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Speaker 1: Life audio.

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Speaker 2: Hey, they're head their creakmar here. Serious question for you today.

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Speaker 2: Have you ever kind of wished you weren't a woman?

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Speaker 2: Have you ever thought, man, it would be so much

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Speaker 2: easier if I wasn't born female, Or life would be

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Speaker 2: better if I wasn't a woman. These are things that

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Speaker 2: maybe stir around in our hearts and heads. Maybe we

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Speaker 2: say I'm out loud, maybe we don't. But today my

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Speaker 2: guest is Jhen Oshman. She is a women's director at

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Speaker 2: her church where her husband's a pastor. But she's written

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Speaker 2: several books. Oh. I had her on the show years

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Speaker 2: ago to talk about one of them, called Enough About Me.

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Speaker 2: And today we're going to have a serious conversation about

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Speaker 2: why we have that struggle, Why do we feel inherent

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Speaker 2: shame for being born female? And what does scripture say?

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Speaker 2: I mean, surely the Bible has some good news for

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Speaker 2: us on that front. And it does, and it goes

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Speaker 2: deeper than maybe just the cliches you've heard or the

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Speaker 2: sound bites you've heard about why it's good to be

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Speaker 2: a woman. Today, we're going to go deep, so I'm

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Speaker 2: glad you're here for it. We've got to set this

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Speaker 2: foundation that it's Okay that God made us female and

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Speaker 2: we don't have to be ashamed of that or our bodies.

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Speaker 2: And listen, Fron, if you're struggling, you don't have to

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Speaker 2: us on our forty day journey that just began last week. Okay,

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Speaker 2: struggle alone. You can learn more at improvebody image dot com.

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Speaker 2: Now let's get to finish. Jenn Ashman, welcome back to

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Speaker 2: the Compared to his show, it's been.

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Speaker 3: A little while, it's been a while. Thank you so much,

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Speaker 3: so I'm excited to be back with you today.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm excited to have you join me for this

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Speaker 2: conversation that I think is going to touch a nerd,

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Speaker 2: a place for a lot of women that maybe they

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Speaker 2: didn't even recognize needed to be touched. Yeah, and the

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Speaker 2: topic is is it even good that I was born

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Speaker 2: a woman? You know, I think women with body of

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Speaker 2: MAAG issues especially, there's so much shame around the body

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Speaker 2: in general that sometimes that can spill over into like, man,

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Speaker 2: it would just be better if I'd been.

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Speaker 1: Born a man.

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Speaker 2: You know, I hate all of this woman's stuff.

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Speaker 1: I hate the pressure.

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Speaker 2: I hate, you know, the feeling of like having to

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Speaker 2: compete as a woman in this world, all of those

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Speaker 2: things that swirl around what it means to be a woman,

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Speaker 2: especially here in the West. And you've been studying this,

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Speaker 2: I know, and so I thought you'd be the perfect

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Speaker 2: person for a conversation. Just tell us, Jen, like, is

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Speaker 2: it good to be a woman? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: It is a fair question, and you're right. It's something

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Speaker 3: I think about all the time for a number of reasons. One,

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Speaker 3: I have four daughters who are now eighteen and older,

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Speaker 3: and we raise them all over the world. So we

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Speaker 3: were missionaries in multiple different countries, and so I kept

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Speaker 3: coming up against this idea of what does it mean

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Speaker 3: to be a woman in this culture or in this culture?

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Speaker 3: How are women treated in the church over here.

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Speaker 1: Or over here?

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Speaker 3: Of course, everywhere we go when we have four girls

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Speaker 3: in tow people make comments and I know that they

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Speaker 3: mean well, I know that it's small talk. I know

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Speaker 3: they mean to be funny. But the reality is the

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Speaker 3: root of their comments is a sinister belief that I

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Speaker 3: think we've ingested as a people.

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Speaker 1: And I would argue globally.

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Speaker 3: I mean, for sure, body image is an issue, especially

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Speaker 3: in the West, but when we leave the West, we

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Speaker 3: actually confront this whole global idea that girls are less desirable.

