IT'S BEEN A CRAZY YEAR!

Hey guys, welcome back for another J&J Q&A We appreciate some of the questions you have sent in and so get a little life update and Answer a few things about how your years been and you've had a lot going on. Yeah, it's been a crazy busy year Just starting out with the book in January That was just such a whirlwind the time I feel like it just kind of flew by this year Has been so crazy, but also so amazing How has that book as you I mean you look forward to that book for years kind of thinking and preparing and then now you've written It's about 11 or 10 months ago that you released it. How is that changed your life? man, I Think just for me. It was really sweet being able to process a lot of things even as I was researching and Thinking about what stories I'd want to tell all of that it was such a helpful process for me and I think though probably the most encouraging thing has just been hearing all the stories of those who've been helped by it Yeah, and knowing that it was so worth it even though it was a crazy season of the writing process and everything it was So worth all of that Would you recommend people writing out their story to process I mean, I think it's great I love to journal almost every day and if whenever you put something in written form it gives you the space to like Process as you're writing and so daily journals or just writing out What you've walked through can be a helpful way to process stuff. Yeah helps objectify it in your mind, right? Yeah Speaking of stories that you shared in the book you tell at the start of the book Pretty wild story about where the book got its title becoming free indeed. You want to tell that story? Yeah, are you talking about the the t-shirt the t-shirt? Oh, yeah. Well, I had Met a leader that had like given me Some feedback on like all the critics and everything and like a Christian leader yeah, a Christian leader was talking to me about like the critics in our lives who's Duggars and all and and we started talking and Anyhow by the end of that conversation, I told him about free ginger and all of this stuff What was free ginger free ginger is a group that they wanted me to be free from the life that I was living Inside the home with my family and it was interesting because they They really had such a loud voice to a lot of people a lot of people had this narrative going for me as a young teen Saying we want ginger to be freed from All these things that are binding her. And so this leader said well ginger is free already. So Then he like sent me some t-shirts that said Gin wait ginger is free indeed. Yeah, and they were like one of them was like a red with neon color Like 14 years old yeah, I was young I can't remember maybe 14 16 And so then you had this I mean, how did the book title becoming free indeed? Yeah, I thought that it would be so interesting to include the free ginger idea in the book but becoming free indeed is it was the perfect way to tell my story because walking out of such legalistic teachings and finding freedom in Christ that I wanted I wanted the reader to be able to like Step into my life and hear how God has brought me So we just celebrated our little heavy Joe's third birthday, yeah and talk about this year you you Been busy, but we've got two little girls that are growing fast. How has this year with motherhood and all the busyness? Been good. Yeah, I love this season of life. I feel like It's been so sweet. There are seasons where it's more difficult for me. I feel like the newborn stage They're so stinking cute when they sleep all the time. I love that but it is more challenging I feel like in those times where I was nursing a lot and just trying to like you're just trying to survive and try to get a shower and when you can and You're such a great support like you've been such an amazing support throughout all of the process But there's some things that only mom can do and I think that At this stage with a three-year-old and a five-year-old. It's really sweet School and loving it and then Evie Joe has like so much time with mom, which is sweet to have that as well So she's growing in her independence. She's she is So she can play by herself for an hour. She can still yeah, she can she'll still try to be like such a baby Which is so cute. I kind of never want her to like grow out of that stage. She's such a cuddle bug Yeah She's just like Felicity and Evie have both done the same thing where they get to a certain age Maybe around two and a half three and they like to pretend to be a baby Yeah, so Evie, you know isn't even speaking, you know some full sentences, but she likes to pretend to cry Other make her her Peter Panda be a little baby. Yeah, she's obsessed with yeah She is but what's crazy is you were obsessed with I was and I didn't even think about that Like we had we picked up a panda Jarrett. I think you got it for the kids at IKEA This big panda and Evie has just latched on to that thing and we have since added I don't know how many pandas we have around here. Maybe Yeah, and it's great because one time we lost all three of her pandas and I was like How did we do this one's as big as Evie and we lost it. So yeah, she's she's obsessed with him I was as well. I had a little What's the hardest part I think I think patients just in the day in and day out whenever They're tired and cranky or if you need to come back home for something because they need to nap Like you can't stay out all day some of that can be hard with a Toddler and Felicity's kind of she's beyond maps now She just has a lot of energy and so it's sweet, but we just have to like have things lined out to keep them entertained Lots of crafts. We're trying to cut back on screen time Except for like on the weekends and stuff, but it's yeah, I think it's it's sweet it's such a sweet season and then it's also very busy and Kind of like I don't know it's it's a little bit chaotic at times whenever you're in the school season There's just so much going on So, how would you encourage? Well, I guess I should we got a lot of questions about like Yeah parenting and this stage and age with the kids, but what would you say is one of the most encouraging parts of this stage? Yeah, I think just I think just seeing how How quickly the girls are growing and then also just What questions are asking now the depth of the questions that was the ask are super sweet. So she Is constantly running around the house singing songs about Jesus and asking a lot of really deep questions So it's it's been really sweet to see that and she has such a sensitive heart. She really wants to like Invest in others and that's been really sweet You do but It's been really sweet in this season. And I think like for me personally it is harder to like Slip away and have time alone like even the word or whatever. Yes. How do you do that? How are you finding those buckets? Yeah, it it just you have to make it a priority and so for me It's not like every single morning you wake up before the kids and have this perfect devotion most of the time I'm waking up with