The Connected Mom

Becky Harling (00:02.146)
Okay, here we go. Welcome to the Connected Mom podcast where we have real conversations helping you to connect more deeply with God, more empathically with your fellow moms and more intentionally with your child. I'm Becky Harling, your host, and I have with me today my amazing co-host, Sarah Wildman. And today you get just us because we're just going to talk together about this topic. Hey, Sarah.

Sarah Wildman (00:27.214)
Thank you.

Sarah Wildman (00:32.258)
Hey, Becky, just us. We actually haven't done this season, so it'll be fun. We'll get to know each other a little bit better and talk about some stuff that you have upcoming. If you're a regular listener to the Connected Mom podcast, you probably know that Becky is an author and Becky, I've lost count of how many books you've written. Is it 14? 15?

Becky Harling (00:37.331)
Yeah!

Becky Harling (00:54.995)
Yes, I will turn in number 15 on December 1st, Lord willing, which is in just a couple of weeks.

Sarah Wildman (01:00.178)
So you have 14 grandchildren, so you're going to surpass your grandchildren in book. She just has more wisdom. Well, I thought, why do I remember 14? Is it because of the grandkids or the books? But that's awesome. Congratulations on another book. That's good. And I find, and Becky did not pay me to say this, I promise, but I find that Becky, your books help us.

Becky Harling (01:05.05)
It's true. It's true. That's a good insight.

Becky Harling (01:15.05)
Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Sarah Wildman (01:26.978)
focus on a concept in scripture and kind of think about it differently or pause. And it always is applicable to any season, but I think moms especially benefit from your book. So thanks for taking the time to write it. But today's book that we're going to be talking about is Tethered Trust. Is that right? And that comes out next year, 2024.

Becky Harling (01:39.778)
Hmm.

Becky Harling (01:49.918)
Yes, that is correct. It comes out in 2024. And the reason I went with the title Tethered Trust actually goes back to my husband, Steve. Steve is an adventurer and he has been dying for years to go skydiving. Now, I have no desire to do this, Sarah, but Steve is dying to go skydiving. Well,

Sarah Wildman (02:01.098)
Mm.

Sarah Wildman (02:09.6)
Oh.

Becky Harling (02:19.17)
captain and he said to Steve, well, I'll take you skydiving. And Steve was all excited until he found out that he has to be tethered to the air force captain when he jumps out of the plane. In other words, the air force is not going to risk just chucking a civilian out of a plane. So Steve was really upset about this. And I'm like,

I don't know. You know, Sarah, I have no desire to skydive, but if I did skydive, I would want to be tethered, right? I would want to be really strongly attached to the person that knows what they're doing, and I think that applies to God.

Sarah Wildman (02:52.222)
Yeah.

Sarah Wildman (03:00.686)
Hmm. Interesting. Okay. Well, that gives us a mental image of tethered. Cause I was, I, the first thought I had was from my, my old school days of tether ball, which I guess, right. Is it, it's tethered to the pole with a, with a rope. I'm just realizing that's why it's called that. So, okay. So that whole idea of, of sticking together, right. So, okay. Let's, let's frame it in mom mindset. As we get into this next year.

Becky Harling (03:06.511)
Yes!

Becky Harling (03:12.665)
OBF! I used to play that too!

Right.

Yes!

Sarah Wildman (03:30.766)
How has what you've written, how does it apply to moms who are trusting God with our kids in a world that's gone wonky? Wonky.

Becky Harling (03:40.526)
Yes, the world has gone wonky for sure. I mean, as you and I are recording this, there are two wars going on. There was a mass shooting in another state earlier. And we just are living in a world where it seems like evil is winning, and yet God invites us to trust him. And I think for those of us that are moms,

This is particularly challenging. And yet there's a verse in the book of Psalms, Psalm nine, 10, that says, those who put their trust in, uh, hang on, let me read it actually, so I don't mess it up. Those who know your name, trust in you for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you. And I was intrigued by that because you know, Sarah, when your parents named you and my parents named me when

both of us named our kids, we chose names that we liked, right? We didn't necessarily choose names that reflected our kids' character because we didn't know our kids yet, right? But God's names reflect his character. And so I went to Isaiah 9, 6, where it says, "'And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, "'Everlasting Father, Almighty God, and Prince of Peace.'" And I'm like...