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Speaker 3: In fact, a female genocide, You're infanticide is not a history.

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Speaker 3: You know, there's sex selective abortion remains prominent throughout the

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Speaker 3: world and is not something that's protected everywhere in the

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Speaker 3: United States. So this is it's a heavy topic. And so,

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Speaker 3: like I said, when we leave the house with four girls,

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Speaker 3: you know, we get funny comments, and my girls and

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Speaker 3: I have actually come up with a number of very

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Speaker 3: sort of pithy, kind but firm responses to stop people

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Speaker 3: in their tracks. But the truth is, it can be

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Speaker 3: dangerous to be a girl. It can be very vulnerable

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Speaker 3: to be a woman, and there are lots of good

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Speaker 3: reasons that some women wonder if it wouldn't be better

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Speaker 3: to be a man.

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Speaker 2: Right right, Well, you know, I didn't know we were going

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Speaker 2: to go here necessarily, But just as as you're sharing that,

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Speaker 2: I'm thinking back to my twenties. I was single until

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Speaker 2: I was in my early thirties, and all those years

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Speaker 2: I spent as a young professional traveling alone, going to

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Speaker 2: my car at night alone, you know, all of those things,

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Speaker 2: and remembering feeling like resentment that I had to be scared.

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Speaker 2: If I was a man, I wouldn't have to worry

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Speaker 2: about it. If I was a man, you know, I could,

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Speaker 2: you know, I'd have more freedom those sorts of things.

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Speaker 2: And so, yeah, it is an interesting maybe setup that

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Speaker 2: we have.

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Speaker 1: For shame. Yeah right, I mean, is that what you

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Speaker 1: call it? I think so that's definitely part of it.

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Speaker 3: You know, the reality is that in general, women are

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Speaker 3: going to be physically weaker and physically more vulnerable.

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Speaker 1: The reality is also.

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Speaker 3: In most countries and in the US, there's going to

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Speaker 3: be an increased vulnerability when it comes to things like

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Speaker 3: pay and benefit and making space for our biological functions

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Speaker 3: of being pregnant and our monthly menstruation and going through menopause.

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Speaker 3: I mean, all of these burdens that are unique to

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Speaker 3: being female. And the reality is our culture and our practices,

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Speaker 3: the workplace, compensation, promotion, these things are really set up

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Speaker 3: around a sort of normal male biology and make it

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Speaker 3: hard to be female in these places. And so you're right,

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Speaker 3: I still think about my safety when I walk around,

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Speaker 3: you know, when I'm anywhere, I travel alone all the time.

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Speaker 3: I have trained my girls very specifically to have their

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Speaker 3: shoulders back and their heads up and to look people

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Speaker 3: in the eye and to not you know. So I think, yeah,

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Speaker 3: shame is part of it. I think part of it

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Speaker 3: is our lived experience being fearful or being abused. One

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Speaker 3: in three women is abused. All of us know at

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Speaker 3: least one or moultiple women who've been abused.

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Speaker 1: So it's shame.

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Speaker 3: I think it's fear. It's just the lived reality that

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Speaker 3: it's harder to do a lot of things in the world,

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Speaker 3: even in the church, even in our amongst our friends

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Speaker 3: and family as a female. And so the question is

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Speaker 3: what do we do with that?

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Speaker 1: You know? Right, what's the good news?

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Speaker 2: Jen? I mean, you know, the scripture has something to

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Speaker 2: say to us.

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Speaker 1: What's the encouragement here? Yeah, it's true.

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Speaker 3: It can feel heavy, and I you know, I wrote

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Speaker 3: a children's book a few years ago called It's Good

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Speaker 3: to Be a Girl. And so there have been endless jokes,

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Speaker 3: of course amongst my own daughters and friends and family,

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Speaker 3: who will say things like, oh, it's good to be

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Speaker 3: a girl, right.

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Speaker 1: You know, or like what about when it's not good

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Speaker 1: to be.

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Speaker 3: A girl, and so as someone who loves God and

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Speaker 3: loves his word and loves his people, I do want

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Speaker 3: to know what is the good news? Like why do

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Speaker 3: I think that it is good to be a girl?

