Cultivate Women's Podcast

TRANSCRIPT

 Welcome back to the Cultivate Women's Podcast. We are so excited to be talking about new Year stuff. I know that we're probably in the end of January, so it's not like exactly the new year, but this is where when we have set all these new goals and habits and or resolutions if that's what you wanna call them.

 

And then now you're feeling. , I don't know if these are working or maybe I missed a couple days. And I think that a lot of the times these goals and these habits and the things that we wanna pl like change come from a genuine place. They come from a place like within our heart of I want to do better at this, or I wanna do change my habits in this area.

 

I think that it all stems from a good place. But a lot of the time we don't have the proper. Strategy, like Sarah Beth's gonna talk about that. We don't have the proper resources, maybe resources or just things put in place to help us succeed. And so that's what we wanna talk about today.

 

Yeah. We wanna talk about some encouraging ways that you can be successful at these new habits or things that you're wanting to implement. And then just give you some Things that we've struggled with or we've done well with, or we've found success with. And that is kinda what we wanna talk about today.

 

And I think one of the biggest things like right now is like everyone starts a new Bible reading plan at the beginning of the year. And a lot of the times it's like the read your Bible in a year, like that's the goal. Yeah. Like, I've gotta read my, the whole Bible in one year. And I think that's an amazing goal.

 

Yes. That's super awesome and we're all really excited about it. But it doesn't always necessarily play out that way. Yeah,

 

totally. So let's get real for a second. . We're like, oh my gosh, I'm super advantageous. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna start off in January and by December 31st, man, I'm closing.

 

Page, and I've got it and I'm gonna know everything I need to know. Yeah. My faith's gonna be transformed, and that is definitely likely to happen if you read the whole Bible. I would definitely agree with that. Sure. But I am, I'm guilty. I'll just go ahead and raise my hand. I'll be the first one in the room.

 

I have definitely made out goals year after year to read the Bible in a year. And I've done everything from just saying I'm gonna open the first page and I'm starting at. You. And then and then I've tried the plans that are like the digital plans in the Bible app where it's okay, you're gonna read it chronologically and we're starting in Matthew Uhhuh,

 

And then all of a sudden you start reading, and I'm just gonna say it, you guys, we start reading and it's like the ancestor part, right? . It's like Adam was part of this and Eve was part of that and this was the mom of this and this was, and so was this. And and then I start reading it and I'm like, why am I.

 

What am I doing? What is this? And for me it's like I zone out. I don't mean to zone out. Yeah. It's just that I don't understand the relevancy. In some

 

of those names I'm like, how do you even say this  

 

like

 

this guy, I don't know. I do what in the

 

world. And those biblical names, catch you.

 

And then I'll get through, I'll force myself to read through that. Couple chapters. Yeah. And then it starts telling me a story, but then it's like relating to something else. And because maybe at the time I didn't have a theological background to understand what was going on.

 

Yeah. I just was like, okay, I'll just start reading the A Bible verse every day. I've done that. That's me, that's, I'm guilty of that. And I think all of us have been there. Yeah. Jordan, do you have, have you gotten through the whole Bible in a year? Have you done. ?

 

I have, yes.

 

I don't do it every year. But I have to say I've done it at least once. I probably maybe done it more than once, but I know I could say I've done it at least once. How'd you do it? I still fall into that too. Like I'll still fall into the, like I started and , I was like, sorry, there's a red light on the wall that wasn't there before.

 

No worries. Here you go. All.

 

Jordan, have you ever read through the Bible? Have you ever actually completed a plan? And if you did, how did you even do it? I just want all of the wisdom because yes, I've read through the Bible. I know every book. I get it. We sang the songs in ch in children's church, right? Sunday School is what we called it when I was a kid, but  Yeah.

 

I've read all of it. I know. Stand, and now I have a theological background, but as a listener here, like how have you done it? Give me all your

 

wisdom. I've done it at least once. I don't do it every year. It's definitely the, a goal to do that. Like I set out saying okay, I'm gonna follow a plan or whatever.

