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26: The Faith Of The Next Generation, Birth Through 5th Grade
222 Plays3 years ago
It’s been said that the church is just one generation away from extinction. It is frightening to think that the faith we share may not exist for our kid’s kids! “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” (Psalm 78:4) We just have to do it in a way that connects with a new generation.
Hannah Lang is the Director of Children’s Ministry at Messiah St. Charles. She sat down with Laura Fleetwood in this week’s episode to discuss how parents can help foster their child’s relationship with God.
Highlights from the episode include:
*The two important influencers of a child’s faith are their family and the church
*Reveal little bits of God every day to your child
*Tips for finding a kid friendly church
*Three simple truths Hannah teaches every kid
*God is always listening
*Hard conversations about tragic events
*Early childhood is the best time to introduce new things
Messiah Kids Website: https://messiahstcharles.org/kids/
Normal Goes A Long Way Website: https://www.normalgoesalongway.com/
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Normal Goes A Long Way is brought to you by Messiah St. Charles: https://messiahstcharles.org/
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
The following podcast is a Jill Devine Media production. Christianity has become known for judgy people, strange words, ancient stories, confusing rules, and a members-only mindset. This is why I stayed away from the church for so long, but it's not supposed to be that way. I'm Jill Devine, a former radio personality with three tattoos, a love for a good tequila, and who's never read the entire Bible.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yet here I am hosting a podcast about faith. The Normal Goes Along Way podcast is your home for real conversations with real people using real language about how faith and real life intersect. Welcome to the conversation. Welcome to Normal Goes Along Way, the podcast where faith and real life intersect as we follow our host Jill Devine and her faith journey.
Hannah Lang's Background
00:00:53
Speaker
This is Laura Fleetwood. I am Jill's spiritual mentor and I have the honor today of speaking with Miss Hannah Lang. Hannah, we are going to talk about the faith of the next generation today. That's one of my favorite things to talk about.
00:01:09
Speaker
Perfect. I'm really excited because we've talked a lot about different aspects of faith, more from the more mature standpoint. And, you know, today we're going to dive into what does it look like to be on a faith journey as a child? And before we get started into that, I want you to share why you decided to make this your career.
00:01:37
Speaker
So I grew up in the church. My dad's a pastor, so I have a lot of really fond memories of being in the church. And we were the kind of family that if church was happening, we were there. So I was there every Sunday, every Wednesday. And I always went to schools that were connected to our church. So I was there a lot, but I had a lot of really fond memories there. And I've always loved working with kids. It might have something to do with the fact that I have five younger siblings. So I was always babysitting, and I just
00:02:05
Speaker
love working with kids. And so when I got into high school, I had a mentor, a leader at my church who started giving me some leadership opportunities and kind of spoke into my life a little bit and said, Hey, you could probably do this professionally. And at the time I didn't really know how I could merge those two things, you know, my love for Jesus and my love for kids. And
00:02:25
Speaker
So he actually took me on a college visit to the university I ended up attending and I got a degree called Director of Christian Education. So it's a degree in education and theology and it just seemed to fit perfectly with what I like to do and what I'm good at and so I love kids and I love Jesus and this was just the perfect way to mesh them together. I've got the best job in the world. I love it.
Nurturing Faith in Children: The Orange Strategy
00:02:51
Speaker
That's awesome. So we hear so much about the faith of the next generation being smaller and smaller, like fewer kids are in churches, fewer high school students are coming back, you know, as they go into college and they're kind of falling away from the church. So tell us from your perspective, like, what does it look like to nurture
00:03:17
Speaker
the faith of a child day to day in your role. I like to say that there are two really important influences in a child's life. So number one is definitely the family. So over and over and over, we see statistics that tell us that the number one influencers of a child's faith is the family. So what you do in your home really matters with how a kid will grow up and what they believe about God, what they believe about the church.
00:03:45
Speaker
And then, of course, the church is the second biggest influence for a child. I like to use a strategy called Orange. This is not for me, I'm borrowing this, but the idea is that if red represents the love of the family,
00:04:00
Speaker
And yellow represents the church because we're called to be the light of the world. Red plus yellow equals orange. And so the idea is that two influences working together to influence a child's faith life, they're going to make a greater impact than if either of those were working on their own. So for a child's faith, it's so important to have them in a community. So when a child comes to Sunday morning, for example,
00:04:25
Speaker
We make sure that they have friends in their environment, that they've got adults that are investing in them, that they have a really fun time hearing the Bible stories and singing the songs and just playing the games and all the things that the church can do on a Sunday morning. And then I'm really passionate about resourcing parents so that they have easy ways that they can talk about faith in their every day, just in their rhythms at home.