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Speaker 3: And I think we have to just come back to

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Speaker 3: a biblical perspective and an understanding of who our creator is,

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Speaker 3: our creation story, how he created us. There's a lot

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Speaker 3: in there that I think as a culture we have

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Speaker 3: glossed over. We're like, yeah, God created the heavens, so there

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Speaker 3: is blah blah, blah blah. Let me move on, let

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Speaker 3: me go to these harder texts. And there's so much

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Speaker 3: that we miss, even in that fundamental reality of how

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Speaker 3: we were made very good. So I keep wanting to

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Speaker 3: bring my conversations back to that, Like, Okay, culture has

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Speaker 3: told you this, your lived experience is this, that's all valid,

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Speaker 3: But what is the word of God say? What does

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Speaker 3: God say? What is fundamentally true about you as an

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Speaker 3: image bearer?

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Speaker 1: Who is female?

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Speaker 3: True, regardless of what culture says true, regardless of what

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Speaker 3: your experience is.

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Speaker 1: What is the foundation of this conversation?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that because femininity is defined for us. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I countless ways right to be feminine. Is to look

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Speaker 2: like this, or to be feminine is to stand up

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Speaker 2: for this cause, or to be feminine is you know,

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Speaker 2: there's accounts that call themselves biblical women had accounts have

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Speaker 2: so many things, and I'm like, oh my goodness, like no, so, yeah,

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Speaker 2: what does it mean to be feminine? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: According to scripture.

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Speaker 3: I love this question, and I'm with you, hoether I

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Speaker 3: am exhausted by the takes on this, absolutely exhausted because

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Speaker 3: everybody's got a loud agenda, and I can't tell you.

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Speaker 3: Being someone who writes a lot about what it means

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Speaker 3: to be female, I get dms and questions all the time.

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Speaker 3: Women want to know what is biblical femininity and how

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Speaker 3: do I do it? Like give me the checklist. Everybody's

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Speaker 3: dying for the checklist, and they're very disappointed when I

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Speaker 3: write back and say, you know what, the scriptures actually

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Speaker 3: have very few gendered instructions. There's not a lots. If

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Speaker 3: you look at the wh the whole story of the

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Speaker 3: Bible and interpret the Old Testament in light of the

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Speaker 3: New Testament and sort of take it as one package

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Speaker 3: in light of Christ and in light of the you know,

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Speaker 3: the light of the creation account.

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Speaker 1: Put it all together.

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Speaker 3: What we find is there are a very few gendered

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Speaker 3: instructions in the Bible. And so what I want to

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Speaker 3: do is constantly take people back to Genesis. And I

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Speaker 3: know that it might feel elementary, and it is, but

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Speaker 3: it's something we're missing, and it is that the Creation account,

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Speaker 3: specifically Genesis too, where God, you know, we get sort

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Speaker 3: of a zoomed in version of the story where God

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Speaker 3: creates Adam from the dust of the earth and his breath,

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Speaker 3: and then he says, he puts Adam in the garden,

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Speaker 3: gives him these instructions, and then says, wait, Adam, it

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Speaker 3: is not good that you are alone. We have this

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Speaker 3: refrain over and over in Creation, and it was good,

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Speaker 3: and it was good, and it was good and ultimately

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Speaker 3: and it was very good. But then Adam's alone, and

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Speaker 3: God is like, Adam, it's not good that you're alone.

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Speaker 3: And so let's just pause right there, because what that

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Speaker 3: tells us is that the image of God requires an

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Speaker 3: expression in male and females. That there's more that God

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Speaker 3: wants to say about his image and his character and

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Speaker 3: what he's like than can be expressed in men alone.

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Speaker 3: Not only that, but the tasks God gave to Adam,

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Speaker 3: to cultivate the earth, to rule and subduecreation, to create

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Speaker 3: culture was a task that was given to both Adam

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Speaker 3: and Eve. It was something that couldn't be accomplished by

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Speaker 3: Adam alone. That was what was not good about it.