 

And like even this year I didn't do the whole Bible in a year, but it's the New Testament in three months or something. The first three or four months read the whole new Testa. Which I think is a little bit easier to do because it's when you get into that Old Testament that it's like you're going through Leviticus and you're like, what in the world where these laws and what is happening and you're not really, quite understanding.

 

But anyways, so I think for me, and it's something that we talk about at Passion Creek actually, and so it's something that Trey my husband has taught me. But it was more of setting a pace versus a.  like a goal. Yeah. So not like I'm gonna read five chapters today. That can seem like so overwhelming.

 

Yes. Depending on where you are in the Bible. Because if you're in the gospels, , they're 52 verses long each chapter. So you're like talking like 400 verses Yes. In your timeframe and like that. And maybe that's gonna take an hour, right? And maybe we don't have an hour in the mornings, or in the afternoons or in the evenings or whatever.

 

Is that time that you have? So for us, we have learned that that it's more about setting a pace or a time. Yes. So like I have this much time to devote to scripture at this time of day. Yes. So something that, like Trey says is pick a time, pick a place, and then pick a plan. So yes, it's important to follow a plan, but not in the way of You have to read all of this in one day.

 

You can look at that and it can be listed by days, but you know that like I'm just gonna read till the time's in. If I didn't, then I'll pick up where I left off the next day and I'll move forward. Because if we do it that way, I feel like we're less likely to get discouraged. Yeah. We're less likely to be like, oh my gosh, I didn't get through all the chapters.

 

Yes. Versus I sat down and I spent a solid 15 minutes reading scripture with the Lord.

 

And you can be proud of yourself. Absolutely. You're absolutely proud of yourself cuz you did it. Yes. And it's not that you didn't accomplish a goal, you did actually do something. You gave dedication, you gave time.

 

Yeah. You actually put into, on the paper, you, you read through the bible. The time and the place, and you've Yes. Completed that action. And I think

 

that reading the Bible in a year is like a worthy goal. Like I think that's amazing. But if you read 365 days this last year and you didn't make it through the whole Bible, Praise the Lord.

 

Amen. You got, you actually did read the Bible. You read the

 

Bible whole, the whole year, yes. So yes, it's okay to have that goal, but also don't hold so tightly to it that there's no wiggle room because when we don't leave ourselves wiggle room is when we can lead to that discouragement and that Feeling of this is pointless, or I'm never gonna get better, or I already missed two days and now it's over with or Right.

 

And sometimes it's you missed two days. Okay. Forget those two days. You jump forward four chapters or wherever it, yeah. It's okay. Like you can go back and read that again another time or  or whatever it is. Like we don't, it doesn't have to be so strict into the tea.

 

And I don't think that's what the Lord. The Lord knows our heart. He knows our desires. And if our desire is to truly open his word and to learn and to grow and to just genuinely just be in his presence, yes. Like he is gonna honor that 15 minutes over you trying to rush in five chapters in an hour.

 

And one thing that I started doing before I actually opened the Bible it, it might feel really weird at first, but just.  and be still. Yeah just be quiet. Don't look at your phone, don't listen to a song, don't do anything wherever your space is that you're gonna dedicate to actually reading. Whether that's the couch before the kids wake up.

 

Yeah. Whether that's, the edge of your bed before your husband wakes up. , whatever it is. Just stop and pause and allow the Lord to impact your heart. Allow him to speak to you. And sometimes when people say that I, when I was early on in my journey, I would always be like, so am I gonna hear him audibly?

 

What do you mean by that? But I feel like the, when the Lord speaks to us, you may all of a sudden it might feel heavy on your heart. My worth. I'm not honoring my. Yeah. In Jesus, and so then maybe if you don't know the Bible a hundred percent, you can just go over to Google and search.

