgiven that to us as a free gift.
(24:01):
And so we might as well makegood use of it cause he's there.
And so trying to be more active about.
Praying throughout my day, on my driveinto work, on my drive home from work,
before bed and just because obviouslythere's a value to having prayer time
before bed where you can just haveactual quiet time and just be focused
on that because prayers at work youmight be a little distracted and stuff
(24:22):
and send up a quick prayer, but I thinkthere's different different ways to
do it in different types of prayers.
And so as you are going throughout yourday, as you're trying to make connection
with him, I think that's how you kindof further your relationship with him.
Cause honestly, if you're in arelationship with someone, you're,
you're actively talking to them.
And so it's not like you're like,I'll put them off until later.
(24:42):
And that's a lot.
Oftentimes what we do with God, butit's realizing we have that free
access to him and can take advantageof that whenever, wherever, however.
That's so good.
Yeah.
You can text your boyfriend 24 seven.
Like you can, you can be inconstant prayer with God for sure.
Exactly.
I love that.
I've also kind of heard, I think thiscomes from my mama, shout out to my mom.
She always says that she pictures Jesussitting on the couch in her living
(25:07):
room with like a spot next to him,waiting for her to come speak with him.
That's beautiful.
And like, tell him about her day.
And when I hear that, I feel guiltybecause I'm like, you know how many
times I walked past the couch andI'm like, I don't see you, Jesus.
I got, I got shit to do.
I'm a little busy.
I'll get to you later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that, I mean, that breaks my heart.
And I also think too, like, haveyou seen the passion of the Christ?
(25:28):
That movie just makes me ball myeyes out because it just really
illustrates how much Jesus loves us.
And.
It fills me with so much guilt becauseI'm like, I have the literal savior of
the universe, who sees immense value inme and my tiny little problems who he
like wants me to talk to him about it.
(25:50):
Yep.
And I'm too, I'm too busy and too caughtup in my world here to make time for that.
It's very convicting.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And I think that it's really coolhow he uses those different things.
I'm struggling out here.
I'm sorry.
Sorry if I sound like I'm dying.
Breathe sick, everyone.
Sorry to interrupt you.
I was just like, what was that?
(26:11):
I was trying not to die over here.
It's fine.
She's calling me out for it.
I'm sorry.
Please go.
I think it's just cool how he uses thingslike that, like a movie, to just convict
us and get a little reminder in of who heis and who he can be truly in our life.
Yeah.
And how intimate he trulywants to be with us.
Yeah.
And you're right.
(26:31):
It's so easy to be like,I'll get to it later.
I have a bunch of other stuff thatother people are expecting of me.
Yeah.
But as we continue to push him away,that makes it a lot more difficult.
We feel more and more genuineand less like ourselves.
The more disconnected we becomefrom God, because we He is
who created us facts, dude.
(26:52):
And that's the feeling thatI've kind of found myself in.
Like, as I was kind of wrestling witheverything these last few years, I
feel like there's this God sized holein all of us that we try to fill with
literally everything else but God.
Yes.
And I tried to do that.
and I tried to just think, you know,God is not important to me because
(27:12):
I have so many questions aboutwhere I fit in with Christianity.
That's, that's a valid reason for meto just put it on the back burner.
And I watched as um, I stoppedprioritizing God in my life altogether.
Just how there still feltlike there was that hole.
It didn't matter what else I did.
It didn't matter thatI launched a podcast.
It didn't matter that I waskilling it at my nine to five job.
(27:34):
It didn't matter like how greatmy life was becoming here.
It still felt like there waslike a discontentment missing.
And I knew it was because Iwas making everything about me.
And putting so much emphasis onmyself when I don't exist for me.
I exist for him.
Exactly.
And I forget that all the time.
Preaches this.
(27:54):
We all need that reminder for sure.
Cause we all, it's not just you.
It's not just somethingthat you struggle with.
It's definitely across theboard, something all Christians
struggle with because we're human.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is there anything that, like, youhave on your heart with your faith
in general that's, like, coming upfor you throughout this conversation
that you want people to know?
For sure, yeah.
Actually, I've just been reallythinking about and pondering how
(28:18):
important it is that, yes, like,we're living in that love of Christ.
And that that's how we operate and seeother people is that God loves them.
So therefore, I also get to love themtoo, no matter how frustrating, how
much we might dislike that person.
We don't have the option.
And so it's like, that'sstill God's child.
And so I get to see them that way too.
(28:40):
but I think it's also importantthat if people aren't.
Kind of kind of going back tothat whole thing of if with
Christian hurt and it's like okayHow could somebody do that to me?
I feel very judged all of thatYeah, I think that there is a
correct way to go about doing that.
Okay, Because ultimately God does callto a higher standard of living And so
there are things in the Bible that he'slike, okay, they are black and white.
(29:03):
There's some things that aren'tas far as what we're, how we're
supposed to act as Christians.
What are those?
And so it's not always black and white,but also there's certain things of just,
you know, we need to be in constant,Connection with him and like living
in that love but also calling thingsout it calling things out in truth.
Okay, because His his truth is love likehe he Called us out on our sin and was
(29:28):
like you're not you're not up to thestandard of getting into heaven, right?
He loved us enough tocome and die on the cross.
And so I think that we also I Okay,so we found that we understand that
and so naturally as we Follow intothat love with him and have faith in
him then our Obedience to him changes.
(29:51):
We we become obedient because we love him.
Yes, But I don't think that gives usany right like you're saying to judge
other people for maybe not living inthat way Yes, I think that there's a way
that We might see something and mightneed to lovingly in truth say, Hey, that
that's not exactly what God's callingus or how God's calling us to live.
Like, for example, like if you knowsomebody who's like actively lying and
(30:14):
you're like, That's not that's not it, youknow, and so I think there's a difference
in like calling them out from everyone Butyou need to take them aside and just be
like hey I know that these are some thingsthat I've seen but this isn't this isn't
part of your character Like this is notwhat we're called to be right, you know
doing and so I think that there's a waythat that can be done in love Especially
(30:39):
if you have like a good relationshipwith that person and just knowing that
ham calling you out in love becauseI'm holding you to a standard and would
expect you to hold me to that standardif you saw me doing something like that.
A hundred percent.
I think that's so, so, so good.
I a hundred percent back the ideaof calling out your people and
holding them to a high standard.
Absolutely.
But you're so right.
(30:59):
It's how you do it.
I think there's a big differencebetween that and speaking over
people who you don't have Exactly.
Exactly.
And I think there's like,for me, I used to be.
Like, for example, when I wasin high school, I remember the
gay marriage law got passed.
I went on to Facebook at the timeand wrote this, like, big, long
(31:20):
thing, basically Bible slamming asto why this was against God's will.
And fast forward to now, I fullyproudly support the LGBTQ community
because I have so many friends who Ihave seen be impacted really negatively
by the judgment that comes from that.
And There is for me, like, I know that itexplicitly says that in the Bible, there's
(31:45):
some gray area that I've seen around that.
Like, maybe the word homosexual didn'tcome up in the Bible until a lot later.
The truth of the matter isthat, like, we have no idea.