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Speaker 3: It couldn't be done without a helper. And I'll just

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Speaker 3: briefly say this, and then we can go in a

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Speaker 3: different direction if you want, but don't.

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Speaker 1: You've probably talked about.

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Speaker 3: This before, but I think it's never boring to repeat that.

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Speaker 3: That Hebrew word for helper is a very strong word.

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Speaker 3: It's azer, and it has connotations of protection and being

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Speaker 3: a shield and being an ally. It's even a word

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Speaker 3: that's used of God more than anything else in the

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Speaker 3: Old Testament scripture. So we know if God is called

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Speaker 3: an azer when he calls even as aer. This is dignified.

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Speaker 3: This is powerful, This is strong. This is not secondary.

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Speaker 3: It's not an afterthought. It's not an assistant or an

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Speaker 3: intern who.

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Speaker 1: Gets the coffee.

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Speaker 3: It is somebody who is necessary, or the task cannot

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Speaker 3: be accomplished, or the war cannot be won, or the

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Speaker 3: victory cannot be attained unless the helper comes on the scene.

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Speaker 3: So right there, if we just slow down in the

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Speaker 3: creation story, we're already seeing some significant truths about what

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Speaker 3: it means to be female.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that I talked to him about

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Speaker 2: in terms of finding some level of freedom with body

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Speaker 2: magsues right, is knowing your purpose right. And I don't

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Speaker 2: mean that in a specific like you know, I'm supposed

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Speaker 2: to have this job kind of way, But really, what

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Speaker 2: were we created for? And of course some of that

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Speaker 2: is gender neutral, if you will, right to worship God,

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Speaker 2: bring glory to God, to know him, make him known.

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Speaker 2: But in and of itself, being born female does give

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Speaker 2: us more hands about our purpose, doesn't it. Yes?

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Speaker 3: I love that, So what we The reality that Eve

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Speaker 3: was needed shows us that the genders are not interchangeable.

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Speaker 3: That it's just to be male and to be female

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Speaker 3: is distinct and both are necessary. So right off the bat,

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Speaker 3: we know it's very good to be male and it's

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Speaker 3: very good to be female. What I love as you

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Speaker 3: study the scriptures with this sort of lens on of like, Okay,

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Speaker 3: what does the Bible tell me about being a woman?

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Speaker 3: What are the women in scripture doing? Let's just put

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Speaker 3: those lenses on and it will radically change the way

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Speaker 3: you read the Bible. But one thing I love to

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Speaker 3: see is how incredibly diverse the women in scripture are.

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Speaker 1: There is just no cookie cutter.

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Speaker 3: But what you also see is oftentimes because of their gender,

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Speaker 3: they are allowed to do certain things or they can

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Speaker 3: leverage role in society specifically because they're women, which I

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Speaker 3: think is so powerful. Like one of the first stories

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Speaker 3: that I think of is the Hebrew midwives Shiffra and Pua,

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Speaker 3: who you know, Pharaoh said, I want you to do

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Speaker 3: away with murder all the israel boys that are born,

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Speaker 3: and Shiffra and Pua refused to disobey the Lord, their God,

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Speaker 3: and these women literally deliver Israel.

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Speaker 1: You know, that's amazing.

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Speaker 3: They protect these the baby boys and they deliver up

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Speaker 3: another generation of Israel. And they can do that because

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Speaker 3: they're women. And you just start to see that time

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Speaker 3: and time again throughout the scriptures.

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Speaker 1: Is well, God made.

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Speaker 3: Her female, therefore she could work in this space and

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Speaker 3: do this thing. And I think that that's pretty mind

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Speaker 3: blowing when you start to see the stories through that lens.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I love that. I love that.

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Speaker 2: Well, you just wrote a book on this, so that's

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Speaker 2: why you've been studying it. I want you to tell

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Speaker 2: us more about that book. But there's a woman listening today,

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Speaker 2: I am sure that's thinking, Okay, yeah, that's nice. I

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Speaker 2: know about I know there's women in the Bible. I

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Speaker 2: know I'm made in God's image, but I still just

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Speaker 2: really hate being a woman. I hate all that's entailed there.

