The Talking Story Podcast

Hey ya'll. It is me. Solo podcast here. 

Want to share with you about a personal journey of anxiety. So listen in. 

Also would you consider purchasing our Children's book, Little Gray's Altruistic Adventure?

Guess what? We have Alex McFarland on our podcast today! As a Christian apologist, author, evangelist, religion and culture  analyst, and advocate for biblical truth, Alex McFarland speaks  worldwide. He has preached in over 2,000 churches throughout North  America and numerous more internationally. He also speaks at Christian  events, conferences, debates, and other venues to teach biblical truths  and preach the gospel.

In today's world we hear "there are many roads that lead to heaven" or "you do you". However, why is that mindset contributing to the moral decay of society as a whole?

Pull up a chair as we talk about religion, and how Christianity is not just "another" religion. What makes it different and how is altruism at play?

Taking a step into the unknown can be very scary and intimidating. I, Kelsey, show up in real time and share what I'm feeling about heading to Africa. God has been teaching me a lot in Exodus and Joshua, so I share with you what I shared with the Emmaus church in Hilo, that God is faithful, He is good, He works miracles...but we (humans) have a short term memory. It's important that we do something to document the cool things that God does, so when the hard or uncertain things start we can be reminded that God has got this:) I share my strategy and idea for documentation of all the cool things God has done and will continue to do to those who believe in his Son Jesus Christ!

A couple of dear friends have come to The Talking Story Podcast table to talk about *drum roll please* FRIENDSHIP!

In real time I come seeking advice about some of my personal struggles in friendship. I've been recently wounded by a friend. What do I do? How do I forgive? Do I let go? How do I take responsibility in a friendship? How can I be a better friend? And what can I do on social media to help build friendships?

So I wanted to seek Godly counsel to find answers to these questions.

Jacque and Rachael are friends from elementary days. These gals love Jesus and spend time in God's word daily and in prayer, so I knew that their wisdom was coming not just from personal experience but from their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

So if you have ever struggled in this area of friendship, this podcast is for you. Heal, be inspired, and be encouraged that you can be the friend that the people in this world need!

A couple of dear friends have come to The Talking Story Podcast table to talk about *drum roll please* FRIENDSHIP!

In real time I come seeking advice about some of my personal struggles in friendship. I've been recently wounded by a friend. What do I do? How do I forgive? Do I let go? How do I take responsibility in a friendship? How can I be a better friend? And what can I do on social media to help build friendships?

So I wanted to seek Godly counsel to find answers to these questions. 

Jacque and Rachael are friends from elementary days. These gals love Jesus and spend time in God's word daily and in prayer, so I knew that their wisdom was coming not just from personal experience but from their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. 

So if you have ever struggled in this area of friendship, this podcast is for you. Heal, be inspired, and be encouraged that you can be the friend that the people in this world need!

Hey TTSP tribe,

Happy February 1. I felt this week that I should get on and share  with you in real time, some things I'm learning in my life as I'm in the  process of "Picking up the Pieces" after a very difficult 2020. If I'm  being open, which I try to be on this platform, 2020 was a year of loss.  I lost a dear family member, I lost my job, I lost an opportunity to  travel to Uganda, I lost a relationship, and I truly lost life as I had  known it.

This isn't a pitty party, in fact, looking back I can see a lot of  silver linings in a very dark season, and I will be the first to confirm  that God is faithful. But that doesn't mean I don't feel all the  feelings, and even in 2021 I'm still feeling all the feelings. I have  good days, and I have bad.

Some days I want to crawl into a hole and never come out, can anyone relate?

But here's the deal. It is human to feel the feelings: hopelessness,  sadness, pain, anger, depression, hurt, betrayal. So yes, I give you  permission to feel. We must, we have to.

However, we can't stay there.

Once we start to feel these feelings, we are at such a vulnerable  state to allow fear and doubt to creep in. And when that happens, and  isn't dealt with, our lives look pretty grim.

Let's take a look at Joseph in the Bible. Put yourself in his shoes  (that's empathy by the way, a gift/tool essential to have in this life).  Yes, he was a bit cawky.  And yes it was probably his arrogance and  pride that started off the chain of events: oh you know being sold into  slavery to a foreign country, being accused of rape when you actually  ran away, being thrown in prison for the rape that you didn't do, and  then forgotten by the guy who promised to help get you out.

