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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Join us in celebrating and incredible milestone as the beloved

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Speaker 2: Jesus Calling brand reaches fifty million lives impacted. As we

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Speaker 2: honor the legacy of author Sarah Young, we reflect on

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Speaker 2: the stories from celebrities, pastors, authors, actors, singers, athletes, scholars,

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Speaker 2: and everyday people who have been inspired by her devotional writings.

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Speaker 2: To join in the celebration and to hear some of

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Speaker 2: the stories of people whose faith journeys have been impacted

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Speaker 2: by all the writings of Sarah Young, head over to

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Speaker 2: Jesus Calling dot com.

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Speaker 3: I've been really doing music on and off my whole

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Speaker 3: life and just being on a pretty amazing adventure with God.

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Speaker 3: You know, lots of highs, lots of lows, but just

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Speaker 3: seen Him in my life leading me that whole time.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. This week we'll hear

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Speaker 2: from Rebecca Saint James, a Grammy and Double Award winning

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Speaker 2: Contemporary Christian music artist. Family moved from Australia to the

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Speaker 2: US when Rebecca was a teen. They faced serious financial struggles,

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Speaker 2: the kind that forced them to rely completely on each

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Speaker 2: other and outside support for basic survival like food, transportation,

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Speaker 2: and medical bills. This intense period of making it work

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Speaker 2: became the bedrock of her career and as the focus

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Speaker 2: of the film Unsung Hero. Next, we meet Zuria Zachary,

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Speaker 2: an artist and worship leader with Bethel Music who experienced

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Speaker 2: a major pivot in her early twenties.

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Speaker 4: She shares how she shifted from the pursuit of a

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Speaker 4: traditional career to an unexpected music career. Her story explores

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Speaker 4: the struggle of unlearning, the need for perfection and performance,

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Speaker 4: and the profound freedom found in simply showing up as yourself.

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Speaker 4: Let's begin with Rebecca's story.

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Speaker 3: My name is Rebecca Saint James and I was born

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Speaker 3: Rebecca Jean Smallbone. I grew up in Australia. I'm in

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Speaker 3: a wonderful Christian family and so blessed to have that

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Speaker 3: heritage of faith, because it's not a ton of Christians

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Speaker 3: in a story. And to have grandparents that are believers

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Speaker 3: and have lived out their faith and parents that have

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Speaker 3: done the same is just amazing. My parents growing up

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Speaker 3: in Australia had always encouraged good relationships, talking things through creativity, collaboration,

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Speaker 3: like we would go on family road trips who were singing.

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Speaker 5: There was no.

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Speaker 3: Media to look at, or screens or anything we were

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Speaker 3: singing in the car to pass the time, or being creative,

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Speaker 3: and so there was that spirit of almost funneling boredom

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Speaker 3: into creativity, and I think that also encouraged this collaborative

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Speaker 3: creative vibe within the family that then extended into me

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Speaker 3: becoming a songwriter and singer and performer, because we also

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Speaker 3: had grown up going to shows our whole life. I

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Speaker 3: went to my first show in the Sydney Opera House

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Speaker 3: when I was six weeks old. The story of our

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Speaker 3: family coming to the US and then Dad losing this

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Speaker 3: job and us really living very hand to mouth for

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Speaker 3: a couple of years and really not having much of anything.

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Speaker 5: We had no car for a while, we had no income.

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Speaker 3: Seven kids in the family, or actually six when we

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Speaker 3: first moved, and my mom was pregnant with my little sister,

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Speaker 3: so lots of mouths to feed, in no way for

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Speaker 3: my sister to be born in a hospital, and my

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Speaker 3: mom had had.

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Speaker 5: Complications on the previous birth.

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Speaker 3: Was like a lot hanging in the balance and sleeping

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Speaker 3: on the floor in our house with no furniture and

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Speaker 3: not knowing sometimes where the next meal was going to

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Speaker 3: come from, and I was amazed that my parents really.

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Speaker 5: Handled that very much with faith.