Sarah Wildman (04:42.827)
Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (05:05.602)
Those four names can provide the foundation for what it really looks like to trust God.

Sarah Wildman (05:14.594)
Hmm. Yeah, I think about that verse a lot of times more around Christmas, right? But they're really not names that are stuck to the Christmas season. I mean, of course, they're beautiful descriptions of Jesus. So let's unpack those a little bit and how they teach us to trust God. The first one, I have a few ideas, but I'm interested in your thoughts about wonderful counselor. How does that teach us to trust God?

Becky Harling (05:20.416)
Yep.

Becky Harling (05:41.71)
Yeah, you know, trust is a wonky thing because is it a belief or is it a feeling, right? I can believe in my head and be completely chaotic in my soul, but trust really means to relax in who God is. And as Jesus is a wonderful counselor, man, is there ever a place in parenting where we don't need wisdom?

I mean, we've talked about this before. We need counselors in our parenting journey because so often as parents, we don't know what we're doing. And yet Jesus promises, prophet Isaiah calls him the wonderful counselor. And what that means is that Jesus provides us with unending wisdom and he bends down to listen. Now, if I'm going to go to a counselor, I want to go to a counselor who's wise and I want to go to a counselor.

who's going to hear my heart and empathize with me. I wanna go to a counselor who's really gonna listen to what I'm saying. I don't want somebody that's just gonna spout off truth. Jesus, as our wonderful counselor, bends down to listen. And I love that picture of him because I can't tell you how many times, Sarah, in my own parenting journey, I did not know what to do.

And so knowing that Jesus is the wonderful counselor, he's the one that has all wisdom. He knows my child better than I know my child. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows how I'm going to interact with my child. He knows the future from the past. And he can give me wisdom in that moment. And that allows me to rest in who he is.

Sarah Wildman (07:29.87)
I love that. The other thing that comes to mind as you're describing what a counselor is often those I know in the counseling profession would say, it's a journey together with your counselor often, right? Like it's not this overnight, you go talk and this counselor fixes your problems. Now, God has that ability. That's the kind of counselor I want for sure. But that thought of...

Becky Harling (07:43.818)
Yes.

Becky Harling (07:48.958)
Right, we would all love that.

Yes, yes.

Sarah Wildman (07:57.226)
journeying with someone, you know, counseling on the go. I just think perhaps we can take what we know about human counselors and apply it to God in that case too of him walking beside us when we're doing these tricky parenting situations where we don't know and maybe the answer doesn't come immediately or the wisdom, you know, is more of a journey and discovering. But I like that idea of somebody with you.

Becky Harling (08:12.49)
Yes.

Sarah Wildman (08:26.058)
in the journey, you know?

Becky Harling (08:26.45)
Yeah, yeah. You know, a couple of years ago, some of my adult kids were really wrestling with which school to put their kids in. And you know, that's always a big decision for us that are raising kids, right? And they kept praying about it and it was a long journey, but I kept reassuring them, hey, God is listening to you. He promises to give wisdom.

Sarah Wildman (08:40.162)
Yes.

Becky Harling (08:54.334)
He is going to give you wisdom in this decision. And you know what? Looking back, he has, because the kids are in a school that is just right for them. It might not be right for everybody, but it's just right for them. I think back on when we were raising our kids, I remember one morning, my son, JJ, actually who you know, Sarah.

He woke up and he was vomiting and I had a speaking engagement. So I was gone all day, Steve was with him. And when I got home, I asked how he was and Steve was like, well, you know, he kind of threw up all day long, which, you know, as a mom, that's the worst. But then something so strange happened, like around seven o'clock at night, he ate a bunch of pie. And I'm like, this is the weirdest virus, you know? And so I...