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Speaker 1: I just how about you encourage her? Jen, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I actually run into women who feel this way quite

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Speaker 3: a bit, and it's kind of the thing, Well, here's

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Speaker 3: what I see a lot of times women don't know

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Speaker 3: that they feel that way, and it bubbles up, you know,

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Speaker 3: once you start to talk about it. They go, actually,

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Speaker 3: I think this is what I feel. And there's women

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Speaker 3: who are very aware that they feel that way and

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Speaker 3: it's been a fight to be content or they even

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Speaker 3: haven't found contentment yet.

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Speaker 1: So I do think it's.

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Speaker 3: Something that we should go ahead and name, like this

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Speaker 3: is here because a lot of us grew up with

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Speaker 3: fathers or in households, or maybe teachers or coaches or

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Speaker 3: pastors or church leaders who said it outright or said

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Speaker 3: it in some other way that I kind of wish

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Speaker 3: I had had a son. It's too bad you have

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Speaker 3: those strong gifts because they go better on men, you know,

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Speaker 3: We've just received them, like this is kind of the

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Speaker 3: cultural waters that we're swimming in. We have either heard

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Speaker 3: it from a loved one or a leader, or we've

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Speaker 3: ingested it from social media or movies or music. Like,

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Speaker 3: let's just be honest, as girls, we have heard that.

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Speaker 3: So I think it's good to name it, and it's

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Speaker 3: good to go that's actually just not true. That is

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Speaker 3: something the enemy has used, the enemy who hates the

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Speaker 3: image of God, who hates women, who hates to see

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Speaker 3: women free and thriving and flourishing. This is something he's

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Speaker 3: actually whispered in my ear. And I'm going to go

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Speaker 3: ahead and identify it, and I'm going to reject it

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Speaker 3: because this is not from the Lord. So I think

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Speaker 3: we have to work hard to take every thought captive

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Speaker 3: and those things that play over and over, unquestioned, rent

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Speaker 3: free in our heads. No time is up on that.

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Speaker 1: We're done. That that's good. And then what if we.

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Speaker 3: Started to study the scriptures, like what if we really

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Speaker 3: dove in with a new lens of like why why

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Speaker 3: is it good to be a woman? What are the

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Speaker 3: what's the good news I see in here? When I

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Speaker 3: teach stories at conferences and out retreats that highlight the

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Speaker 3: stories of women. It is crazy how many women who

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Speaker 3: are older in the faith who are like man, we

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Speaker 3: just studied that entire book, and I never heard these

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Speaker 3: stories of the women and their pastors aren't sexist, and

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Speaker 3: they're not out to be mean or whatever.

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Speaker 1: They've just missed it.

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Speaker 3: Like they've made the heroes of the story a lot

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Speaker 3: of the time just the men in the story. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: and so I have I have compassion for that, and

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Speaker 3: I reserve judgment. I'm not saying that they're on a

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Speaker 3: mission to degrade women, but women who've been walking with

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Speaker 3: the Lord and reading the Bible for decades say to

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Speaker 3: me all the time, I just never saw that. I

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Speaker 3: never heard that, And I'm like, well, it's right there.

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Speaker 3: It's as black and white as the story about the

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Speaker 3: men that you've heard. So let's start elevating these stories

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Speaker 3: and really seeing them because they're there.

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Speaker 1: I love that. I love that well.

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Speaker 2: And I guess one tool we could use to study

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Speaker 2: the women is this new Bible study you have, right,

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Speaker 2: Can you tell it's a book and a Bible study

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Speaker 2: or are they all together in one? It's just a

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Speaker 2: Bible study, just a Bible city Okay, tell us more.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Ah man, this is like I feel like this

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Speaker 3: is my most important, like the work of my life,

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Speaker 3: and I'm so excited that it's out. It is seven

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Speaker 3: teaching sessions that are all digital and online where I

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Speaker 3: teach from God's word, and then six weeks of personal

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Speaker 3: study five days a week, and it's basically a biblical