Yea, I could imagine that Joseph felt all the feelings.

I could imagine Joseph's struggle. I could imagine the hopelessness Joseph must have felt.

But what I love about this story, is we know that God used EVERY  season of Joseph's life to help cultivate him into the man God had  intended him to be. God doesn't waste a season. God doesn't waste pain.

How do I know this?

Well Joseph's story starts off at "Look at me brothers" as he showed  off his beautiful coat to a jealous group of brothers, who yes, then  took their jealousy to the extreme. Pretending your brother was murdered  by a wild animal when you actually sold him instead is never a good  idea.

But when Joseph, after years in prison falsely accused (remember?),  was called into Pharaoh's court to interpret Pharaoh's dream, Joseph had  grown, he matured. Old Joseph would have responded..."Pharaoh, my man,  it is I, Joseph son of Jacob, that interprets dreams and they come to  pass, pretty cool right?". Or he could have been bitter Joseph,  "Pharaoh, it's about time. Before we get to your dream, let's talk about  all the ways I've been wronged..."

But instead we see the "new" Joseph. "Pharaoh, it is not I that interprets dreams but God".

At the age of 31, I moved in with my parents. I had a successful  career, I had been on my own for 16 years, I was an adult living my best  life...yet here I was, moving in with the parentals.

It was very humbling, very humbling.

Why  would I do such a thing... one may ask in this western-  individualistic- society we live in? Well the simple answer, I felt God  was telling me to and I have wonderful, giving, generous parents who are  also open and led by Jesus.

It was  suppose to be for just 6 months, helping them adjust since they just  moved to Hawaii and allowing me to save a little. The house that was  "mine" became "theirs" overnight. It was tough.

My  stuff went into boxes, theirs came out. Now mind you, they were anxious  to nest because they had just lived with my dad's mom for 7 months and  they are in their mid-sixties.

A year and  half later, I finally moved out...right in the middle of COVID. I just  lost my job, and now was the time to move out? Doesn't make sense right?  Don't ask me to explain, it still doesn't make sense, I just feel what I  believe is the Holy Spirit telling me what to do, and I often go by the  peace I feel in my heart.

But I tell you,  if I didn't take that 18 month season and humble myself to live in  their basement, 2020 would have looked extremely different for me. But  because I had the opportunity to save, I entered a scary season of  unknown a bit more confident and peaceful.

The  Clapback Couch Podcast ladies join us on today's podcast to talk about  family economics. How does God's design of the family look in seasons of  struggle, uncertainty, and pain. How can family help each other within,  and how can a family be a source of help to those outside the familial  circle.

Sex Trafficking Awareness DAY...January 11, 2021

Easy things you can do to combat the issues of Sex Trafficking

1) Educate yourself

Listen to a The Talking Story Podcast episode each day this week that talks about sex trafficking (or re-listen if you are a TTSP avid listener). 

Season 1 Episode 3- Hoolanapua

It's Kelsey here, at your service, with a blog that is quite  different than the norm. But yet, it very much relates to the work we  are doing thru Moi Moi Market. How so? Well bear with me and read on. I  want to help with some questions that have been coming at me...and that  is HOW DO I TRAVEL TO AND FROM HAWAII?

North Dakotan couple Mariah and Derek were excited to begin building their dream family home, until they saw the price tag. After praying it over and wondering what direction they should take, Mariah woke up one morning with a curious thought on her mind, one that could only be from God- “build a home there.” In Ethiopia. 

A call to missions had bloomed in Mariah’s heart as a teen, and some years later a simple google search had led her and her best friend on a journey to Ethiopia to work in an orphanage in the village Harbu Chulu. It was a short 9 days of an “emotional roller coaster” ride. The poverty was heart wrenching, while God’s presence and light in the orphanage joy giving. Mariah knew she wanted to continue serving these orphans even after she stepped off the plane home, and God’s word to her that one morning after a night of prayer was the answer. Well, three cheers for supportive husbands! Derek jumped on board and together they started a brand new business that pours 100% of its earnings into the orphanage Mariah visited! 