Like, we can, we can speculate,like, here is the word.
Here is the law that's been given to us.
There's so many different interpretations.
And at the end of the day, I am not God.
I am not here to tell you how to liveyour life or tell you what to do.
(32:09):
Anybody really at all?
It's the people who you are close withand you see them acting a certain way
That you actually have authority andsway in their life and you know who they
want to be So it's like you're holdingthem to the standard that they have
for themselves, too Yep So I just thinkthere's a huge difference in that and
then doing being the kind of person thatI was back in high school Where I think
(32:33):
that i'm god and I have the power tocondemn and tell other people How they
should or shouldn't live their life No,my job is to, to love you and to live
by example and to live out what I feel.
And if, and believe, and if youagree with that or you see value
in that, then you can take thaton and model your life after that.
If not, cool.
(32:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, I agree.
I think that there's a time and place to,you know, call people out on things that
need to be called out and it needs to bedone in the correct way because obviously
we're not all without consequence.
So how we do something is just asimportant as actually doing it.
and whether you, you know, whetherit's the, Topic of like homosexuality
(33:14):
and if you like believe in that or notand you're like hey Maybe how you were
previously versus how you are now.
Yeah there's a way to go about thatcorrectly and I think that's honestly
the most important part because you'reright there's a lot of stuff in the
Bible that's very gray area and for a lotof Interpretation and debate nowadays.
Yeah, so it's important that you you Asa person, go and study those things and
(33:37):
figure out for yourself what you believe.
But then, like you're saying, you'renot gonna go and just, you know, hit
someone over the head with a Bible.
Like, you have to believe this.
Because ultimately, wecan't change people's minds.
No.
You can definitely plant thoseseeds, but it's God's, you know,
prerogative to do something like that.
A hundred percent.
So we need to make sure that we'reliving our lives how we feel that I
(33:59):
know that God is calling us to, andthat's what we need to be focused on.
We need to stay in our own lane.
100 percent for each baby.
That's something that has freedme tremendously because I used to
just get so pissed off when peopledidn't see things the way that I did.
And it is such a waste of timeand energy because everybody else
(34:19):
has lived a completely differentreality than I have, than you have.
Everyone sees things differently.
Everyone has differentformative experiences.
And some people.
People have, especially I've learnedas an adult, have had traumatic
experiences within the church whohave been isolated by their church
communities, who have been judged, whohave been turned off to God altogether.
(34:42):
And that breaks my heart becausethat's not what God ever intended.
It's broken human beings, imperfecthuman beings, just like you and I, who
have acted and projected their own painand their own reality onto other people.
And caused that pain.
So if you're someone who is listeningand like you have been turned off
(35:03):
to God in general because of oneof those experiences, I just want
to let you know that that's nota reflection of God's character.
That's a reflection of humanbeings being messed up.
And All of us are one of those humanbeings, like all of us have fallen short.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So it's so important to be seekingGod and understanding God's
character apart from other humans.
(35:24):
Yes.
So doing your own time on yourown time going and seeking him and
understanding him for who he truly is.
And I think it's just such a,that's when I started doing that.
That's when I realized how Like justoff I was in college about like why
I was running away from God Yeah,and like I shouldn't be running
away from him because he is perfect.
(35:46):
He is everything He says he is in theBible and he is Faithful and always
shows up Yeah, and it's just that likeyou're saying those those humans that
are gonna come in and just mess all thatup So we need to make sure our eyes are
focused on the right thing and that indealing with those people It's having
that that correct View of them in ourlives and what they're allowed to you
(36:10):
know what they're saying is allowedto penetrate us 100 percent I realized
that I had allowed other human beings tokind of essentially ruin my relationship
with God When that's between me and Godexactly that's not Me and everyone else.
And so it's interesting the thingsthat we internalize and allow to
(36:31):
steer our lives when that actuallyhas no influence whatsoever on like
the relationship we have with God.
Yep.
And then in the same way, it's also beingdiscerning and knowing that there are
good Christians out there and allowingthose people to speak into your life.
So you need to be discerning aboutwho you're letting have a voice in
your relationship with God and knowingthat there are humans out there who.
(36:53):
do genuinely want to help you grow inyour faith and understand God more and
in the same way do that for them as well.
Yeah.
So it's important to know thatthat's, it's not only just focus
on your relationship with God.
It's like, okay, you're allowedto allow other people into that
too when it's, when it's The rightpeople who have the right intentions.
(37:13):
I'm really glad you said that becauseyou're one of those people for me, dude.
And every time that I can talk to youabout these things, like you are so level
headed and you just, you say it how it is.
You say the truth that, you know,you never make me feel judged.
And if everybody had a Brie in theirlife, I think Everyone could benefit
from having a friend like you.
(37:33):
So I just hope you know how much Ilove you and how grateful I am for you.
Thank you so much, sis.
I just, I, like I said, I just valueyou so much and your friendship and the
way that, I mean, like, you might notthink that, but like, you've definitely
helped me a lot in my faith and startedto make me think of things differently
from a different point of view.
Yeah.
Well, you've done the same for me.
You've brought me back downto earth in a lot of ways.
(37:54):
You've helped me work throughthis, just like frustration
and anger that I have a lot.
And going back to kind of what you saidabout having good Christians in your
life, I've had like a few differentpeople come into my life recently
who are really strong in their faith.
And the way that they speak aboutGod and about their relationship
with him is so beautiful.
(38:15):
And it reminds me of a time where Iwasn't so jaded and I wasn't so angry.
And I realized that like that stillwithin me and that God just has some work
to do in my heart because there's a lotthat I still need to let go of a lot of
anger and like healing that I need to dowith my faith in order to like really.
Feel connected to him and feel his love.
(38:36):
And the reason that I feel sodistant is because of those
emotions that I've internalized.
So I'm excited.
Like when I think about thefuture, I'm like, I know what's
going on within my heart now.
Like I see kind of like lightat the end of the tunnel.
And I know that the only way thatI'm going to like get my relationship
with God, I guess, quote unquote, likeback on track is by continuing to have
(38:58):
conversations like this and let it out.
And I just think like, If there'sanyone listening who's in that
same position, that's what Iwould encourage you to do, too.
Like, you don't have tohave all the answers.
I certainly don't.
There's a lot that I still havequestions about with my faith.
What I know without adoubt is that God is real.
He exists, and I'm so thankful foreverything that He's provided in my life.
(39:21):
And that doesn't makeme less of a believer.
Nope.
Because I don't have the answers.
Absolutely not.
Nobody does.
Right.
And if somebody makes it seem that theydo, they really don't believe that.
Um, So ultimately it's about, you know,strengthening your relationship with
God through prayer, through reading hisword, through understanding him better.
Yeah.
And then also, God puts people inour lives for a reason, like we, the
(39:45):
Christian faith isn't to be done alone.
And so having those people, likeyou're saying, who come in and they
have those relationships with God,like that's another way that he
points us back to himself and whatwe were ultimately created for.
And so that's why it just feels sogood to be in those relationships
and to have those conversations.
(40:05):
We don't need to have it all figured out.
We're all learning together.
And that's what's really coolis that it's a growing process
throughout our entire lives.