00:04:51
Speaker
because I have influence over your child, but only one hour a week, typically. And, you know, parents have so much more. So I love to resource parents, give them kind of some cues of things they can do, things they can talk about, activities they can do at home so that our influences are working together to make the greatest impact on these kids.
00:05:10
Speaker
That's amazing because I know a lot of parents come back to faith or come back to church after they have kids. So maybe they were raised in the faith, but then they fell away as far as practicing on a weekly basis attending church. Then they have these kids and they realize that they want that same foundation for their kids. So I can imagine that that can be somewhat of a
00:05:37
Speaker
situation if you have been away from the church for a while. So to have a partner like you at the church that can help them grow along with their child is priceless. Oh, absolutely. Cause we see a lot of people coming back to church when they have children because they imagine the future of what they want for their children. Um, I do the same thing. I've got a one year old. And so of course I think about what kind of, um, an adult do I want him to be? What kind of values do I want him to have?
00:06:05
Speaker
What kind of relationships do I want him to have? How do I want him to make choices? And when I think about who I want him to be, automatically I'm like, oh, man, I got to start now. I got to teach him where to find truth. I have to teach him, you know, where he can find his identity or talk about his how he makes decisions or who is speaking into his life. And so I think a lot of parents, when they come in that new phase, that new season of life, they're thinking,
00:06:33
Speaker
Oh, I'd love someone to walk alongside me as we, you know, influence this child together. So we do see a lot of families looking for a church when they're in that new season of parenting young kids.
00:06:44
Speaker
So let's talk about the different phases of faith development, right? Because you work with kids from age zero all the way through fifth grade. And so I imagine that there are different lessons that you're teaching them or different ways that you're approaching faith development. So just kind of take us through the life of a child from zero to fifth grade and talk about how you teach them, how you love them, how you help
00:07:14
Speaker
their faith build according to what they are developmentally ready to absorb. Right. Yeah. So right away when a child is a baby, you might not think there's much you can do to influence their faith, but I would say it's the perfect place to start. For example, with my little one year old, I want him to know that God made him and that is good. And so his body is good because God made his body. So every night when I put lotion on him after the bath, I say, God made your elbows. When I put lotion on his elbows or
00:07:42
Speaker
God made your head when I put lotion on his head. And that, just in our routine, will hopefully be some of the things that end up in his head as he gets older, just so he knows, oh, God made me. God made my body. And so for that age, it's a lot of maybe it's praying out loud in front of them. So they just hear you talking to God. Maybe it's commenting.
00:08:03
Speaker
let's see oh it's raining today god made the rain thank you god for the rain um and a big part of their faith development at that age too is your own faith development because if you as a parent are growing in your relationship with jesus that is going to spill out into how you live your life right if you are involved in a group at church maybe you're in a community group or if it's value to you to
00:08:27
Speaker
be a part of a church on Sunday morning, then that's already going to be in your habits of what you do as a family. And so bringing your infant to church regularly just shows them that this is what we do on Sundays. We're a part of a faith community. So with your children that young, just kind of where you take them, how you talk to them, what you do with them in your regular routine is really important. And it's very simple.
00:08:50
Speaker
So that made me just have this thought that it's almost like, you know, when your kids are young and let's say you have a family member who lives far away, like you talk about that family member because you want them to know who it is. You might talk to them on Facebook or show a picture, be like, oh, this is your aunt Nora. You know, so it's almost like you're doing the same thing with God. You are introducing your baby to
00:09:16
Speaker
this divine person of God. They're not going to understand all of who He is, but you are letting them know that He is part of their life. So I think that's an amazing way to think of it. Well, that's a really helpful example too, because I've heard parents say like, Oh my goodness, God is such a big concept. How am I supposed to explain this to my child?
00:09:35
Speaker
But it comes out in little ways. It's not like a switch is flipped or it's like one big conversation that you learn once. It's not a math problem. You don't learn how to do long division once and then you're done. You know, have one God conversation with them and then you're done where you explain everything.