The next morning he came into our bedroom at 5 a.m., doubled over in pain and saying, mom, I am in so much pain. Now that morning happened to be a Sunday and my husband was a pastor at the time. And it always seems like the worst things happen on a Sunday morning when your husband's a pastor and you're raising kids. So I just remember asking the Lord like,

Sarah Wildman (09:59.158)
Oh.

Sarah Wildman (10:08.632)
Yes.

Becky Harling (10:14.41)
do I do? Do I take him to the doctor? Do I wait till Monday?" But I felt this strong impression from the Lord, take him to the doctor. I got to the doctor. The doctor said, Becky, get him to the hospital immediately. He has appendicitis. By the time they got him in surgery, the appendix had burst. But I was so thankful that the Lord gave me wisdom in that moment. And that's the kind of God we have, so we can trust him.

Sarah Wildman (10:27.98)
Oh no.

Sarah Wildman (10:42.371)
That's such a good story. Wow. Scary stuff. Very relatable too. Let's talk about the next one in Isaiah 9-6. Mighty God. What did you write in relation to Mighty God? What we learn.

Becky Harling (10:46.502)
Yeah. Yes.

Becky Harling (10:57.274)
Oh, you know, we need a mighty God, don't we? We need a God who can work miracles. I remember as a child being given a little necklace, I think I memorized some kind of scripture, you know, and was given this little necklace and it had a mustard seed in it. And Jesus says that if we have faith, like a mustard seed, we can move mountains.

Sarah Wildman (11:01.215)
And

Becky Harling (11:24.622)
I have mountains right out my back window because I live in Colorado Springs. I have Pike's Peak right out my back window. I think, okay, God is the mighty one who put the mountains in place, but he also promises to empower my faith.

Sarah Wildman (11:30.914)
Some of my favorite mountains, by the way, yes. They're lovely. Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (11:51.422)
And I think faith is important in this journey of trusting God because we don't walk by explanations. We walk by faith, right? So that means sometimes I'm not going to understand Almighty God because He's so much bigger than me. You know, I think about suffering in the world and I think this is a really hard one for those of us who are moms. We don't want our kids to suffer.

Sarah Wildman (12:02.55)
Right?

Becky Harling (12:20.958)
We're tempted to question God, like, God, you know, you are almighty God, you could step in and fix this. And we wish he would, and a lot of times he doesn't, you know, but we don't see how he's working that situation in our child's heart for good. And so the same God that is able to form Pike's Peak is also the same God who is mighty enough

Sarah Wildman (12:29.51)
Right.

Sarah Wildman (12:39.575)
Right.

Becky Harling (12:49.186)
to expand my faith to trust him when he doesn't make sense.

Sarah Wildman (12:55.102)
Mm-hmm. So good. So good. And I think one of the things I've been remembering when reading Bible stories to my kids lately is really focusing on the mightiness of God, right? Because I think kids are, you know, so many kids love superheroes and, you know, I don't know, big, big displays of entertainment. And it's like, I think...

Becky Harling (13:09.656)
Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (13:14.429)
Yes.

Sarah Wildman (13:20.682)
it's really important as a mom and it helps us remember too, as we're teaching our kids, you know, just the mightiness of God. And one of my favorite things to do is to read the boys some of Jesus' miracles, because it's just like so easy to grasp. Usually there's several things we can learn from them. And it's just the might and His just supernatural ability to go beyond the bounds of what we know. That's my favorite right now, you know.

Becky Harling (13:33.149)
Yes.

Becky Harling (13:45.47)
Yeah. And, and I think we need to return to those stories about Jesus. I, I want to say, I'm so glad you brought that up, Sarah, because when you find your faith or your trust slipping a little bit, you know, when you find doubt coming in a lot, don't panic, but go to the Gospels and remind yourself of the wonder of who Jesus is and his mighty power, you know.

Sarah Wildman (13:50.027)
Yeah.

Sarah Wildman (14:01.058)
Mm.

Sarah Wildman (14:04.172)
Yes.