And you just get to have differentpeople on that journey with you to help
you through different seasons of life.
and learn different things about God.
And ultimately, like that's,that's the goal is to continuously
be like sanctified and be mademore like him and other people.
(40:28):
And just the journey that we're on,like brings us to that because God
is very intentional with each of ourlives, whether it sometimes doesn't feel
that way or not, but he definitely is.
ultimately can in control of that.
He is.
Yeah.
What a good way to end it, baby.
What a good note to go out on.
You got anything else you wantto say before we wrap it up?
I was just going to say that, like,I just really appreciate you and
(40:50):
just your friendship that even thoughwe're 1600 miles away from each
other you still are so intentional.
And we get to still have these deepconversations and be authentic and genuine
with each other from the very start ofour friendship to continuing to now.
So I know that you're one of those friendsthat ultimately helps deepen my faith.
And I get to kind of have as a soundingboard for when I'm struggling with things.
(41:13):
And so I I just know that like with,with The conversations that we have, like
God has been made more real to me andI just would encourage other people out
there to, you know, go search for that.
Go to church.
Like, yeah, Christianity is such acommunity thing go find those people.
They're out there.
You just have to be, Iknow, prayerful about it.
And like we have been saying, justBe careful about who you're telling
(41:35):
what to know when to open up, right?
There are people out there and Goddoes, does give us give us those people
in our lives and continue like ask forhis wisdom and things because he, he so
badly wants to give that to us when we'reasking for things that are in his will,
like he wants to get those things to us.
So be bold with those things.
That's so good.
That's so good.
Yeah.
That's a prayer that I've beenpraying lately is like, God, if
(41:58):
it's in your will, I want it.
Yep.
If it's not in your will, I don't want it.
And that makes it a lot easier todiscern where you're going and if
that's where he wants you to be.
Absolutely.
I think that makes all the differenceand helps us to really be content
in life no matter what happens.
Yeah.
Because we know thatultimately God's in control.
He's still good.
We're still loved no matter whathappens on this earth, which
(42:18):
makes life so much more hopeful.
Facts.
Well, baby Bri, you are so, so, so wise.
And I know that people listeningto this are going to feel
very encouraged and uplifted.
And that's all thanks to your characterand your wisdom and your vulnerability.
So I appreciate you coming on.
I've been wanting to get you onsince I launched this podcast.
(42:40):
I'm so glad that wecould do this in person.
You killed it.
You didn't make this just felt likeone of our conversations that we have.
Yes, it really, it truly does.
It feels like I'm just like sitting onmy bed back in my apartment, like on
the phone with you as we normally, aswe normally have these conversations.
So thank you so much for allowingme to come and discuss this topic.
One of one of my favoritethings to talk about for sure.
And just to be here withyou has been so great.
(43:01):
I feel the same way, babe.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
So thankful for Brie coming on thepodcast and having such a raw and
authentic and vulnerable conversation.
And also so thankful for you guys,you, the listeners, to have Thank you
so much to every single person whoconsistently tunes in for episodes.
If you found yourself encouragedtoday by this message and you have
(43:23):
not left me a rating on Apple podcastsor Spotify podcasts, please take
a second and do that real quick.
Leave me a five star rating.
Ratings help the podcast to growand come up and search more.
And when we grow, we can justcontinue growing, wrestling with
life, getting this encouraging kindof content into more people's ears,
(43:44):
allowing other people to listen.
So feel not alone.
And ultimately for you guys, wrestlingfam, this allows me to create more
content for you guys to invest more inthe podcast, more time, energy, soul,
blood, sweat, tears, all the things.
So please go ahead and do that for me.
Otherwise, wrestling fam, I hopeyou all have a fantastic week that
(44:05):
you get out there that you grablife by the freaking balls and that
you are KO the shit out of life.
We'll talk soon.
Bye y'all.
Hey guys.
Welcome back to thewrestling with life podcast.
If we've not met before,hello, I am your host, Em Led.
Thank you so much for tuning in thewrestling with life podcast is all about
getting out of our heads together, baby.
So if you are an overthinker whotends to get in your own way a lot,
(00:32):
but you have a lot of big dreamsand a lot of goals and things that
you want to get done in this life.
Then you're going to want to press thatfollow button and join the wrestling
squad because that's exactly what westrive to do on this podcast, baby.
We got new episodes every singleTuesday and make sure to turn
on your notifications so thatyou don't miss a single one.
(00:54):
We have got an amazingguest episode today.
We got my friend Brie, aka Baby Brie,on the podcast We're talking about
wrestling with our faith, wrestlingwith shame, struggling with it.
Anger at the Christian church, strugglingwith anger at other Christians, and even
if you don't believe in God, even if youdon't identify as a Christian, anybody
(01:18):
listening can get something out of thisepisode because Bri and I talk really
vulnerably about trying to make sense ofthis world that we're in, trying to make
sense of God and spirituality and ourfaith and where we fit into all of that.
And the goal of this episode is justto make other people feel not alone
(01:38):
out there who are also wrestlingwith the same kind of questions.
None of us have it figured out.
None of us know what we're doing andall of us are just trying to do the
best that we can every single day.
And I feel like Bri and I sentthat exact message in this episode.
So Without further ado, y'all,let's get into the episode.
Wrestling fam, please allow meto introduce you to literally
(02:02):
one of my favorite people.
One of my best friends, someonethat I look up to tremendously.
The one and only baby Brie.
Hi, Brie.
Hi, I'm Lynn.
I'm so excited to be here with you.
Dude, I'm shitting my pants.
I'm so happy that you're here and we havelike a very hot topic, kind of, I guess,
a controversial topic to talk about.
(02:22):
And the reason why I'm bringing youin for this, you already know, is
because I look up to you so much.
When it comes to faith and Christianity,man, like you and I have both wrestled
with our faith at different points intime, but there is just so many different
ways that we could take this talk,but I want you to be the person for
(02:42):
this because you are just so grounded.
You are so level headed andwe've been friends for how long
have we been friends for now?
Is it four years, closeto four years, four years?
And every single time within theselast four years that I'm struggling
with my faith, you are the personthat I go to because you have such
a mature faith and your perspectiveson things are so level headed.
(03:06):
They're not like black and white andextreme, like they're very solid in
the middle and you just have like alot, a lot, a lot of wisdom to share.
And we got to give it to thewrestling fan today, baby.
You're so, so sweet.
Thank you so much for making mefeel more confident in my faith too.
Cause I definitely have, like yousaid, have had moments where I really
(03:27):
question where I'm at in my faith.
Yeah.
Which is natural in your hills andvalleys of your faith as you're walking.
But knowing that I have such a strongfriendship with you and you really do in
your questions as you're struggling reallypushed me to understand my faith better.
So I really appreciate you and whatyou've done for, for me in that way too.
I don't feel like I've done anything,but I appreciate you saying that.
(03:48):
No, no, that is so false.
Our conversations really havereally pushed me too, because you
definitely bring things in thatI haven't thought about before.
And Bring it into like a totally differentlight for me and help me realize things
and push me to find answers of to thingsthat I've never thought of before.
Oh, Bree.