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Speaker 3: And then in the US when I started in music,

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Speaker 3: probably within about a year, maybe a year and a half,

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Speaker 3: the whole family started going on the road and everyone

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Speaker 3: would have a job from lighting to a spotlight operator.

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Speaker 3: They really did encourage us to turn to God together

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Speaker 3: as a family, and in that time, God first and

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Speaker 3: then family were everything because we just needed Him in

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Speaker 3: a way that we had never needed.

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Speaker 5: Him so desperately or so obviously before.

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Speaker 3: And so we'd sit on the floor in out family house,

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Speaker 3: rental house and just pray about you know, pray for

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Speaker 3: a car, money, food, all the things, and we saw

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Speaker 3: it happen. We saw groceries dropped on outdoor step, and

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Speaker 3: somebody give us a car soon after meeting us, and

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Speaker 3: someone paying for my sister to be born in a hospital.

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Speaker 5: Lots of miracles.

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Speaker 3: And I think that story then coming to the life

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Speaker 3: on the screen in the movie Unsung Hero, I think

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Speaker 3: spoke to a lot of families because I've spoken to

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Speaker 3: a lot of people that saw the film and.

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Speaker 5: Cried through it, and it's very powerful.

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Speaker 3: It just was really beautiful to see how people were

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Speaker 3: encouraged through the film to turn to God in prayer,

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Speaker 3: and then also to cling together as a family and

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Speaker 3: to be vulnerable within the family. My parents were definitely

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Speaker 3: the kind that encouraged us to flourish in our own gifts.

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Speaker 3: I think that they were very attentive to kind of

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Speaker 3: specialized giftings within the family and encouraged us to be unique.

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Speaker 3: And I mean, I definitely remember my parents saying, your

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Speaker 3: kids can do anything when.

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Speaker 5: You grow up.

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Speaker 3: They were definitely encouraging us to thrive in what God

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Speaker 3: had naturally gifted us in, and for all of us

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Speaker 3: that seemed to be some version of creativity. I think

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Speaker 3: we also knew, having moved from the other side of

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Speaker 3: the world and then gone through this living by faith period,

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Speaker 3: when we got to being on the road, we really

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Speaker 3: did have to lean on each other, like there was

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Speaker 3: just you know, the friendships solidified in a new way.

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Speaker 3: There was an openness and a commitment to talking about

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Speaker 3: the hard things as they would come up. I remember

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Speaker 3: my parents being very available for just talking things through,

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Speaker 3: and that's something that I'm also trying to do with

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Speaker 3: our kids. You know that we're available and present, which

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Speaker 3: is more of a challenge I think in the culture

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Speaker 3: that we're living in today. There's just so much to distract,

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Speaker 3: so much to pull us away from presentness and relationships.

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Speaker 3: And it's very interesting now to watch my siblings who

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Speaker 3: are obviously all grown and they're doing something similar to.

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Speaker 5: What they grew up doing on the road.

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Speaker 3: And that was there like ten thousand hours or more

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Speaker 3: that they were putting in learning these different crops.

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Speaker 5: But it was very collaborative, very creative.

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Speaker 3: And now my husband and I, having three children, we're

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Speaker 3: doing very similar things. We bring them on the road,

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Speaker 3: we homeschool, it's very collaborative, it's very creative, and it's

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Speaker 3: just interesting now to see the next generation kind of

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Speaker 3: responding to that ideology. And now, you know, we've started

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Speaker 3: collaborating a little bit with our girls. We have three children,

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Speaker 3: two girls and a boy, and I just recorded a

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Speaker 3: song last year with them, this version of You Make

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Speaker 3: itp Withthing Beautiful, which is in the movie Unsung Hero,

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Speaker 3: and then my husband directed a video for It. Was

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Speaker 3: just so sweet to see our girls quite comfortable in

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Speaker 3: that environment. They've been around it so much, you know,

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Speaker 3: they've seen mom do a lot of this stuff, and

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Speaker 3: obviously it stretched them a little bit.

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Speaker 5: They're a little nervous, but they.