 

Can you gimme a Bible verse or what book should I read? Yeah. If I want to hone in on my worth and what Jesus's truth is and take a minute to just pause before you read . Because I think it'll allow you to receive what God has to say for you and direct you where to

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello. Welcome back to the Cultivate Women's Podcast. We are so excited to be back. We took a little bit of time off. There was just things going on in life that was inevitable and we had to take a step away and really focus on other things. But we are relaunching our podcast. And just as a reminder, I am Jordan VanCamp.

 

I am a pastor's wife at Passion Creek. We have been a church for, wow, like almost seven years now or something like that. And so it's been. I've got three daughters. They're all in school now, which is really fun. And I am so excited that I have a new co-host with me. I have Sarah Beth with me, and I know, just, I wanna, how about you to introduce yourself, tell us about you.

 

Awesome. Thank you so much, Jordan, for inviting me here. I'm excited to be here. I'm a leader, educator, and passion for, and have a huge passion for servant leadership. I've had the privilege of creating and. For several companies and businesses where I was always trying to create a positive and inclusive work environment and space for people.

 

In addition to my professional pursuits, my faith in Jesus is super important to me. I'm married to my husband of Devin of 16 years together for 18. We have two daughters, Morgan and Alex. This, and they are definitely on their own now. And so I'm super excited to be here. I am a proud alumnus of Grace Christian University at a Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I graduated Summa CU Loud in their seminary program with a focus in leadership and women's ministry.

 

I'm just really humbled by the opportunity to use my skills and experience to encourage and inspire others in their faith journey. I'm really looking forward to discussing topics related to faith and cultivating meaningful relationships on the Cultivate Podcast. So thank you so much for having me and inviting me to join you.

 

Yeah, absolutely. I'm so excited. So today's episode, we're just gonna go over just what are, what's our vision for the podcast? What do we, where do we see it going? What topics do we see covering? And then in the next episodes, we'll obviously dive into specific topics. And so there are just like we did before, we talked a lot about leadership, about family, about marriage and so we want to do all of those same things and then expand.

 

We really have a heart for discipleship at Passion Creek. And as I've run the women's ministry over the years, that has been my biggest like heart. My biggest goal was for us to be able to pour into women of all ages, like older women, pouring into younger women, pouring into older women, because we really can.

 

Just because we're younger doesn't mean an older woman can't learn from us. And then vice versa, obviously. Yep. And I love that. One of those things is we find that in scripture, we find it in Titus to  chapter two verses three through five. Sir bet. Do you wanna read that like verse specifically?

 

Absolutely. So Titus two, three through five reads, older women likewise are to be relevant ENT in behavior, not slanderous or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled, pure, working at home kind and submissive to their husbands that the word of God may not be.

 

I don't know what that word is. Reveled. Reviled. Rev. Reviled. I'm gonna have to reread that. No Naval . I'll have reread that. Reviled, right? Reviled. I think that's what it is. Okay. I'm gonna reread that. We'll just have him pause that way. Absolutely the verse in Titus two, three through five reads, older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanders or slaves.

 

Too much wine. They are to teach what is good. And so to train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled, pure, working at home kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Yeah, I love that. I love that it speaks so much. Both older women and younger women, we both have a place and a role in the church.

 

And I think that it's really important and I think that just a podcast that is going to touch on those things. It's going to give encouragement and tips and suggestions and and then just have like women who there is an age gap between SarahBeth and I. Yeah. I'm not a huge one. Sure. But enough that, like you raised a daughter who is.

 

older now, and her, she's in her twenties and absolutely, it's like I still have young kids, so there's a lot of stuff that like of life that you have been through that I have not yet gone through. And so I feel like there's so much that we can talk through and discuss that's gonna be beneficial just for our individual lives, but also for all of you guys who are listening in.

 

Who may have be in that same season of life that I am or may be the same season of life that Sarah Beth is in. Absolutely. I also think it's important that the goal of this podcast is to find ways to help teach both you and I and our listeners to cultivate great relationships with others and really inspiring everyone to be part of our community and enjoying what that looks like together, creating that togetherness, the groups together.