Well, hopefully we can dothat for the listeners today.
What I really want to talk about isjust kind of the things that don't
(04:11):
get talked about in Christian faith.
I have specifically Avoided this topic,to be honest with you on my podcast,
because it's something that I, I justhave been wrestling with so much and I
still have a lot of questions around.
And I feel like when I get on this mic,I don't want to fill other people's
ears with more uncertainty about things.
(04:32):
And so it's been a really difficulttopic for me to even cover.
Like I've mentioned, you know, I grewup in a strict Christian home on here.
I've mentioned that I've been wrestlingwith my faith, kind of questioning like,
The beliefs that I have versus how I wasraised, where does that leave me now?
Am I still a Christian?
And so today I just kind of likewant to hit on some of those.
(04:54):
really hard topics that make otherpeople question their faith as well.
So can you start by givinga background on your faith?
Cause I know you were raised alsokind of in a similar home as I was.
Yes, absolutely.
So I was raised in a Christianhome just like you were.
And I was actually homeschooled myentire life because my parents wanted to
(05:17):
give me, my siblings, a good Christianeducation and to be able to build our
family where we actually spent a lotof time together and grew together.
And that way also my parents had somecontrol over what we were learning
and like how we were learning it asfar as like a Christian perspective.
And so I feel like that really kind ofpaved the way for my faith, like my mom
has been very influential in my faith andjust the way she lives her life and how
(05:40):
her relationship with God is so real hasmade him a lot more real in my life So
she would do Bible studies with us whenwe were growing up to kind of bolster our
faith and to just give us a good solidbackground for just your typical biblical
stories that you hear about all the time.
And so I grew up with that.
And then we, I mean, I did like younglife and high school, went to church,
(06:05):
went to all the little small groups,all your typical stuff you do when
you're growing up as a Christian.
And then in college I decided to,obviously that's honestly where
we met was Ashland University.
And so that's associatedwith the Brethren Church.
And so There, I was involved indifferent campus ministry, still
trying to figure out, is this somethingthat I want to pursue more deeply?
(06:29):
I think I always knew that I was goingto believe in God and knew that that
was something that was important tomy life, but that was the first time
that I had the opportunity to reallykind of take charge of my own faith.
Right.
Because mom and dad aren'tthere to, to steer you anymore.
Exactly.
So you kind of have that.
ability to make that choiceyourself in that scenario.
And so I got involved indifferent campus ministries.
(06:51):
And I think that was the first time thatI actually had a lot of actually struggled
and wrestled a lot with my faith from thestandpoint of just being hurt by other
Christians there and not understanding.
how somebody who professes tobe a Christian could do some
of the things that they did.
Um, And so that really just had me inlike a tough place where I was wanting to
(07:12):
choose God, but it felt very difficult.
And so I didn't float from feelingclose to him to feeling really
far away from him and not reallywanting anything to do with him.
And then as I graduated,then I still felt like I was.
in that same kind of positionwhere it was ebbing and flowing
between interest and not interested.
(07:34):
And so it wasn't until I moved out toPhoenix two years ago that I totally
had a radically changing experiencewith my relationship with God where
moving somewhere where I only knewa handful of people really, really
forced me to trust him more and to seekhim out more because I didn't have.
(07:54):
well, I didn't haveanybody else out there.
And so I really needed something toreally focus on and to rely on because
everything in my life was changing.
And so that's where I reallyexperienced that God doesn't change
and that he is such a constant.
And so that's where I felt like myfaith has really, really deepened
within the last two years very greatly.
(08:16):
And so that's kind of where I'm at now.
I love that, babe.
And I love that.
I love that you had that experiencemoving out to Phoenix because I
just remember before you made thatdecision how it was not an easy one.
You were uprooting your entirelife and to see you two years into
it and what it's brought to you.
Like, I'm like, yeah, baby.
I love that.
God has been so, so faithful on that.
(08:38):
Yeah.
I want to back up to when you mentionedbeing hurt by another Christian in
college, because when I think aboutWhy I have struggled so much with my
faith, it was never really coming froma place of doubting God's existence.
Like, when I really look atwhy I've struggled, I've never
doubted that God is real.
I see him all over my life.
(08:59):
I see him working.
A lot of the struggle and anger that Ihave felt has come from other Christians
and the way that Christians kindof, I guess, put everyone in a box.
Like, if you believe in God, thisis how you're You should act.
These are the choices that youshould make if you're a Christian.
(09:20):
And when I say like Christians, I don'twant to like the point of this episode is
not to like spew hate at other Christians.
I want to make it very clear thatI recognize that I have played into
this exact dynamic at differentpoints in my life before I even like.
Woke up a little bitand realized how I was.
I used to be extremely judgmental.
I used to be one of those Christiansthat tried to tell other people how
(09:43):
to live and tried to condemn otherpeople for the choices that they made.
And the anger that I've had has beenoutgrowing that and realizing that
this kind of like black and whitethinking that comes from a lot of
different in the Christian churchis just so harmful and isolating.
And I have experienced like,okay, I'm now in my adult life.
(10:06):
I'm now making choices for myselfthat don't necessarily line up
with the upbringing that I had.
But that doesn't meanthat God loves me less.
That doesn't make me less worthy.
That doesn't make other Christians whochoose a different path better than me.
So that's like the anger thatI've been wrestling with.
But back to you, like, For you inthat experience, like, what was
(10:27):
it about another Christian hurtingyou in that way that jaded you
towards your faith in general?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I, it's just really hard becausenaturally as a Christian, you hold
other Christians to a higher standardof living because, yeah, because you,
you're like, they should know better.
Yeah.
And so when they do something to hurt youor do something that it seems completely
(10:49):
contrary to what you were told thathow Christians should act, then you
sit there and just question everything.
And you're like, how couldyou choose to do that?
Like you're, you're animage bearer of God.
So you're actively choosingnot to, you know, continue
that role in what you're doing.
And so I feel like that madeit really difficult for me
(11:10):
to really connect with God.
Cause I was like, okay, if thesepeople are, you know, supposed to
be called to a higher standard ofliving and this is how they're living,
then do I want any part of that?
Yep.
And so, I felt like it just reallymade me question God himself.
And so, I remember having aconversation with somebody about
this while I was still in college.
(11:30):
And they basically said to me thatultimately, We are image bearers of God,
that's true, but since we aren't God,we're not perfect, we're sinful, we can't
be God, so you can't expect somebody toact perfectly, and they're going to make
mistakes, and ultimately us people werenot reflections of God's true character.
(11:54):
So what you're seeing in humansis not who God truly, truly is.
And you need to seek out Godseparately from what you're
seeing from other Christians.
Yes.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
It's funny that you say that thatwas the source of your anger.
Cause I guess I've been on theflip side of it because I felt like
I was kind of being held to thatstandard that you're talking about.
(12:16):
That's what frustrated me because I think,like, very commonly in religion, there is
just so much emphasis put on the law ofit and how you should live in the choices
that you should be making, whereas, what'sGod's biggest commandment in the Bible?
Love one another, right?
Love each other.
Don't, like, don't judge each other.
(12:37):
Don't judge each other.