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Speaker 3: Really did strive as unique little people that have their

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Speaker 3: own relationship with God in you know, we're singing about him,

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Speaker 3: but just a confidence and a giftedness that was really

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Speaker 3: sweet is the mom for me to see. I also

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Speaker 3: think there's a sense of protection that I have for them.

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Speaker 3: I want them to have a full and flourishing childhood.

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Speaker 3: I don't want them to in any way be pushed

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Speaker 3: onto the stage or this to happen if that's God's

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Speaker 3: calling for them, even in a rushed way, because you've

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Speaker 3: got to know that. You know that, you know that

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Speaker 3: God is calling you into any kind of on stage

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Speaker 3: or visible public kind of work. Young there was something

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Speaker 3: so powerful about family period. And then when you see

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Speaker 3: families serving God together, I think it's such a loveliness

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Speaker 3: and purity and a beauty to it that I think

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Speaker 3: we've really wanted to offer to the Christian community and

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Speaker 3: to whoever would watch, because I think it sparks something

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Speaker 3: in your.

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Speaker 5: Heart when it comes to hope.

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Speaker 3: I think God's design for the family is so beautiful,

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Speaker 3: and I think when we can live that out privately

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Speaker 3: in our lives, but then also if God allows us

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Speaker 3: to live that out in the public space too. There's

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Speaker 3: an undeniable loveliness to it. There's a couple books, specifically

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Speaker 3: devotional books that have been key in my life and

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Speaker 3: have just kind of come kind of in and out

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Speaker 3: of my life like waves, you know, but it would

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Speaker 3: be my most for His highest in Jesus Calling. Those

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Speaker 3: are probably the two that I've kind of come back

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Speaker 3: to most in my life. I love devotional books. I

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Speaker 3: think there's something so great about the consistency and the

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Speaker 3: truth and the Bible that you're getting into your life

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Speaker 3: and into your heart. And I love that Jesus Calling

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Speaker 3: just centers us on this truly deep, prayerful relationship with Jesus.

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Speaker 3: It's very intimate, it's very real, it's very connected for

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Speaker 3: me pursuing God in all the variety of ways and

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Speaker 3: probably varying forms of all the disciplines, you know, from

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Speaker 3: reading the Bible or taking in His word through a

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Speaker 3: devotional book or prayer or Christian community church, silence, fasting, well,

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Speaker 3: you know, whatever the disciplines were that I was focusing

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Speaker 3: on at that time, these were things that were life

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Speaker 3: saving for me, you know, just in restoring and building

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Speaker 3: up who God had made me to be. Again, I'm

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Speaker 3: very thankful that I had these various practices that had

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Speaker 3: begun early on in my life that I could lean

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Speaker 3: on in those times, and that I've come back to

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Speaker 3: and that to varying degrees, are a part of my

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Speaker 3: daily life and daily life with my family now, and

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Speaker 3: I'm so thankful we have these ways of pursuing Jesus

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Speaker 3: that are such a comfort and give us such grounding

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Speaker 3: especially and challenging times in our lives.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about Rebecca Saint James than her latest music,

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Speaker 2: tour dates, and podcast, visit Rebecca st James dot com.

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Speaker 2: Stay tuned to Zaria Zachary's story after a brief message,

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Speaker 2: celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, and mom figures in your life

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Speaker 2: with the Jesus. Listens for Mom's Prayer devotional by beloved

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Speaker 2: author Sarah Young. Inside you'll find fifty prayers that speak

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Speaker 2: to the power of love, the gift of strength, trusting

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Speaker 2: God during challenging times, have encourage, and so much more.

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Speaker 2: Accompanying the prayers are beautiful illustrations, scripture, verses, and quotes

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Speaker 2: that will uplift women of every age and help them

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Speaker 2: talk and walk more closely with Jesus. Making it the

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Speaker 2: perfect gift for mother's days, birthday, and more. Find it

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Speaker 2: today at your favorite retailer. Our next guest is Zaia Zachary,

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Speaker 2: an artist, songwriter and worship leader with Bethel Music. In

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Speaker 2: her role as a song leader, Zaia has had to

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Speaker 2: learn how to dismantle the pressure of performance and self doubt,

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Speaker 2: realizing that performance is not required to earn God's presence.