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Speaker 3: theology of being female. I go from Genesis to Revelation

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Speaker 3: and study what the Bible says about being a woman.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 3: And the study is called very good because honestly, I know, listen,

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Speaker 3: I do not shrink back from those hard passages, the

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Speaker 3: hard old Testament law about women where you're like, I'm sorry,

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Speaker 3: what is that telling me? To some Appall's words about

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Speaker 3: women that were like this is not sitting well with me. Like,

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Speaker 3: I don't shrink back from any of that, but I

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Speaker 3: help you study it in light of the whole story

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Speaker 3: of Scripture. And what I'm thrilled to report back is

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Speaker 3: that as we use scripture to interpret Scripture, as we

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Speaker 3: understand God's heart for women, as we understand Jesus's relationship

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Speaker 3: with women, the bottom line is what the Bible says

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Speaker 3: about being a woman is truly very good.

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Speaker 1: I love that.

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Speaker 2: Okay, without giving away too much of the book, what

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Speaker 2: was like your favorite thing, like what surprised you the

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Speaker 2: most or you were like, whoa, this this is?

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Speaker 1: This is good?

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Speaker 3: Okay, Oh my gosh, that's really hard to pick. I

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Speaker 3: think I'm I'm gonna tell you the one that feels

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Speaker 3: most pertinent to this conversation.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 3: But I'm just also going to say that I really

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Speaker 3: love studying Jesus and Women, Okay, and also Paul and

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Speaker 3: his co laboring women. It like blew my framework of Paul.

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Speaker 3: I think it would blow yours too if you studied it.

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Speaker 3: So Jesus and Women is like chicken soup for the soul. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: Paul and Women is like, oh my gosh, this is

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Speaker 3: blowing my mind.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So here comes my real answer.

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Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, that's a good teasers.

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Speaker 3: So back to the law, studying the ancient the law

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Speaker 3: that it's given to ancient Israel in the Old Testament,

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Speaker 3: and there's I mean, people have PhDs on this, so

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Speaker 3: we can go. We can't talk about it all right here,

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Speaker 3: we can't talk about it all in my Bible study.

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Speaker 3: But I was especially curious about the menstruation laws, Like

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Speaker 3: what is going on with the fact that women are

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Speaker 3: supposed to be secluded for seven days of their period

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Speaker 3: and then seven days after their period as a woman

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Speaker 3: in twenty twenty six. When I read that, it feels unfair.

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Speaker 3: It feels like I'm being sent to time out for

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Speaker 3: having a period that I don't really want to have.

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Speaker 3: And the you know, like, Lord, you gave us our periods,

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Speaker 3: so why are we.

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Speaker 1: Doing this right?

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Speaker 2: And I'm thinking, Jen, before you continue, I'm thinking, it

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Speaker 2: would have been better for me to be secluded seven

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Speaker 2: days before my period.

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Speaker 1: That's probably fair.

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Speaker 2: That week after is great for.

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Speaker 1: Me, that's probably fair. That's probably fair.

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Speaker 3: So to get to the bottom of this requires so

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Speaker 3: much work, and we cannot do it in this particular

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Speaker 3: conversation all the way. But I want to tell you this,

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Speaker 3: as I studied the Old Testament culture, that made a

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Speaker 3: big difference, like the representation and the protection that fathers

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Speaker 3: and oldest brothers were supposed to offer the women in

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Speaker 3: their family. And I want to really, I really want

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Speaker 3: to highlight the representation the responsibility, not the authority. We

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Speaker 3: do not see authoritarian rule in the Old Testament, but

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Speaker 3: we see a representation and responsibility. So that was big

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Speaker 3: men were sort of out there representing the women in

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Speaker 3: their household, in the public sphere, in every way.

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Speaker 1: So there's that.

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Speaker 3: Then there's this whole issue of blood and Israel believing

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Speaker 3: rightly so that life is in the blood, and blood

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Speaker 3: under a sacrificial system is a really big deal. So

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Speaker 3: they're wanting to bet when blood is present, Israel is life.