Becky Harling (14:12.822)
He is the one who can make the blind see, he can make the lame walk, he can heal, you know, a little girl who has a demon. He can, you know, calm a storm at sea. And we need those reminders because our human hearts tend to go to doubt when God doesn't make sense.

Sarah Wildman (14:34.783)
So true, so true. Good counsel. Alright, so we've done Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Next is Everlasting Father. Such a good one.

Becky Harling (14:45.626)
And you know, I think a lot of people are confused by this one. You know, when my kids were little, uh, they used to sing father Abraham. Did you sing that song when you were little? I mean, I, and I don't really know what the point of the song was, you know, but it was a great song to get your kids wiggles out, right? Because you would swing your right arm and then your left arm and then your right foot and then your left foot. Yes.

Sarah Wildman (14:54.859)
Oh, of course.

Sarah Wildman (15:05.63)
Yes, totally.

Sarah Wildman (15:09.938)
Yeah, it was usually used when the sermon was going too long in children's church. So the pastor still go it and the poor children's workers are like, another round of Father Abraham, you know.

Becky Harling (15:20.174)
Yes, yes. And every kid out there loves it. But in Israel, they looked to Father Abraham. He was considered the father of the Israeli nation, right? Because Jesus had said to him, God had said to him, you know, through you all the nations on earth will be blessed, you know. And a father is seen as a protector and a provider.

Sarah Wildman (15:42.434)
Right.

Becky Harling (15:47.53)
Well, along comes Jesus, he's standing in the temple and he comes out with this bold statement, before Abraham was, I am. And I mean, the Pharisees went wiggy over this, right? Because it was like, he's saying he's God. Well, no kidding, he is God. He is everlasting. He knows the beginning from the end. He's the alpha and the omega. And where that...

Sarah Wildman (16:03.755)
Yeah.

Becky Harling (16:16.226)
comes down for you and I as moms is we don't know the whole story. We don't know where our kids are going to be in 20 years. We don't know where we're going to be in 20 years, but we can trust the everlasting Father who is going to protect and provide. Even if our kids walk away from God for a while, God is going to continue to pursue their hearts as the eternal protector.

When we feel like our finances are lacking, he's going to be the eternal provider. And that's why we can trust him.

Sarah Wildman (16:54.498)
I love that. And it also, I think, is so helpful to those who maybe don't have the best father figure here on earth, right? Like providing, right? Like that perfect father that even the best father on earth can't measure up, of course, but that all the things, I think it kind of can reset what we think about a father too when we think about his attributes.

Becky Harling (17:04.298)
Yeah, no kidding.

Becky Harling (17:14.518)
Yeah.

Becky Harling (17:22.386)
Yeah, totally. Because I think a lot of people in this day and age did not have fathers who were emotionally healthy, some were abusive. Many did not protect and provide. You know, I have a friend whose father walked out the door when they were one and a half years old. They never saw them again. I mean, that's hardly a protector or provider, but God is, Jesus is the everlasting father.

Sarah Wildman (17:44.13)
Right.

Becky Harling (17:48.79)
The prophet Isaiah calls him that. He's the everlasting father who protects and provides.

Sarah Wildman (17:49.166)
Hmm.

Sarah Wildman (17:56.738)
Love it. All right. Of the four, I shouldn't have a favorite, but I've always loved Prince of Peace. Maybe it's the alliteration. Prince of Peace. But what did you think about as you were writing and studying Prince of Peace?

Becky Harling (18:06.037)
Maybe. Yeah.

Becky Harling (18:13.226)
You know, we need peace desperately. And as I was studying this, I went back to several stories of Jesus as the Prince of Peace. You know, he's in the boat with the disciples, the waves are crashing over, the thunderstorms are raging, the boat, the disciples are wigging out, and Jesus is sound asleep, you know, and it's like...

Sarah Wildman (18:17.605)
Amen. Yeah. Amen.

Sarah Wildman (18:35.714)
Just sleeping.