 

Enjoy life together. And I think along with enjoying life together and cultivating those relationships, we learn great lessons that can also inspire us to live in alignment with what Titus Two three through five is talking about. Absolutely. I think that on this podcast we also wanna talk about Just like the importance of self-control and purity how these virtues can help us as women cultivate those strong, healthy relationships, like you were saying.

 

I think that those are big things that society doesn't hold much value in. Self-control. I agree. Purity, like it's very much a , women today, this is my body. I'm gonna do whatever I want with it. , there's, and that we're old fashioned. Yes. That we're just like, oh my gosh. You said the word purity.

 

That means something from the 1920s. Yeah. Why are we talking about something like purity? That's weird. And there's also a, a. Some somewhat of a stigma, I think about talking freely and openly about things that the Bible talks about. Yeah. Because people don't understand how it could be relevant today.

 

And so I think through this podcast, we're gonna try to be a positive role model for everyone that's listening. And for each other, living in alignment with the way that we should go and what the Bible teaches us. So I think it's important that we share. We long for everyone to have that openness to hear what self-control means.

 

And it may not mean what you think society is saying it means. Yeah. Cause there can be misconstrued statements and, popular people or famous people that we listen to that talk about those things and they give it a bad reputation. But our goal is to really share with you the goodness that those things bring.

 

Yeah. And how it actually provides more peace in your life. And it removes. Guilt that we have had by not living in alignment, alignment with that, if that makes sense. Absolutely. And I think it's important too that.  there. It's one thing to reach scripture and to figure that out and dissect it and really dig through okay, what is the Bible saying here?

 

What is God saying here? What is Paul teaching about? Like that's all very important. But it also is like, how do I play that to my own life? , and so as a listener, I think it's really like crucial to hear like how do I, like how does Jordan struggle with self-control?

 

Like what are ways that I have failed and. The Lord has worked through that and taught me, like Amen. So giving these like personal examples and being on some level vulnerable, trans transparent. Yeah. Not like you we're spilling everything here. There's things that you keep to yourself, but Yes.

 

Yes. But having even just as a general, this is a situation I was in and here's how like I handled it wrong and here's how, like the Lord taught me through that, and maybe this is what I should have done because I think it's so easy to.  to a podcast and have like someone sharing their story and you're sitting back going oh my gosh, I've done that too.

 

You're like, oh, wow. Like I had a friend who did that meet to me yesterday, and I didn't even think that maybe that was her thought process and I got mad and maybe I, Yeah, you just, you get different perspectives and you hear different sides of the story. And when it's all based in scripture, yes.

 

It, when we bring it back to this, these are our faults, these are the ways we messed up. . I was in a situation and I was so proud the Holy Spirit provided, and I handled it correctly. Yeah. A win. Yeah. But when we drive it all back to scripture, I think that's what's most important, yes. It's those holding those with two hands, like yes. Personal experience, things that we've been through, things that we have done, but also , how that aligns with the Bible or how it didn't align with the Bible. Yeah. And how we should change that. And I also think that there's often times where you might listen to a podcast and you might hear somebody talking about something that aligns with our faith, that aligns with what we're working on right now, or what we're reading in the Bible.

 

. But we don't actually, maybe we have new believers on here that are just trying to understand. Stand, how to, pray or how to live in a godly way, how to be a godly woman. And I think our leader, our, everyone who's listening to this, could probably benefit from learning what we are doing, how you do it.

 

, giving them actual practical steps in their jo

Sarah and Leah both were given a purpose far greater than they could have ever dreamed. Their lives may not have gone the way they planned but God used them as integral parts of the line of Jesus. They were deeply flawed in many way and yet they were highly favored.

Cultivate Joy: Parenting by Paul David Tripp

Cultivate Growth: Journal and bible, copy verse by verse scripture

Cultivate Growth: https://thedailygraceco.com

Cultivate Joy: Jergens hand lotion

Cultivate Growth: She Reads Truth Bible, https://www.shopshereadstruth.com/products/she-reads-truth-bible-navy-leathertouch

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