00:09:50
Speaker
But we have the opportunity just in our regular day-to-day and how we live our life and the rhythm of our week, the rhythm of how you spend your time to show your kids what's important to you and just reveal little bits of who God is as you go about your
Choosing a Child-Friendly Church
00:10:05
Speaker
day. So for a newer parent who's been away from church for a while and wants to get back to that community, what are your recommendations for a good place to start? Like how do you even
00:10:18
Speaker
find a church that would be child-friendly for a new parent seeking that? Right. That's a great question. I would say, luckily, most churches have a lot of information on their website nowadays. They know that we're going to visit that before we visit them in person. So look for a church that will show visibly that they care about kids. If it's not on their website or maybe you visit their building and you don't see any,
00:10:44
Speaker
signs of children that might give you a hint that that might not be a value over there. So I would absolutely recommend finding a church that maybe they talk about children's ministry. Maybe they got pictures of what's happening in their children's ministry. Maybe they've got a nursery that is staffed. One of the things that I love that we do at the church I serve at is we have a staffed nursery.
00:11:07
Speaker
And it's a value to me because it's not just childcare. We of course are loving those children and giving them a safe and fun environment. I believe we're building a foundation of faith even there at that age zero to two. But also that just communicates to parents. We planned for you. We know that you've got your little one with you who
00:11:27
Speaker
You might get a little squirrely during the service and we would love to serve you and serve your child during this time. So if you're looking for a church that values your kids, I would see a nursery usually. I would see some sort of kids programming. A lot of them will have environments for your kids on a Sunday morning. And I think it says a lot if you hear about children's ministry from like the senior pastor or whoever is communicating on Sunday morning to just show that they value kids.
00:11:55
Speaker
That's so helpful.
Faith Development in Preschoolers
00:11:57
Speaker
So how about as you enter the preschool years, tell us what happens in the life of a child and their view of God when they get to be three, four, five. Right. Oh, I love preschool. I could talk about this forever. Preschool years are so fun because they're so curious, right?
00:12:12
Speaker
Kids are just exploring the world for the first time, and so everything's really sensory for preschoolers. So they're experiencing things that they've never experienced before and looking at things at the really basic level. So in preschool years, we hear a lot of fun questions, but we also, like in our preschool environment, for example, everything that we do is gonna boil down to three things. We want them to know God made them,
00:12:39
Speaker
God loves them and Jesus wants to be their friend forever. So no matter what we're doing on Sunday morning with our kids, we are going to give them a sensory experience. So maybe they'll hear a Bible story and then they'll act it out or they will do a craft that has to do with it or
00:12:57
Speaker
Just something really sensory for them to be involved and experience it. And then we're going to boil it down to one of those three things. God made me. God loves me. Jesus wants to be my friend forever. And if they remember that basic truth, it doesn't matter if they remember the details of the Bible story. They probably won't, right?
00:13:15
Speaker
Because these preschoolers, they are noticing lots of little things. One of my favorite things about children's ministry is just that it forces you to slow down and think about the basics of what's true. We don't have to get too complicated. When I think to myself about, oh, God made me, what does that really mean for me? That means I'm special. That means I have value. That means I don't have to care what anyone else thinks about me because my creator
00:13:43
Speaker
thought that I needed to be here. When I think about, God loves me, what does that really mean? That means that no matter what, I know someone's in my corner. That means when I'm scared or alone, I know for sure that God, his love is with me. When I think about Jesus wants to be my friend forever. I mean, not just
00:14:04
Speaker
does so much to my confidence that does so much to how I navigate my place in the world. And so when you have to boil things down to something really simple, it just gives you that good foundation to take with you as you grow. So our preschoolers
00:14:20
Speaker
Gosh, we do really silly things in preschool ministry. For example, we were just talking about how God created the world this last week, and so we were talking about the fish. God made the fish. So we had Ziploc bags full of blue hair gel, and we had little fish foam guys in there, and they were just kind of playing in the hair gel with the fish. So we get sticky in preschool ministry, right? But it was really fun because it gave them a sensory experience that connected them to a truth. God made the fish.