Act like you're better than someone else.
What is it like?
See the speck in your own eye before youcall the plank out and someone else's and
to me, like, that is the core of how Jesuswalked and lived and breathed on this
earth is he hung out with prostitutes.
He hung out with the tax collectors,the lowest of the low in society.
(12:58):
and he just.
breathed love.
Like that was how he lived in his essence.
And so what's so frustrating for me isthat the law is what so many Christians
get caught up in and like Bible slammingother people and saying like, this
is the little box that you have tolive in in order to be a Christian.
And in reality, I think a lot ofthose Christians, because we are
(13:20):
all sinful, we're all, we all havesomething that we struggle with.
We all have demons,ways that we're sinful.
A lot of those Christians just hidethose things that they're, they're
doing and then try to presentthemselves in a very like perfected way.
And that's where my anger comes in.
Yep.
Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
Completely.
And I think that's something alot of Christians probably have
(13:40):
experienced, whether they'rewilling to admit that or not.
But it's so true.
I think naturally we're very shameful andwe like to hide all of our imperfections
and all of our sin and don't like to beauthentic and genuine in admitting those.
There's definitely a lot of valuein confession, but I think that
we're even through confession, we'restill very guarded because we don't
(14:02):
want to present ourselves to peopleas how broken we actually are.
Yep.
Cause you're like, that's hard.
That's, that's, it'shard to be vulnerable.
It's scary.
You don't know how peopleare going to react.
Like you're saying, like, if you'vehad a lot of experience with people
who've reacted poorly, then it makesyou want to shut down even more.
So I think that it's also definitelyrooted in pride for sure, too, because
we're naturally very prideful peopleand want to be perfect and want to,
(14:25):
you know, have this picturesque, youknow, image to us that other people
see and we try and present that.
So then you don't show people, you know,your sinful parts because we naturally
just are shameful of those things.
Yes, a hundred percent.
I think I kind of find myself in aunique position, especially running this
podcast, because I have purposefullyexposed those parts of myself.
(14:49):
Because I recognize that that's sucha problem in our society, it's not
just with Christians, it's everybody.
Like, it's a human thing.
And the more and more I live my life ina vulnerable way, the more frustrated
I get with people who don't do that.
And I'm actively trying to remind myself.
How difficult it is and how long Ihid those parts of myself, how long I
(15:11):
tried to perfect and like present thebest MLED that I could wherever I went.
And I think we all willstill do that forever.
I don't think it's, I don't thinkit's normal or human instinct to
like lead with like, here's allthe horrible things about me.
Nice to meet you.
You know, like, I would like tointerject here and tell everyone that
the first time that Emily and I hungout, we didn't really, I mean, we
(15:35):
knew each other in college, but likewe weren't, It was like passing by.
We knew who each other was andwould say, hi, how are you?
And all of that.
But the first time we actually hungout, we just absolutely trauma dumped
on each other, our entire life story.
And I remember walking out at dinnerand thinking she was never going to
talk to me again, because I absolutelyjust downloaded all this horrific stuff.
(15:58):
Babe, that made me adore youbecause I was like, do you know
how rare it is to have like, Realgenuine conversations like that.
Like we both sat there and justlike I felt like you saw me
I was like brie gets it bro.
Brie understands me That's exactly howI felt honestly walking out of that and
I think why I value our friendship somuch is because you are so genuine and
(16:19):
naturally when people are more willingto open up and be honest about Their
imperfections where they're strugglingwhat they're working on then naturally
who you're talking to is more willingto open up to 100 I'm Just very much so
in all of the way that you've lived yourlife and especially with this podcast of
opening up to All these people that youmight not personally know, but you're
(16:43):
letting them into your life and showingthose vulnerable sides of you in hopes
that, you know, you're going to makea difference in the world and in their
lives to be a little more vulnerable too.
Hey, thank you.
Of course.
That means the world to me becauseit's been very difficult and I
don't ever want to like undersellhow hard it is to wear your heart
on your sleeve and be vulnerable,especially Doing something like this,
(17:03):
but there is so much value in it.
And it's something that our worlddesperately needs because everybody
is constantly wearing that maskthat I'm so frustrated with that
you're so frustrated with it.
It's like, God, can youjust say something real?
Can you just be honest aboutsomething that you're going through?
I don't want to hear thehighlight reel of your life.
We all deal with that enough asit is with social media and people
(17:25):
sharing their, their high highs.
And it's like, you don't need to traumadump on everyone you meet, right?
Like we had a unique situation wherelike, we felt really comfortable
and safe with each other inorder to do that really quickly.
But that's not like a, that'snot a good thing to do.
Like don't just start telling randomstrangers all of your personal history.
(17:46):
Like make sure that it's safe.
Make sure that they're not goingto use that against you and that
they're like a quality person.
But I encourage anybody.
Who is like really, really strugglingthat taking that risk to be vulnerable
and sharing like your frustrations or youranger or the ways that you're insecure
or the things that you don't like aboutyourself, there is just like a power
(18:09):
that is taken away from those deep,deep feelings when you say it out loud.
Absolutely.
You're no longer hiding.
And it feels so good to justkind of let that out and let it
be a reality, but also know thatyou're not stuck in that reality.
Yeah.
And that's kind of the first stepinto actually making a difference
and changing something in your lifeis talking about it with somebody.
(18:30):
Cause they're also probablygoing to give you a perspective.
You're no, you're sitting here andyou're overthinking that you're
probably not thinking about dude.
Um, and honestly, People relateso much to what you're going
through because we're all human.
So we go through very similar feelingsand progressions through things.
So most likely they've experiencedsomething really similar, but I
think we talk ourselves down andexpressing how we're feeling because
(18:51):
we think we're so special and thinkthat we're going through it alone.
Yes.
Even though that's so not true and thatthat also I think stems from pride too.
That.
Oh, well, I'm just different.
Like, nobody could understand me.
I'm so different.
I'm so quirky.
No, you're not like that.
No, no.
But you're so right.
(19:12):
Like, we're all guilty of it.
I know I am.
And it's like your egogets in the way of you.
I think it's also like a fear of like,I don't want this person to pity me.
I don't want them tolook at me and feel bad.
I don't want to dump my problems on them.
And I know, especially me, likewhen I used to have such a like
tough exterior all the time.
I didn't want people to see me as a weakand I didn't, I didn't want people to
(19:34):
like underestimate me and think like, Oh,this girl needs to get her shit together.
But again, like I said, you're notgoing to be like that with everybody,
like pick and choose, but there'ssomething so freeing for real.
You actually feel like you're living lifeand not pretending and going through the
motions when you finally drop the mask.
Absolutely.
And the people that you share that with,like you were saying, you need to make
(19:56):
sure that they're trusted individuals, butthey're going to be there to support you
and help walk you through those things.
And ultimately, like, it's going tostrengthen your relationships so much.
more and it's going to be a deeperrelationship because you're actually
seeing the person for who they are.
Facts.
And it's not a surface level relationship.
Exactly.
That's how you build thatdeeper connection with people.
How do you think that God tiesin with dropping the mask?
(20:20):
For sure.
Yeah.