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Speaker 1: Hang on, we got take note. We need to be

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Speaker 1: very careful here.

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Speaker 3: It's also a system, a sacrificial system, where there there

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Speaker 3: is ritual cleanliness, ritual uncleanliness, moral cleanliness, moral uncleanliness. And

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Speaker 3: so there's this idea that when a woman is bleeding,

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Speaker 3: she's ritually unclean, not morally unclean. But again, because there's blood,

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Speaker 3: Israel's you know, has this heightened awareness and is like,

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Speaker 3: we need to be careful, she's bleeding. So this law

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Speaker 3: that said women need to go basically have a rest,

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Speaker 3: take a rest, You get your own bed, you get

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Speaker 3: your own stool, you get your own chair. You don't

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Speaker 3: do any household chores, you don't do any cooking. Taking

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Speaker 3: care of the children is needs to be done by

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Speaker 3: the rest of the household. It's essentially the week of

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Speaker 3: your period and the week after is meant to be

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Speaker 3: spent resting and recovering for the protection and the care

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Speaker 3: of the women.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure I'm going to mention this to my husband later.

438
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:08,199
Speaker 1: Yes, it's biblical. I need two weeks. I want to

439
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,960
Speaker 1: need you to quick dinner for the next two weeks. Right, anyway,

440
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:13,119
Speaker 1: I didn't do it justice.

441
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,240
Speaker 3: But if you spend time understanding the history of the

442
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,679
Speaker 3: context and the care and the law and the presence

443
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 3: of blood, what unfolds actually is that God's heart is

444
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,480
Speaker 3: to go to an extreme to protect women and girls.

445
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:28,800
Speaker 3: And I love that and I see that all over

446
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:29,520
Speaker 3: the scriptures.

447
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,040
Speaker 2: Yes that's not I mean what you just described is

448
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 2: a sentiment of care, not a sentiment of ew stay away,

449
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,440
Speaker 2: let me punish you. And I just don't think we've

450
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:41,880
Speaker 2: read it.

451
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 1: That way right right.

452
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 3: It requires work, Like if we want to know really

453
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 3: what God is saying, we're going to have to do

454
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 3: some work. Pulling out these sound bites and running with

455
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 3: a little clip is not doing us any favors, and

456
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 3: it's actually attributing to God things that aren't true about him.

457
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 3: So I want to invite women to do that hard

458
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,440
Speaker 3: work of really understanding what the scriptures say.

459
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so good, And in a culture that has

460
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,640
Speaker 2: a million clips a minute, is probably not even overstating

461
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,679
Speaker 2: a million clips a minute of how to be a woman,

462
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,639
Speaker 2: what it looks like to be a woman, how you

463
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,399
Speaker 2: can be a better woman, how do you can be

464
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:25,160
Speaker 2: the best woman? To tune that out and to tune

465
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 2: in to what is God really saying here? Yeah, what

466
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 2: is God's heart for women? He sees us as very good?

467
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 2: Like Jen perfect title, and I just love that. I'm

468
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 2: wondering if as we close today, would you be willing

469
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 2: just to pray for women who are really struggling with this.

470
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 2: I mean you mentioned a minute ago that you know

471
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 2: not everyone knows this is the heart of her struggle.

472
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 2: And before we start recording, I kind of shared with

473
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,680
Speaker 2: you like the same here as I talk to women,

474
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 2: as I coach women, no one comes in with that

475
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 2: as the lead. But the more we dig, we often

476
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 2: find that maybe what's beneath my body Magicius is I'm

477
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:08,880
Speaker 2: just frustrated I.

478
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:09,680
Speaker 1: Was born female.

479
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 2: So would you be willing to pray for the woman

480
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:14,400
Speaker 2: who's struggling with that today?

481
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: As we close? I would love to do that.