00:14:48
Speaker
And what a gift for parents to be able to boil it down to just those three simple things as well. Because I think as parents sometimes we over complicate things in our minds and we feel like, oh my gosh, I need to have the answers for all these questions that they're going to ask me about God. But knowing that those three simple truths are the foundation, you can
00:15:13
Speaker
help parents as well to reinforce those ideas in the home. Absolutely. And they're going to have some interesting questions that you don't have an answer to. And that is OK. A lot of times, they just want to know that you're listening. What is a funny question that you can think of that a preschooler has asked recently? Let's see. Is God a boy or a girl? Oh. And that's an interesting one. Or where does God live?
00:15:39
Speaker
That's a fun question. Or is my goldfish in heaven? Or, you know, just we ask a lot of why questions in preschool. So a lot of times I just say, what an interesting question. What do you think? Way to redirect. Is there McDonald's in heaven? I've heard that one before. Yeah. Yeah. So sometimes if I know the actual answer, I'll give them to that or give that to them. But, you know, it's got a boy or a girl. I'll say, well,
00:16:10
Speaker
maybe a little bit of both because God created man and woman. And the Bible tells us that he made us in his image, but Jesus was a boy and Jesus walked on the earth and Jesus is God. And Jesus wants to be your friend forever. You know, I just kind of boil it back down to things that we do know and then see if they've got another follow-up question. Oh, I love that. Okay. So how about early elementary?
Faith Lessons for Early Elementary Kids
00:16:35
Speaker
How do things change there?
00:16:36
Speaker
So those kids are thinking like a scientist, basically. They are trying to figure out their place in the world. They're also trying to figure out who's paying attention to me, where do I fit in, what do I like, because they're really exploring a lot of abilities, things that they can do, things they can't do. We start to see some comparisons as far as
00:17:00
Speaker
how come this person's skin is a different color than mine or how come they're good at baseball but I'm not very good at that or I can draw or why can, you know, my big brother's allowed to do this but I'm not allowed to do that. So we see a lot of kind of comparison and understanding more about who you are and what you can do and your place in the world. And so this is also a really great place for fun questions. This is a theme I'm realizing we've got lots of questions as kids grow and they change a little bit.
00:17:30
Speaker
The questions get a little harder, but this is also a time where the relationships are really really really important. On Sunday morning in our environments we've got kind of a large group teaching time, but one of the most important things we do is we put kids in small groups.
00:17:46
Speaker
And in those small groups, they build relationships with each other and they have fun, you know, just playing games and kind of exploring the theme of the day. But one of the most important relationships we can do for that child or give that child is a relationship with a leader, another adult, a small group person who is investing in them. And they just want to know that you hear them, that you notice them, and that you care about them. If you want to blow a first graders mind,
00:18:12
Speaker
remember the name of their pet and ask them about it the next time. Oh my gosh, it's going to make their day. What a great tip. They're never going to forget that you remembered their dog is named Samson and is a golden retriever and they will just light up knowing that you remembered something about them. So yeah, the relationships that you're building, that trusting relationship really just provides a good environment for them to
00:18:37
Speaker
figure out more about who they are and what it means for how God made them and how God made them all different. In that environment, we also boil it down to three different truths. We want them to know God loves me, I can trust God no matter what, and I should love others the way that Jesus loves me. So we try to boil everything down to one of those three things in the elementary environment.
00:18:59
Speaker
I can imagine that as kids grow more mature, they may be sharing in these environments more about like the real problems that are going on in their
Handling Children's Deep Questions
00:19:10
Speaker
lives. And I'm just thinking about, I'm assuming that you have some kind of prayer time where they can share their prayer requests. What are some situations or stressors that you see in these kids' lives that they are wrestling with in combination with their faith?
00:19:28
Speaker
Well, first I'll say that if you want to know what's going on in people's families, just ask a group of elementary kids, do they have any prayer requests? I have learned some things that I'm not sure parents wanted me to learn during that time. I've learned that moms are pregnant before they've told everybody because the little sibling will know and just say, pray for the baby that's in my mom's belly.
00:19:49
Speaker
So they're very eager to share what's on their heart But some of those things that are going on in their lives that intersect with faith include The big question of why that we all have right? Why did my grandma get sick? Why are my parents fighting? Why is it hard to be in my house? why Why did my dog die a lot of those big questions will come out because if I teach them one of those core truths so that God loves me
00:20:19
Speaker
Well, then they might ask, OK, God loves me. Why would he make it so my house feels scary? Or I can trust God no matter what, but he let my dog die. So they're really wrestling with how those two things could be true at the same time.