Eddie because she is an early riser and just trying to come down read for a few minutes, even if it's just a Couple verses or a page of the devotional I have a couple really good devotionals that like a friend gave me and those have been awesome because they have such rich theology in them, but it just is like so comforting for your soul and reminds you of Even the why behind the daily mundane stuff that we're doing that it all matters for eternity. What devotional? There are a couple of them. So Ruth Charles Simmons. She has a lot She has like multiple devotionals that she has and then the other one is I think it's called new morning mercies. I can't I'm the worst at remembering names but it is yeah, it's not on this bookshelf, but Bruce such a Ruth Charles Simmons ones are But yeah new morning mercies. It's super good. It's by One of the trip brothers, which that's why I always get confused or David one of them Yeah, I've read through At least half of it it's like a year long journal and I've also shared it with a lot of my mom friends because it's Just such an amazing devotional that will give you like it also gives you scripture that you can read for that day You just want to like a passage Yeah, you need something I mean with when life gets busy and you have little little ones who are demanding our attention sometimes it's easy to have something that is Really deep and profound gets you into scripture, but isn't like this, you know to our inductive study Yeah, I think things changed after after you had little ones or if you're up in the middle of the night It's just you can try to have this perfect picturesque quiet time But it's just not gonna happen most of the time if you don't have more flexibility and so that's something you we've talked a lot about like the guilt of Feeling like you're not giving the time that you want to or reading your word or reading the Bible or praying But but life gets busy especially as a mom and with little kids How have you kind of worked through that? Yeah, I think it's more giving grace To myself in that season and also just I want to have my heart focused on the Lord So sometimes that's if I'm you know in the rush of things and I feel so stressed It can be just turning on Christian music that sets my mind back on the Lord or listening to a good podcast Something like that, that's helpful Top podcast. I love Ali best And other podcasts, I mean we love to listen to criminal to together That that's the total opposite there's so much anxiety and stress like freak you out a little bit at night the Phoebe judge We on our road trips criminal. That's a good I'll never forget the the time we were going up to the mountain in Big Bear Remember it was and there was an episode about the mountain men who kidnap a young woman bad We had our friend with us and she was coming to babysit the kids or the kid Yeah, we didn't have any we had Felicity and she was kind of help us watch her So we brought this babysitter up and we're listening to an episode from criminal about mountain men and we were all like freaked out Jeremy I was loving it. He was about a place. We were staying was like a really Old dark so dark. There was like an abandoned. It was a hotel I guess in the mouth Yeah, but kind of like a lot. Yeah, and there were abandoned rooms. Yeah with the door handles off It was all dark in there So we walk into this setting that was like out of the criminal episode we were listening to that night. It was freaky That was awesome. Yeah, I don't think I listened to criminal for a while after that. I could I just couldn't sleep. Yeah So somebody asked about Christmas what brings you the most joy about Christmas season you're obsessed with Christmas I'm a little obsessed this year. I started maybe a little too early, but I love Christmas because of course it it focuses on Christ's birth and I love it too because of like you also have the festive decorations and all of that Just the Christmas cheer in LA. It feels so weird to be celebrating Christmas So you almost have to make up this Feeling of being in a winter wonderland when you're just really not and so I decorated the house early because we're traveling for Christmas and I thought this is important for the girls to be able to experience Christmas with our decorations here and then go to grandma and grandpa's house and Now you guys can just hear me out on this one I started listening to Christmas music even before we put up our decorations because I wanted the girls to know all the classics Ebby is three and she had not learned any Christmas songs, or if she heard him last year She wouldn't remember so I let him start listening. I don't know what month it was. Maybe it was early of November It was I started playing Christmas music free Thanksgiving for sure. It was about the beginning But now She sings almost all of the classic Christmas songs and we are at the beginning of December, right it worked out We're full in it. I love it. Yeah, and it's still bright and sunny outside. Yeah, it's very still very warm Any Christmas traditions that we're gonna begin or that you enjoy that we've already had We haven't had too many Christmas traditions just with us Jer's family like y'all have Christmas traditions my family we had Christmas traditions, but we haven't like Figure it out too many for just our family part of that is because when you spend Christmas with your family You know your mom and dad then it's harder to keep up with those traditions So yeah, but we started the little Shepherd on a search No You didn't know it was like elf on the shelf Shepherd on a shelf well Basically you can call it that so it's the same idea He's on a search for Jesus. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what he's on a search for so I just hit it in a new place It's morning. Let's see. He's not gonna find it for a while. That's all she's good at finding them. She's very good I hit it the other day and she found it within seconds. Oh, yeah, then she's like terrible She has that little attitude where she's like dad. I found it already. It's right there. I'm like, oh I'll make it harder You won't find it Yeah, that's fun, okay last question and What has God taught you the most I think that I can't rely on myself to Get everything done to perform to like be the best mom because just when you think you are It's like you'll you'll fall flat on your face again, you know, and so just trying to Honor God and everything that I do ask God for grace and help with in parenting and just my own everyday life and I think I want to focus more on thankfulness too because I feel like that's something that I so easily just Coast into the comfort of everyday life and then realize like oh man, I am Not even saying thank you God for all of that he's given us and just even for salvation like those things that we Value the most we often just forget to say thank you for it. So that's good Thanks for hanging out guys. If you want to like and subscribe and We'll be doing these more often. So this is so fun. Thanks for sitting in all those questions Yeah