Agape Co. sells a variety of quality leather bags and other accessories made in Ethiopia to help fund the expansion of HOPEthiopia. HOPEthiopia is not just an orphanage— they also work to conserve and reforest Ethiopian land, they’ve opened a trade center where they teach skills such as hand making goods, and they serve the whole community of Harbu Chulu with access to clean water at the well dug on their property. 

Tune in to learn the full story of Agape Co., and to hear how love can make us capable of anything! 

Social media has been a discouraging place as of late. What was a  place that would connect the human race, has now become a tool to tear  apart friendships and relationships. Yes, I understand that there are a  lot of opinions surrounding this political election in 2020, and my  goodness, how privileged we are to live in a place that we can express  those opinions, kinda, although censorship is on the rise. But friends,  my plea to you today, even in the heat of the political battle, is that  we not lose sight of this truth: that we ALL are still human deserving  of love, dignity, and respect, WHY? Because of the fundamental truth  that we are created in the image of God.

And even if the current leadership does not always exemplify kindness  and respect toward others (although one must always look at context, as  many things now a days are taken out of context), it does not give us  permission to treat others in the same manner.

A twenty minute cab ride followed by a forty five minute hike into Costa Rican wilderness finds you on the reservation of the Guaymi, an indigenous tribe who have faced great discrimination and hardship throughout history. Guaymi coffee pickers are paid half the wages of non-indigenous Costa Ricans, for example, and education opportunities for women and girls are rare. 

On remote islands situated on a large Rwandan lake, meager job opportunity resulting in an 80-90% unemployment rate wreaks poverty on villagers. Families are often left with a heart-rending choice- which one of their children to enroll in the feeding program. 

Stories like these leave us saddened and angry, but often unmoved to action because we just don’t know what we can do about it. The descriptions above belong to communities whom today’s guest, Rebecca Gardner, had the chance to visit (and now work with) herself. Burdened with “holy anger” by the disparities and utter poverty she witnessed, Rebecca founded a transformational program to help disadvantaged women around the world gain empowerment, employment and education. 

Hands Producing Hope is igniting sustainable change in communities where women largely have no work or cannot even read or write. Artisan training, literacy programs, maternal health centers, and caring relationships are all providing skill, knowledge, camaraderie and income that will see impact on these people groups for generations.

Rebecca, interviewed in this episode by Bought Beautifully founders Colin and Emily (be sure to check out episode 51 if you haven’t yet!), is here to tell you how you can get involved in real communities and real issues like these from your own home, through your own product choices. Also tune in for some encouragement towards cultivating your own unique and potentially life-changing ideas, which too often never make it past the brain or notebook they originate in. Rebecca says to “ignore the fear and start somewhere; ask for a lot of help and guidance…don’t let the bigness or scariness of the dream hold you back from starting that dream…the most dangerous thing is to just not do anything”! 

An unlikely opportunity has rolled in with 2020, one that many  parents may not have otherwise considered: homeschooling. Do chills run  up and down your spine at the word? Or, had you already committed to  educating your kiddos at home, pre-pandemic? Either way, and even if  you’re not a parent, listen on!

We welcome Leesa Waliszewski back on the podcast for this episode (go  check out episode 30 to hear some of her words of wisdom on  motherhood!) to discuss what being a life-long self-learner looks like,  and to glean some tips for those moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas who  may be forced to homeschool their children during this season. Leesa has  worked in the education system for decades, implementing a philosophy  that brings more life into learning (see resources). Here she sheds  light and positivity in sharing how now could be the perfect time to get  back in touch with your child’s education. Because ultimately, you are  the one person(s) present through every new teacher and grade level  change. Moms and dads, you can make a HUGE difference by taking this  chance to get more involved!

Sometimes, the curiosity and passion to discover knowledge is killed  in the place we’d least expect it— school. Stressing over good or bad  grades, pleasing mom and dad, test-taking, and info-cramming can really  take the spark out of learning. Kids (and adults!) need to be fed with  ideas, not just information. Tune in to learn how to step it up a notch  with something as simple as reading with your child and on your own  (books can change us, big time). This is the time of “becoming more  aware of what our kids’ minds are being fed on”…and stepping into the  learning journey with them. You may even end up learning a few things  from them!