00:20:36
Speaker
So when we're thinking about that prayer request time, a lot of times they just want to tell you what's going on and they're not really sure what it means to pray about it. So if I say, do you have any prayer requests? Sometimes I'll hear, you know, my, my dog died or my grandma is sick and I can help them say, well, that is a wonderful thing to talk to God about.
00:20:58
Speaker
And I always remind them, God loves to hear from you. God's never too busy to listen to you. That's one of those truths that I remind them of, regardless of what their prayer request is. So something I say every single Sunday with our kids is, it doesn't matter where you are or what you say. God loves it when you talk to him. He's always listening. He's never too busy for you.
00:21:21
Speaker
He can hear us wherever we are. Can you pray to God in the bathtub? Yes. Can you pray to God when you're taking a test? Yes. Can you pray to God in the car? Yes. Does it matter what your hands are doing? No. Does it matter the words that you say? No. He loves to hear from you. So with those big hard things, prayer request time is a really good way for me to remind them of the truth that God is always listening and he wants to hear from them.
00:21:47
Speaker
And what a comforting thing to a child to know that and to hear it every week and to have that safe space where they can go and voice those concerns and know that they'll be comforted.
00:22:00
Speaker
But that's also a really abstract thing that might be hard to understand, so I try to connect it to an experience that they've had. So, for example, I'd like to say, have you ever been trying to get your mom's attention but she's on her cell phone? Or when was the last time you raised your hand in class but your teacher was helping someone else? Isn't it frustrating when you can't get someone's attention? And then remind them that that doesn't happen with God.
00:22:22
Speaker
God is so big and powerful that he can hear you and me at the same time. So those really big concepts, I try to compare it to an experience they will have had to kind of help them put a little more flesh around that idea too. That's amazing.
Engaging Older Kids in Faith
00:22:38
Speaker
So how about the older kids that you work with? You work with kids up through fifth grade. So what does it look like for a third, fourth, fifth grader to be in one of your ministry environments?
00:22:50
Speaker
So for those kids, a lot of times when we get up into the fourth, fifth grade range, they might think they're too cool for the environment, especially if they're the oldest kids in the group. So for those ones, they're really, really motivated by fun. And so we try to have a whole lot of fun with those kids in this environment. They're motivated by feeling accepted. They're motivated by
00:23:14
Speaker
being in a group where they feel like they belong. And so we do have a lot of fun. We have a lot of competitive games. Those kids really like to get into that. And part of the relationship with a small group leader that I mentioned earlier is so important. Because if you know that someone is waiting for you,
00:23:37
Speaker
at church and they're gonna notice if you're not there, you're motivated to come. You might even drag your parents to church because, you know, Miss Laura is my small group leader and she'll notice if I'm not there. They're really motivated by fitting in, feeling like they belong. And so it's really critical in that age group too that everyone knows their name. Their small group leader knows their name and they're having fun with their friends and they can get surprisingly deep
00:24:04
Speaker
with some of their questions. They know a lot and they also just are very curious about a lot of things. So this is the age group two where I get a lot of complicated questions that I don't know how to answer sometimes, like were there dinosaurs on the Ark with Noah, right? Or where did they go? Or, you know, just questions about really interesting details in the Bible because they're smart. These kids are really smart. Gosh, I just love all the ages. I can't decide if I have a favorite. So how do you keep
00:24:34
Speaker
motivated.
Balancing Faith Growth and Ministry
00:24:35
Speaker
You know, I'm thinking about stories that may come on the news, like the the massacre in Texas of that you've all date with those young kids. And these are issues that our youngsters hear about. They see it on TV. They have listened to their parents debating, you know, pros and cons of the politics that's related to all of it. And
00:25:01
Speaker
I just can imagine that that weighs on you. So how do you keep yourself in this healthy space to be able to minister to these kids each and every week?
00:25:16
Speaker
Well, it's similar to what I mentioned about when I'm encouraging a parent with passing the faith on to their child, it's really important that they are growing in their own faith. There's a scripture in the Bible that says, I'm paraphrasing, but basically what fills your heart will overflow through your words. And so, you know, if you're filled with the spirit and if you are, you know, in conversation with God and you're reading his word, things that are filling your heart will come out through your words and actions as well. So,
00:25:44
Speaker
It's very important to be connected to Jesus myself, to be reading his word, to be talking about him with others in my community group, to be worshipping him on Sunday morning, just to grow in my relationship with him personally because
00:26:00
Speaker
this ministry can be really hard. So I think cultivating my own relationship with Jesus is one of the really important things. Something else that really motivates me is just when children share their faith, it just lights me up because I want them to have a good future. And for children to have a good future, I need them to know that God loves them.