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Speaker 6: My name is Zaria Zachary, and I am an artist,

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Speaker 6: songwriter and worship leader with Bethel Music. Bethel Music is

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Speaker 6: a record label that's based out of Bethel Church, and

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Speaker 6: we are just a group of people that long to

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Speaker 6: love Jesus and worship him and equip the church with

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Speaker 6: songs to be examples of what it looks like to

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Speaker 6: wholeheartedly follow Jesus. Music really really became on, almost like

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Speaker 6: the glue between me and Jesus by the time I

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Speaker 6: got to college. All throughout high school, I was in

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Speaker 6: everything musical you could think of. I was hanging out

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Speaker 6: with my orchestra friends, doing choir, singing in talent shows,

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Speaker 6: and I've just always loved it. But it wasn't until

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Speaker 6: college that I really had a deep encounter with the Lord.

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Speaker 6: By the time I was in nineteen and just where

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Speaker 6: the Lord was asking me, like he was like, Zaria,

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Speaker 6: I would love for you to do worship with your life.

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Speaker 1: I would love for this to be the thing that

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Speaker 1: you do. But he was like, I will bless you

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Speaker 1: being a lawyer as well, but I love you to

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Speaker 1: do this.

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Speaker 6: And I remember immediately calling my mom in the middle

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Speaker 6: of the college campus as I was walking to class

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Speaker 6: and just my mom being like, I thought you wanted

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Speaker 6: to be a lawyer. I'm not understanding how this switch

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Speaker 6: kind of overnight, but it was from that moment on

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Speaker 6: that I was like, I am going to give myself

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Speaker 6: to this. I had a worship past in college that

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Speaker 6: is still a dear friend of mine. I would literally

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Speaker 6: show up to his office every day and I'm like,

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Speaker 6: teach me everything that you know. Like it was a

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Speaker 6: persistent thing because I just wanted to learn more and more.

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Speaker 6: And I feel like with music that filtered into worship leading,

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Speaker 6: it filtered into learning more about piano and other instruments,

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Speaker 6: and so that's kind of where it really sunk in

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Speaker 6: for me, like, Wow, I really want to do this

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Speaker 6: with my life. I think something that I am currently

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Speaker 6: unlearning is my performance being the thing that makes God

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Speaker 6: stay and even that makes other people stay. I'm really

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Speaker 6: like unlearning that because it can tend to be this

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Speaker 6: driving force of if I do good enough at this,

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Speaker 6: if I can just be perfect at this, then God

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Speaker 6: will just stay and just the Lord revealing to me

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Speaker 6: like I love you because I love you, because I

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Speaker 6: love you. There is no earning this, And that's a

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Speaker 6: really hard thing for me to wrap my head around sometimes,

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Speaker 6: is the fact that the holiest being there will ever

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Speaker 6: be actually wants me and actually longs for closeness with me,

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Speaker 6: and realizing.

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Speaker 1: That that is the gift of salvation. It's a gift

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Speaker 1: that I can't earn. I just have to receive it.

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Speaker 6: The Lord coming in so graciously and being like it

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Speaker 6: was never up to you to like reach for my

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Speaker 6: presence or earn it, because I've already done it all.

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Speaker 6: I've had these moments throughout my life with God. Of

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Speaker 6: in the moment where I felt the most lost, he

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Speaker 6: actually reveals to me. It's almost like a highlight reel

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Speaker 6: of every place where I thought I was alone, every

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Speaker 6: place where I thought he wasn't was. He shows me

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Speaker 6: exactly where he was at and as the Lord has

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Speaker 6: done that over the past ten years. It's actually given

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Speaker 6: me strength to stay when it's hard, because he enables

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Speaker 6: me to remember. This song actually was one of the

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Speaker 6: first songs I wrote after being in a season of

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Speaker 6: being in a discipleship school.

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Speaker 1: I had unplugged for sixty five days. My phone was off.

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Speaker 6: It was just me with Jesus, and that it was

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Speaker 6: the most profound thing I've done to date. I remember

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Speaker 6: coming back from that, and this is one of the

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Speaker 6: first songs I wrote with some dear friends of mine.