Becky Harling (18:37.258)
Don't you care? You know, and Jesus stands up and you can almost feel him sigh, like you interrupted a good nap, you know, and he speaks and instantly the storm calms, you know, and he brings peace there. And then, you know, he, he encounters.

Sarah Wildman (18:49.542)
Peace be still.

Becky Harling (18:56.97)
the demoniac when he goes across the shore and nobody wants to be around the demoniac. He's like got chains. He's living in a graveyard. You know, he's the kind of person that you would keep your kids away from. But Jesus casts out the demon and all of a sudden the demoniac is completely peaceful. And I think it's a good reminder for us. We live in a

promised that things are going to be stable, we're not promised that things are always going to be peaceful, but the Prince of Peace can calm our chaos because he's with us always. Like you said before, Sarah, he is with you in the night when you're rocking that baby who is crying because they have a fever. He's with you when you're sending your firstborn off to college and you don't know what's ahead. He's with you.

Sarah Wildman (19:40.362)
Right.

Becky Harling (19:56.518)
when the storms are raging and perhaps your spouse has been laid off from a job, he is present in that and able to give you a peace that passes all understanding.

Sarah Wildman (20:10.258)
Amen. Yeah, I think it took me a while to realize that peace is often in my soul, you know, that is most... Because like you're saying, I mean, we have a war going on in the Middle East and that poor region. I mean, there's little peace ever, right? It's just a constant turmoil and conflict. But that peace that when life circumstances aren't ideal, we still feel it.

Becky Harling (20:20.383)
Yeah.

Becky Harling (20:28.67)
Yes.

Sarah Wildman (20:39.186)
It's wild. I think I've experienced God's peace in some of the worst times of my life, and it is unlike anything I've ever realized, you know? And it's also obvious to other people. I wasn't a mom at the time, these two situations I'm thinking about, but I remember others being comforted by the peace God had given me, right? So it was almost a contagious thing to have his peace, because it was so real and not me.

Becky Harling (20:49.663)
Yeah.

Becky Harling (21:01.408)
Right.

Becky Harling (21:08.498)
Yeah, and we have access to that kind of peace when everything is, you know, when all hell is breaking loose around us. We have access to the Prince of Peace who promises that he will give us peace.

Sarah Wildman (21:17.462)
Yeah.

Sarah Wildman (21:23.33)
Yes, amen. So let's pivot away from the verse, or maybe there's more there that you wanna answer with this, but with fear, you mentioned, you know, yeah, just open a news browser or something on your phone and you're gonna see so many headlines that are just not helpful, not helpful. In fact, the other day, Becky, you know, here we give.

Becky Harling (21:46.289)
Yes.

Sarah Wildman (21:50.682)
ideas and I'm listening to great Christian authors and teachers. And I realized that I was listening to like a 10-minute, it was like a news podcast in the morning, and probably done it a month or so. And then all of a sudden I'm like, this is not serving me. Like, I'm starting my day and I know that like turn off the TV and it's not TV. I was just like, well, I just want to know what's going on in the world. And let me tell you, that was not real helpful. And in fact, I think it really was.

Becky Harling (22:00.149)
Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (22:06.454)
Yeah.

Sarah Wildman (22:19.294)
encouraging me to choose fear. So that's what I want to pivot to is, is the fear part is fear. I, I'm going to put you on the spot. Is fear the opposite of trust or how does fear relate with trust and your thinking?

Becky Harling (22:23.614)
Yeah.

Becky Harling (22:34.13)
You know, I think fear is a natural response. And there are times where God uses it for good. You know, if I'm out walking at night and I start being approached by somebody, I'm going to feel fear and that's going to prompt me to run, right? Or if I am out and a wild animal comes towards me, I'm thinking of this right now because my husband's in Africa as we're recording this.

Sarah Wildman (22:49.79)
Right.

Sarah Wildman (23:01.166)
Oh boy, the real possibility! Okay, oh gosh.

Becky Harling (23:02.822)
And I, right, right. But I mean, so fear is a natural response. I don't believe fear is sin. However, Jesus tries to be reassuring to us. He is reassuring to us in that he says, don't be afraid. And he's not scolding us with those lines. He's saying, don't be afraid because I'm here with you. So fear is our natural human response.