I mean, like he, He's created us.
He already knows allthese things about us.
And yet we still sit here and tryand hide all those things from people
and maybe even God himself too.
But he is so, so intimately involvedwith us, whether we realize that or not.
And so there's no hidingthose things from God.
So he, he wants to be involved.
(20:41):
He wants that.
It's like any other relationship.
He wants you to communicate with him.
He might already know all of thisstuff, but the more that you're able
to pray and pray, not being just,Hey, God, I want this, but prayer of
like, Hey, let's have a conversation.
I'm gonna sit here andlisten and also speak to you.
And so he wants involved in allof that because he created you,
(21:03):
he loves you, and he knows allthose things about you already.
Facts.
So, it's, I think that
it's super important that we're,we're not only telling other
people about these things, but alsogoing to God with these things.
Yeah.
Because ultimately, we can tell peopleall we want, they can give us good
advice, but the, the one who's actuallygonna make changes in our life is God.
Because we can't do that alone.
(21:23):
Bruh.
I feel so convicted.
You say Wrestling fam, really quick, Iam screaming, crying, throwing up, y'all.
I'm popping in to let you know thatmy merch is finally here, baby.
I have spent months testing out differentproducts, working with different
manufacturers to make sure that by thetime y'all get this merch in your hands,
(21:45):
that you are absolutely in love with itand it's finally ready for you, baby.
If you want to be one of the veryfirst people on the wrestling squad
to ever get your hands on a piece ofWrestling With Life merch, go click
the link in the show notes right now.
When I tell y'all that I am obsessedwith how this merch has turned out, that
(22:07):
is the understatement of the century.
The hoodies, bro?
Oh my God, they are embroidered.
They are oversized andcomfy and the colors, bro.
I'm literally going to be buying oneof every single color for myself.
And then I have trucker caps availablein two different colors that are both
just like so streetwear chic and I feellike such a bad bitch when I wear them.
(22:30):
You guys need to go get yourhands on this right now.
It's a great way to support thepodcast and a great way to support me.
So if you've ever listened towrestling with life and you
thought, Oh my God, I just wish Icould give em led the fattest hug.
Well, this is the next best thingthat you can do to support me.
Besides give me a hug.
So go get your hands on some merch baby.
Now let's get back to the episode.
(22:53):
I want to know what your prayerlife is like, because I used
to pray every night before bed.
Like me and my family used to do that askids and then going into like college.
I think I got away from ita lot like communal living.
I don't know.
I felt like I guess weird doing it infront of other people because I pray
out loud like in my bed at night.
Absolutely.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
And now in my adult life, I'mstarting to get a lot back into it.
(23:16):
What is your prayer life look like?
So um, recently I just had this reallycool epiphany of like, Hey, like I can
be anywhere and I can be just havingan active conversation with God.
Like, and I'm like, I could besitting at my desk at work and
nobody would have any idea.
Yeah.
And so when things come up, I'mtrying to make it more of a habit to
just go straight to God with things.
(23:38):
Instead of, Oh, I have to wait untilI'm in my bed at night to talk to him.
He, we have free access to him.
That was his whole, whole point withthe, you know, going to the cross.
It's like, Hey, we don'thave to have that barrier.
Like we're, he's, he's an open book withus where we can be an open book with him.
Yeah.
And so I've been trying to do a lotbetter of realizing that and taking
advantage of that because he'sgiven that to us as a free gift.
(24:01):
And so we might as well makegood use of it cause he's there.
And so trying to be more active about.
Praying throughout my day, on my driveinto work, on my drive home from work,
before bed and just because obviouslythere's a value to having prayer time
before bed where you can just haveactual quiet time and just be focused
on that because prayers at work youmight be a little distracted and stuff
(24:22):
and send up a quick prayer, but I thinkthere's different different ways to
do it in different types of prayers.
And so as you are going throughout yourday, as you're trying to make connection
with him, I think that's how you kindof further your relationship with him.
Cause honestly, if you're in arelationship with someone, you're,
you're actively talking to them.
And so it's not like you're like,I'll put them off until later.
(24:42):
And that's a lot.
Oftentimes what we do with God, butit's realizing we have that free
access to him and can take advantageof that whenever, wherever, however.
That's so good.
Yeah.
You can text your boyfriend 24 seven.
Like you can, you can be inconstant prayer with God for sure.
Exactly.
I love that.
I've also kind of heard, I think thiscomes from my mama, shout out to my mom.
She always says that she pictures Jesussitting on the couch in her living
(25:07):
room with like a spot next to him,waiting for her to come speak with him.
That's beautiful.
And like, tell him about her day.
And when I hear that, I feel guiltybecause I'm like, you know how many
times I walked past the couch andI'm like, I don't see you, Jesus.
I got, I got shit to do.
I'm a little busy.
I'll get to you later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that, I mean, that breaks my heart.
And I also think too, like, haveyou seen the passion of the Christ?
(25:28):
That movie just makes me ball myeyes out because it just really
illustrates how much Jesus loves us.
And.
It fills me with so much guilt becauseI'm like, I have the literal savior of
the universe, who sees immense value inme and my tiny little problems who he
like wants me to talk to him about it.
(25:50):
Yep.
And I'm too, I'm too busy and too caughtup in my world here to make time for that.
It's very convicting.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And I think that it's really coolhow he uses those different things.
I'm struggling out here.
I'm sorry.
Sorry if I sound like I'm dying.
Breathe sick, everyone.
Sorry to interrupt you.
I was just like, what was that?
(26:11):
I was trying not to die over here.
It's fine.
She's calling me out for it.
I'm sorry.
Please go.
I think it's just cool how he uses thingslike that, like a movie, to just convict
us and get a little reminder in of who heis and who he can be truly in our life.
Yeah.
And how intimate he trulywants to be with us.
Yeah.
And you're right.
(26:31):
It's so easy to be like,I'll get to it later.
I have a bunch of other stuff thatother people are expecting of me.
Yeah.
But as we continue to push him away,that makes it a lot more difficult.
We feel more and more genuineand less like ourselves.
The more disconnected we becomefrom God, because we He is
who created us facts, dude.
(26:52):
And that's the feeling thatI've kind of found myself in.
Like, as I was kind of wrestling witheverything these last few years, I
feel like there's this God sized holein all of us that we try to fill with
literally everything else but God.
Yes.
And I tried to do that.
and I tried to just think, you know,God is not important to me because
(27:12):
I have so many questions aboutwhere I fit in with Christianity.
That's, that's a valid reason for meto just put it on the back burner.
And I watched as um, I stoppedprioritizing God in my life altogether.
Just how there still feltlike there was that hole.
It didn't matter what else I did.
It didn't matter thatI launched a podcast.
It didn't matter that I waskilling it at my nine to five job.
(27:34):
It didn't matter like how greatmy life was becoming here.
It still felt like there waslike a discontentment missing.
And I knew it was because Iwas making everything about me.
And putting so much emphasis onmyself when I don't exist for me.
I exist for him.
Exactly.
And I forget that all the time.
Preaches this.
(27:54):
We all need that reminder for sure.
Cause we all, it's not just you.
It's not just somethingthat you struggle with.