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Speaker 6: And so really that's what stay is is, even in

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Speaker 6: the chorus when it says I'm waking to the knowing

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Speaker 6: that Ye're in every moment and that the gift of

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Speaker 6: his presence is actually what he longed to give me

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Speaker 6: when he died. Hm, it wasn't that he could just

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Speaker 6: stay here forever, but that he could be so close

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Speaker 6: to me.

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Speaker 1: And so stay really is this almost.

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Speaker 6: Like tug and pool of a thing of like as

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Speaker 6: a human, I am weak and I am feeble, and

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Speaker 6: I actually don't have the ability to stay on my own.

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Speaker 3: So I stay to the Do you you close the

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Speaker 3: space between us?

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Speaker 5: I am amazed?

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Speaker 1: Hell, what do you do?

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Speaker 3: You love without condition.

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Speaker 6: The only way I can have a hunger for Jesus

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Speaker 6: is because he gives it to me. I can't even

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Speaker 6: do that on my own necessarily, And so that is

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Speaker 6: really what stay is about, is I'm going to stay

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Speaker 6: with you, Lord, will you help me to stay as well?

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Speaker 6: It just is a deep song of surrender at the

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Speaker 6: end of the day. Sarah Young's pre devotional Janeruary nineteenth.

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Speaker 6: Jesus listens, peaceful Savior. May your peace protect my mind

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Speaker 6: and heart. Help me to rejoice in you, always remembering

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Speaker 6: that you are near as I spend time with you,

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Speaker 6: presenting my request to you with thanksgiving, You bless me

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Speaker 6: with peace that transcends all understanding. This is how you

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Speaker 6: guard my heart and mind. It's a collaborative you and

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Speaker 6: together effort. I'm grateful that I never face anything alone

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Speaker 6: because I belong to you. A loneness is just an illusion,

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Speaker 6: but it's a dangerous one that can lead to depression

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Speaker 6: or self pity. The devil and his underlings work hard

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Speaker 6: to cloud my awareness of your presence, so it's crucial

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Speaker 6: for me to recognize and resist their attacks. I can

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Speaker 6: fight back with your powerful word, which is living and

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Speaker 6: active reading it, pondering it, memorizing it, speaking it out loud.

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Speaker 6: Even when I'm feeling alone, I can talk freely with you,

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Speaker 6: trusting that you are with me always. I've discovered that

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Speaker 6: the longer I talk with you, the more aware of

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Speaker 6: your nearness ip com and this awareness of your presence

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Speaker 6: with me fills my heart and mind with your peace

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Speaker 6: in your beloved name, Jesus Amen.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about Ziia Zachary, visit Bethel Music dot com,

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Speaker 2: slash roster slash Zuria Zachary, and be sure to check

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Speaker 2: out her album Rediscovery where you listen to music. If

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Speaker 2: you'd like to hear more stories about God's presence woven

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Speaker 2: through everyday life, check out our interview with Darlene check

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Speaker 2: Next time on the Jesus Calling podcast, hear from the

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Speaker 2: First Lady of Tennessee, Maria Lee, about her life of

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Speaker 2: service and how she's learned the true impact often comes

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Speaker 2: from simply showing up and seeing others.

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Speaker 7: There's so many ways to serve and that it doesn't

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Speaker 7: have to be big, it can be little, doesn't have

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Speaker 7: to cost a lot to serve somebody. But I think

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Speaker 7: one of the greatest ways to serve somebody is really

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Speaker 7: just to be present with them, to show up and

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Speaker 7: let them know that you see them.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith

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Speaker 2: podcast on the Life Audio Network. Every week, we'll bring

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Speaker 2: you stories from people who share their journeys of faith

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Speaker 2: and how prayer and a relationship with God transformed their lives.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or

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Speaker 2: wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a review

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Speaker 2: so others can be inspired weekly by these stories areas

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Speaker 2: of faith. Finally, you can find encouragement resources and more

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Speaker 2: on the Jesus Calling website at Jesuscalling dot com