00:26:21
Speaker
It would break my heart if a child went through something difficult and didn't know that God is with them through it. I have had so many moments in my own life where I think, how could I have survived this if I didn't have a relationship with Jesus? I mean, from the death of family members?
00:26:39
Speaker
to making decisions about what college to go to or if I should take that job or when we lost my first child. I mean there's so many really difficult things in life ahead of them.
00:26:52
Speaker
things that I've experienced, I just think back to the strength that I got from the Holy Spirit or from people in my life who shared God's love and truth with me. And when I'm reminded that that is what anchored me, that's what kept me going, I just think I need every child to know for certain that God loves them, that he made them, that Jesus wants to be their friend forever, that you can trust God no matter what.
00:27:20
Speaker
because that's how I make it through and that's what I want for them. So here's my last question for you.
Early Faith Introduction and Parental Concerns
00:27:27
Speaker
What would you say to those parents who say that they don't want to introduce God into their children's lives because they want their children to be able to decide on their own?
00:27:40
Speaker
about their faith. I hear that a lot, and I'm just curious from your perspective what you might say to someone who says that that is their plan for introducing God into their children's lives. They're just going to wait and let them figure it out for themselves.
00:27:56
Speaker
sure. So as parents, we of course want the best for our children. And we know there's so many things that go into that we want them to grow physically, and they wanted them to learn a lot. And we want them to make good decisions. And there's so many different parts of our children. There's their emotional health. How do we give them good morals? How do we teach them to take care of their bodies and to exercise? How do we help them make good choices with technology? And so you
00:28:22
Speaker
kind of have an idea of what you want for your child and I think when it comes to faith we really want to present them with the opportunity to learn who God is very early on because statistics show us that a child will make their decision about who God is and if they believe about who he is before the age of five.
00:28:43
Speaker
Wow, that's surprising to me. Yes, and so over and over and over we see that when their brains are developing in early childhood, that's the best time to teach them new things. So think about learning a new language. They always say if you're going to teach a child another language, when should you do it?
00:29:01
Speaker
When they're very young, it would be much harder for you and I to learn a new language. But if I wanted to start teaching my one-year-old Spanish, he could become bilingual very easily because his brain is a sponge right now. And we just know that it's a great time to learn new things. So if we want our children to make good decisions, we want our children to
00:29:24
Speaker
have a sense of themselves that's based in the truth of who God is and how he made them good. We want them to have good relationships, then providing them an opportunity to learn those basic truths and then possibly wrestle with those hard questions later in life. I think that is one of the best chances we have.
00:29:44
Speaker
Thank you so much.
Connecting with Hannah and Resources
00:29:45
Speaker
Jill has been listening in on our conversation and taking lots of notes. So we will be back in the next episode with Jill joining Hannah and myself, and she'll have lots of questions for you, Hannah, as a follow up. But I want you to let the listeners know how can they connect with you or how can they learn more about getting their kids connected to the ministry where you serve?
00:30:10
Speaker
Sure. So I serve at a church called Messiah and on our website, you can look for our children's ministry. We give some pictures and some information about what we offer on Sunday mornings. Um, you can connect with me through our website or through our Facebook page and I'd love to chat with you. We can have an email, we can go for some coffee and I can share with you a little more about what we offer for your child's engage.
00:30:35
Speaker
wonderful. And we will have links to all of those resources in the show notes. So be sure to check that out. All right, until we talk again, listeners, just to have a wonderful day. And we can't wait for you to be able to listen in on Jill's conversation with Hannah.
00:30:54
Speaker
God sees the big picture and I don't see the big picture all the time. It's almost like a quilt. I don't know if you've heard this analogy before, but you know, if you look at the top of the quilt, you can see the big picture. It's all beautiful. Everything is finished and it's nice and neat. But if you look at it from underneath, it's a mess because there's a ton of threads everywhere. It's going in and out. There's tangles. There's different colors. It doesn't look like anything in this life. We sometimes only see the underneath. We don't know what it's supposed to look like. We don't know the big picture.
00:31:48
Speaker
Thank you.