Sarah Wildman (23:12.886)
Hmm...

Sarah Wildman (23:28.579)
Mm.

Becky Harling (23:32.118)
But we can choose to not let that have the loudest voice in our life because we can remind ourselves God is good, He is for me, He is with me, His love will never fail, and I can choose to relax in who He is even if I can't relax in this situation.

Sarah Wildman (23:58.199)
Mm. That's good. Okay. I think you write about a trust bank. What is that all about? Investing in a trust bank. I'm curious.

Becky Harling (24:06.206)
Well, you know, I think we can't just expect to wake up in the morning and have this infinite trust in God forever because life is hard, right? I mean, cancer is there, you know, bills have to be paid. You're going to have disappointments. You're going to have sorrows and you can't just wake up and think, well, I trusted

Sarah Wildman (24:20.352)
Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (24:33.298)
you know, Jesus one day and now that trust is here forever. It is there forever in that your relationship with him is secure. However, you need to keep investing in your trust in him. And we do that by number one, reading our Bible. And I can feel some of you groaning like, oh my word, Becky.

Sarah Wildman (24:53.94)
Ha ha!

Becky Harling (24:55.534)
I have all these children, how am I going to read my Bible? Listen, just start by reading a couple of verses in the morning and then leave your Bible out on the counter and go back to it throughout the day. But the Bible is our source of who God is. And so if you want to trust Him, you've got to keep investing in your own soul to build that trust bank, you know? And so you got to gather with other people. This book is a really short book.

Tethered Trust, and it's part of the Girlfriend Gathering series. And the reason I did that is because our faith grows when we are with friends and we are processing our faith together. So gather with some friends and put the effort into investing in your trust bank. You know, do this book together as friends, pray for each other. We are in the journey together.

Sarah Wildman (25:44.821)
Mm.

Becky Harling (25:51.186)
And so we need to invest in our spiritual walks. We need to invest in that trust bank by reading scripture, gathering with friends, going to church, worshiping together. Those are not spiritual disciplines per se. They're wonderful practices to help you keep your trust buoyant and alive in a time in history where there's a lot going on around us.

Sarah Wildman (25:51.735)
Mm.

Sarah Wildman (26:16.818)
So true. So true. I've recently met a friend that is a new Christian, very new, and so she's realizing how important those relationships with Christian friends are. And it was the sweetest thing. She came to me the other day and just said, would you be my friend? Because I just don't have anyone that knows Jesus. And I don't think I've ever been asked that, to be honest, but

Becky Harling (26:24.783)
Mm-hmm.

Becky Harling (26:37.126)
No.

Sarah Wildman (26:41.538)
but thinking about some of us have a rich bank of people, right? And some of us have to be brave like this friend and go, hey, I need some people in my life, you know? And I thought even now as I say that, I'm like, wow, what a brave thing to say. Becky, I know you have a treasure trove of great relationships too, especially in your author circle of women that probably have reminded...

Becky Harling (26:46.737)
Great.

Becky Harling (26:50.306)
I need a friend! Yeah!

Sarah Wildman (27:07.502)
you about what trust looks like? Do you have any examples or stories with friends or maybe in your family about how truth looks, trust looks?

Becky Harling (27:13.346)
Absolutely. You know, I have a friend who we started praying together when our kids were little, little. Like I think her daughters were two and four and mine were three and five or right around there. And we would pray for each other's kids and for each other because there was so much fear in parenting back then too.

And, and you know, now it's like 30 years later and we are still good friends. I, she's been on this podcast, my friend Judy, and we have prayed for each other's spout, kids, spouses, friends. Uh, now we pray for each other's grandkids. So when either of us feel like our trust is on shaky ground or we're just feeling kind of like pummeled.

Sarah Wildman (27:49.446)
Oh cool. Yes! I'm so sorry.

Sarah Wildman (28:06.593)
Hmm.