It's definitely across theboard, something all Christians
struggle with because we're human.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is there anything that, like, youhave on your heart with your faith
in general that's, like, coming upfor you throughout this conversation
that you want people to know?
For sure, yeah.
Actually, I've just been reallythinking about and pondering how
(28:18):
important it is that, yes, like,we're living in that love of Christ.
And that that's how we operate and seeother people is that God loves them.
So therefore, I also get to love themtoo, no matter how frustrating, how
much we might dislike that person.
We don't have the option.
And so it's like, that'sstill God's child.
And so I get to see them that way too.
(28:40):
but I think it's also importantthat if people aren't.
Kind of kind of going back tothat whole thing of if with
Christian hurt and it's like okayHow could somebody do that to me?
I feel very judged all of thatYeah, I think that there is a
correct way to go about doing that.
Okay, Because ultimately God does callto a higher standard of living And so
there are things in the Bible that he'slike, okay, they are black and white.
(29:03):
There's some things that aren'tas far as what we're, how we're
supposed to act as Christians.
What are those?
And so it's not always black and white,but also there's certain things of just,
you know, we need to be in constant,Connection with him and like living
in that love but also calling thingsout it calling things out in truth.
Okay, because His his truth is love likehe he Called us out on our sin and was
(29:28):
like you're not you're not up to thestandard of getting into heaven, right?
He loved us enough tocome and die on the cross.
And so I think that we also I Okay,so we found that we understand that
and so naturally as we Follow intothat love with him and have faith in
him then our Obedience to him changes.
(29:51):
We we become obedient because we love him.
Yes, But I don't think that gives usany right like you're saying to judge
other people for maybe not living inthat way Yes, I think that there's a way
that We might see something and mightneed to lovingly in truth say, Hey, that
that's not exactly what God's callingus or how God's calling us to live.
Like, for example, like if you knowsomebody who's like actively lying and
(30:14):
you're like, That's not that's not it, youknow, and so I think there's a difference
in like calling them out from everyone Butyou need to take them aside and just be
like hey I know that these are some thingsthat I've seen but this isn't this isn't
part of your character Like this is notwhat we're called to be right, you know
doing and so I think that there's a waythat that can be done in love Especially
(30:39):
if you have like a good relationshipwith that person and just knowing that
ham calling you out in love becauseI'm holding you to a standard and would
expect you to hold me to that standardif you saw me doing something like that.
A hundred percent.
I think that's so, so, so good.
I a hundred percent back the ideaof calling out your people and
holding them to a high standard.
Absolutely.
But you're so right.
(30:59):
It's how you do it.
I think there's a big differencebetween that and speaking over
people who you don't have Exactly.
Exactly.
And I think there's like,for me, I used to be.
Like, for example, when I wasin high school, I remember the
gay marriage law got passed.
I went on to Facebook at the timeand wrote this, like, big, long
(31:20):
thing, basically Bible slamming asto why this was against God's will.
And fast forward to now, I fullyproudly support the LGBTQ community
because I have so many friends who Ihave seen be impacted really negatively
by the judgment that comes from that.
And There is for me, like, I know that itexplicitly says that in the Bible, there's
(31:45):
some gray area that I've seen around that.
Like, maybe the word homosexual didn'tcome up in the Bible until a lot later.
The truth of the matter isthat, like, we have no idea.
Like, we can, we can speculate,like, here is the word.
Here is the law that's been given to us.
There's so many different interpretations.
And at the end of the day, I am not God.
I am not here to tell you how to liveyour life or tell you what to do.
(32:09):
Anybody really at all?
It's the people who you are close withand you see them acting a certain way
That you actually have authority andsway in their life and you know who they
want to be So it's like you're holdingthem to the standard that they have
for themselves, too Yep So I just thinkthere's a huge difference in that and
then doing being the kind of person thatI was back in high school Where I think
(32:33):
that i'm god and I have the power tocondemn and tell other people How they
should or shouldn't live their life No,my job is to, to love you and to live
by example and to live out what I feel.
And if, and believe, and if youagree with that or you see value
in that, then you can take thaton and model your life after that.
If not, cool.
(32:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So yeah, I agree.
I think that there's a time and place to,you know, call people out on things that
need to be called out and it needs to bedone in the correct way because obviously
we're not all without consequence.
So how we do something is just asimportant as actually doing it.
and whether you, you know, whetherit's the, Topic of like homosexuality
(33:14):
and if you like believe in that or notand you're like hey Maybe how you were
previously versus how you are now.
Yeah there's a way to go about thatcorrectly and I think that's honestly
the most important part because you'reright there's a lot of stuff in the
Bible that's very gray area and for a lotof Interpretation and debate nowadays.
Yeah, so it's important that you you Asa person, go and study those things and
(33:37):
figure out for yourself what you believe.
But then, like you're saying, you'renot gonna go and just, you know, hit
someone over the head with a Bible.
Like, you have to believe this.
Because ultimately, wecan't change people's minds.
No.
You can definitely plant thoseseeds, but it's God's, you know,
prerogative to do something like that.
A hundred percent.
So we need to make sure that we'reliving our lives how we feel that I
(33:59):
know that God is calling us to, andthat's what we need to be focused on.
We need to stay in our own lane.
100 percent for each baby.
That's something that has freedme tremendously because I used to
just get so pissed off when peopledidn't see things the way that I did.
And it is such a waste of timeand energy because everybody else
(34:19):
has lived a completely differentreality than I have, than you have.
Everyone sees things differently.
Everyone has differentformative experiences.
And some people.
People have, especially I've learnedas an adult, have had traumatic
experiences within the church whohave been isolated by their church
communities, who have been judged, whohave been turned off to God altogether.
(34:42):
And that breaks my heart becausethat's not what God ever intended.
It's broken human beings, imperfecthuman beings, just like you and I, who
have acted and projected their own painand their own reality onto other people.
And caused that pain.
So if you're someone who is listeningand like you have been turned off
(35:03):
to God in general because of oneof those experiences, I just want
to let you know that that's nota reflection of God's character.
That's a reflection of humanbeings being messed up.
And All of us are one of those humanbeings, like all of us have fallen short.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So it's so important to be seekingGod and understanding God's
character apart from other humans.
(35:24):
Yes.
So doing your own time on yourown time going and seeking him and
understanding him for who he truly is.
And I think it's just such a,that's when I started doing that.
That's when I realized how Like justoff I was in college about like why
I was running away from God Yeah,and like I shouldn't be running
away from him because he is perfect.
(35:46):
He is everything He says he is in theBible and he is Faithful and always
shows up Yeah, and it's just that likeyou're saying those those humans that
are gonna come in and just mess all thatup So we need to make sure our eyes are
focused on the right thing and that indealing with those people It's having
that that correct View of them in ourlives and what they're allowed to you
(36:10):
know what they're saying is allowedto penetrate us 100 percent I realized
that I had allowed other human beings tokind of essentially ruin my relationship
with God When that's between me and Godexactly that's not Me and everyone else.
And so it's interesting the thingsthat we internalize and allow to
(36:31):
steer our lives when that actuallyhas no influence whatsoever on like
the relationship we have with God.