482
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,640
Speaker 3: And I also want to invite that sister to open

483
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,640
Speaker 3: up the Bible in the Gospel of Luke and go

484
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 3: through with pen and paper and take notes on every

485
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 3: interaction that Jesus has with women. I was so ministered

486
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 3: to as I saw how Jesus never was ashamed of

487
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 3: women or embarrassed to be with women, like he received

488
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 3: the embrace of women. He embraced women the way Jesus

489
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 3: treats women. I want that to saturate our thought life

490
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 3: because that's God's heart for women. So do that, And

491
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 3: then in line with that, let me pray for us.

492
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 3: Thank you, Jun I love that Jesus. We are so

493
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 3: thankful that you love us so well, that you are

494
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 3: not inconvenienced by women, annoyed by women, that you don't

495
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 3: look at any girl ever created in your image and say, man,

496
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 3: she should have been a boy like you made us

497
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 3: girls and women on purpose, for a very good purpose.

498
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: Lord.

499
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 3: So we thank you that you made us this way God.

500
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 3: And on behalf of my sisters who don't feel thankful, Lord,

501
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,159
Speaker 3: I pray that they could borrow my faith and borrow

502
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 3: my gratitude and trust by faith that they will eventually

503
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,040
Speaker 3: see through your scriptures and by the help of your

504
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 3: spirit that it is good to be female. Lord, would

505
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,800
Speaker 3: you renew our thoughts? Would you just capture our imaginations

506
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,160
Speaker 3: the things that we sort of wake up thinking about

507
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,119
Speaker 3: or dwell on when we're at a traffic light or

508
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,680
Speaker 3: cooking dinner or walking the dog. Lord, bring us back

509
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 3: to the truth, and that is that you made us

510
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 3: just like this on purpose, for a very good purpose. Lord,

511
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 3: Help us to believe you. Help us to walk in

512
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 3: that strength and that truth. Jesus, for your glory, for

513
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,680
Speaker 3: our good, for the good of our daughters and our sisters,

514
00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 3: and our mothers and our grandmothers.

515
00:26:59,080 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name.

516
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 3: Amen.

517
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 2: Amen.

518
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: Oh, I love it. Thank you so much, John, appreciating that.

519
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 2: Okay, tell us all the things, like where we can

520
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 2: connect with you.

521
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:09,400
Speaker 1: You've got the New Bible.

522
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: Study out, but you had a book that that was

523
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 2: the reason you were on my show years and years ago,

524
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 2: called Enough About Me, which was a fantastic book.

525
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:18,159
Speaker 1: I would highly recommend it.

526
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 2: Tell you've done a lot of things in between the

527
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 2: last time we talked, So just tell us all the

528
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:23,639
Speaker 2: things and where to connect with you.

529
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, I.

530
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:26,719
Speaker 3: Have a website, John Ashman dot com where you can

531
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 3: find my books and some other writings and podcasts and

532
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 3: things like that.

533
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 1: And yeah, very good.

534
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 3: It's a Life Way Women Bible study. You can find

535
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 3: it on Amazon or at LifeWay. Yeah, and I would

536
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 3: love to keep up with anybody on social media. This

537
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 3: is a passion of mine and I love to connect

538
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 3: with women and just be an encouragement and a voice.

539
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:45,880
Speaker 1: So thank you all for listening.

540
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, and I'll put those links in

541
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,199
Speaker 2: the show notes. Well, Jen, thanks again for being with

542
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,960
Speaker 2: us today and encouraging us around this really important topic.

543
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 2: This is this is foundational, So thank you. This conversation

544
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 2: is long overdue. I appreciate you being here for it.

545
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 2: Thank you, Heather, and thank you for watching or listening today.

546
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 2: I hope something today has helped you stop comparing and

547
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 2: start living.

548
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:09,200
Speaker 1: Bank Bye Bade.

549
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:11,879
Speaker 2: The Compared to You podcast is prep be part of

550
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 2: the Life Audio podcast Network. For more great Christian podcast

551
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 2: go to Lifeaudio dot com. Hey have you left a

552
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 2: review yet? We don't ask you every time like some

553
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,680
Speaker 2: shows do, but if this podcast has encouraged you, would

554
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 2: you pause right now and leave us a review on

555
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 2: your favorite podcast platform. That would mean so much to

556
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 2: helping other women find this show. Thanks for considering