Becky Harling (28:10.25)
You know, we'll text each other early in the morning and say, Hey, are you up? Are you, can we pray together? You know, half the year, my friend Judy lives in Arizona. So sometimes we're on our knees. I'm here in Colorado. She's in Arizona. And sometimes we're on our knees at like 5 30 or six in the morning, just supporting each other in prayer. But the richness of that friendship is that we both are able to encourage each other to trust God more because we understand each other.

Sarah Wildman (28:27.327)
Hmm.

Sarah Wildman (28:37.806)
Mm-hmm. That's awesome. Those are awesome friends to have. Any closing thoughts? What's your hope? This is your second book with Girlfriend Gathering, right? So you had Rooted Joy, which we talked about last year, and so you can grab that one now. But when does Tethered Trust come out, and what is your prayer for that book when it does?

Becky Harling (28:50.802)
Yeah. Yep.

Becky Harling (29:02.67)
May 2024, and my prayer is that girlfriends will begin to gather and do either a girlfriend retreat together and really dive into this verse. This verse is not just for Christmas. It's for all year long, you know? We do look at it during the holidays and that's wonderful, but really diving in deeper and having good conversations together.

Sarah Wildman (29:05.079)
Okay.

Sarah Wildman (29:20.436)
Yes.

Becky Harling (29:29.33)
about what it means to trust God. There's also fun stuff in the book like girlfriend activities to help you, you know, process whatever we've talked about in that session. It's a very short book. It's not an intimidating book. So if you gather with your friends, my hope and prayer for you is that you will dive deeper into trusting who Jesus says he is, you know, and it's possible.

that you've been listening to the Connected Mom podcast, but you really are unfamiliar with Jesus. Maybe you tuned in because you really want to be a connected mom, and that's great. I encourage you to start by reading the gospel of Mark and just take a look at who Jesus is and what he says about himself. Then you can decide, okay, was he just a good teacher?

Is he really a historical figure? He is a historical figure, but is he who he says he is? Because he says about himself before Abraham was, I am. In other words, he is God. And your life will change as you get to know him. So that's my prayer and hope and dream for this study, that you will get to know Jesus more deeply so that you can really rely on him more completely.

Sarah Wildman (30:29.227)
Mmm.

Sarah Wildman (30:34.24)
Mm.

Sarah Wildman (30:50.69)
Well, I'm sold. I'm so excited for your launch next May's really far away, but I love that you've given such a good preview of this. There's, and there's more there. So I'm excited to read about it. So, well, Becky, thanks for writing this book. Thanks for thinking of moms when you wrote it. I know it applies to girlfriends of any season, but I think trust is a. Unending journey with.

Becky Harling (30:58.58)
Hahaha!

Becky Harling (31:10.988)
Yeah.

Sarah Wildman (31:16.382)
with Jesus and learning to trust Him with our kids and their futures and all of that. So relevant to our times. Do you want to close us in prayer as we think about the moms listening today?

Becky Harling (31:27.998)
Yeah, for sure. And you know, even though the, the release date is pretty far out, you can pre-order the book and that way it'll come when it comes out. So let's pray. Look, Lord Jesus, we love you and we want to trust you more. You know, our human weaknesses, where chaos comes and fear, and especially when our kids are hurting, Lord, those are the hardest places for us to trust.

Sarah Wildman (31:34.368)
Oh good.

Sarah Wildman (31:38.357)
Awesome.

Becky Harling (31:56.618)
but you are for us, you are not against us, and you invite us to trust you as the wonderful counselor, as the almighty God, as the everlasting father, and as the Prince of Peace. And so take us deeper in what that means. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey friends, thanks for joining us for this short conversation today. We hope you're gonna join us again next week where we'll have another conversation.

Sarah Wildman (32:14.849)
Amen.

Becky Harling (32:24.202)
that hopefully will help you to connect with God more deeply, with your fellow moms more empathically and with your child more intentionally. We'll catch you next week for another episode of the Connected Mom Podcast. Goodbye for now.

Sarah Wildman (32:41.219)
Bye.