Yep.
And then in the same way, it's also beingdiscerning and knowing that there are
good Christians out there and allowingthose people to speak into your life.
So you need to be discerning aboutwho you're letting have a voice in
your relationship with God and knowingthat there are humans out there who.
(36:53):
do genuinely want to help you grow inyour faith and understand God more and
in the same way do that for them as well.
Yeah.
So it's important to know thatthat's, it's not only just focus
on your relationship with God.
It's like, okay, you're allowedto allow other people into that
too when it's, when it's The rightpeople who have the right intentions.
(37:13):
I'm really glad you said that becauseyou're one of those people for me, dude.
And every time that I can talk to youabout these things, like you are so level
headed and you just, you say it how it is.
You say the truth that, you know,you never make me feel judged.
And if everybody had a Brie in theirlife, I think Everyone could benefit
from having a friend like you.
(37:33):
So I just hope you know how much Ilove you and how grateful I am for you.
Thank you so much, sis.
I just, I, like I said, I just valueyou so much and your friendship and the
way that, I mean, like, you might notthink that, but like, you've definitely
helped me a lot in my faith and startedto make me think of things differently
from a different point of view.
Yeah.
Well, you've done the same for me.
You've brought me back downto earth in a lot of ways.
(37:54):
You've helped me work throughthis, just like frustration
and anger that I have a lot.
And going back to kind of what you saidabout having good Christians in your
life, I've had like a few differentpeople come into my life recently
who are really strong in their faith.
And the way that they speak aboutGod and about their relationship
with him is so beautiful.
(38:15):
And it reminds me of a time where Iwasn't so jaded and I wasn't so angry.
And I realized that like that stillwithin me and that God just has some work
to do in my heart because there's a lotthat I still need to let go of a lot of
anger and like healing that I need to dowith my faith in order to like really.
Feel connected to him and feel his love.
(38:36):
And the reason that I feel sodistant is because of those
emotions that I've internalized.
So I'm excited.
Like when I think about thefuture, I'm like, I know what's
going on within my heart now.
Like I see kind of like lightat the end of the tunnel.
And I know that the only way thatI'm going to like get my relationship
with God, I guess, quote unquote, likeback on track is by continuing to have
(38:58):
conversations like this and let it out.
And I just think like, If there'sanyone listening who's in that
same position, that's what Iwould encourage you to do, too.
Like, you don't have tohave all the answers.
I certainly don't.
There's a lot that I still havequestions about with my faith.
What I know without adoubt is that God is real.
He exists, and I'm so thankful foreverything that He's provided in my life.
(39:21):
And that doesn't makeme less of a believer.
Nope.
Because I don't have the answers.
Absolutely not.
Nobody does.
Right.
And if somebody makes it seem that theydo, they really don't believe that.
Um, So ultimately it's about, you know,strengthening your relationship with
God through prayer, through reading hisword, through understanding him better.
Yeah.
And then also, God puts people inour lives for a reason, like we, the
(39:45):
Christian faith isn't to be done alone.
And so having those people, likeyou're saying, who come in and they
have those relationships with God,like that's another way that he
points us back to himself and whatwe were ultimately created for.
And so that's why it just feels sogood to be in those relationships
and to have those conversations.
(40:05):
We don't need to have it all figured out.
We're all learning together.
And that's what's really coolis that it's a growing process
throughout our entire lives.
And you just get to have differentpeople on that journey with you to help
you through different seasons of life.
and learn different things about God.
And ultimately, like that's,that's the goal is to continuously
be like sanctified and be mademore like him and other people.
(40:28):
And just the journey that we're on,like brings us to that because God
is very intentional with each of ourlives, whether it sometimes doesn't feel
that way or not, but he definitely is.
ultimately can in control of that.
He is.
Yeah.
What a good way to end it, baby.
What a good note to go out on.
You got anything else you wantto say before we wrap it up?
I was just going to say that, like,I just really appreciate you and
(40:50):
just your friendship that even thoughwe're 1600 miles away from each
other you still are so intentional.
And we get to still have these deepconversations and be authentic and genuine
with each other from the very start ofour friendship to continuing to now.
So I know that you're one of those friendsthat ultimately helps deepen my faith.
And I get to kind of have as a soundingboard for when I'm struggling with things.
(41:13):
And so I I just know that like with,with The conversations that we have, like
God has been made more real to me andI just would encourage other people out
there to, you know, go search for that.
Go to church.
Like, yeah, Christianity is such acommunity thing go find those people.
They're out there.
You just have to be, Iknow, prayerful about it.
And like we have been saying, justBe careful about who you're telling
(41:35):
what to know when to open up, right?
There are people out there and Goddoes, does give us give us those people
in our lives and continue like ask forhis wisdom and things because he, he so
badly wants to give that to us when we'reasking for things that are in his will,
like he wants to get those things to us.
So be bold with those things.
That's so good.
That's so good.
Yeah.
That's a prayer that I've beenpraying lately is like, God, if
(41:58):
it's in your will, I want it.
Yep.
If it's not in your will, I don't want it.
And that makes it a lot easier todiscern where you're going and if
that's where he wants you to be.
Absolutely.
I think that makes all the differenceand helps us to really be content
in life no matter what happens.
Yeah.
Because we know thatultimately God's in control.
He's still good.
We're still loved no matter whathappens on this earth, which
(42:18):
makes life so much more hopeful.
Facts.
Well, baby Bri, you are so, so, so wise.
And I know that people listeningto this are going to feel
very encouraged and uplifted.
And that's all thanks to your characterand your wisdom and your vulnerability.
So I appreciate you coming on.
I've been wanting to get you onsince I launched this podcast.
(42:40):
I'm so glad that wecould do this in person.
You killed it.
You didn't make this just felt likeone of our conversations that we have.
Yes, it really, it truly does.
It feels like I'm just like sitting onmy bed back in my apartment, like on
the phone with you as we normally, aswe normally have these conversations.
So thank you so much for allowingme to come and discuss this topic.
One of one of my favoritethings to talk about for sure.
And just to be here withyou has been so great.
(43:01):
I feel the same way, babe.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
So thankful for Brie coming on thepodcast and having such a raw and
authentic and vulnerable conversation.
And also so thankful for you guys,you, the listeners, to have Thank you
so much to every single person whoconsistently tunes in for episodes.
If you found yourself encouragedtoday by this message and you have
(43:23):
not left me a rating on Apple podcastsor Spotify podcasts, please take
a second and do that real quick.
Leave me a five star rating.
Ratings help the podcast to growand come up and search more.
And when we grow, we can justcontinue growing, wrestling with
life, getting this encouraging kindof content into more people's ears,
(43:44):
allowing other people to listen.
So feel not alone.
And ultimately for you guys, wrestlingfam, this allows me to create more
content for you guys to invest more inthe podcast, more time, energy, soul,
blood, sweat, tears, all the things.
So please go ahead and do that for me.
Otherwise, wrestling fam, I hopeyou all have a fantastic week that
(44:05):
you get out there that you grablife by the freaking balls and that
you are KO the shit out of life.
We'll talk soon.
Bye y'all.
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