[SPEAKER_00]: Christian parenting.
[SPEAKER_01]: y'all.
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't even make this a welcome back to part of the best of your host, Courtney DeFaio.
[SPEAKER_01]: The first time I recorded this week, the mute button was on.
[SPEAKER_01]: So a solid 10 minutes of silence.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then the second time I just recorded this, I was almost to the end.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was in the middle of the prayer and Alvesson, a Christmas song, came on.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is happening right now?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like in my headphones, there's a Christmas song playing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, uh, Lord, is this warfare?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like what is going on?
[SPEAKER_01]: So take three Lord and Jesus name, Lord protect the audio, protect just this time that you would speak to people through this, and just do your thing through your spirit.
[SPEAKER_01]: A couple announcements up front one big announcement guys Ella Defeo is home from college, and I might have thrown a confetti popper at her car when she got here.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm so so happy to have my kiddo home.
[SPEAKER_01]: That was the fastest freshman year of my life and I don't know how she feels about it.
[SPEAKER_01]: She's probably feeling a little bittersweet right now to just me being all up in her grill.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that is one big fun thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: I hope your kiddos have made it safely home from college.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the second thing is I have a pretty big announcement coming this Thursday on part of the mess.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I would encourage you to come over and hear what's happening with me and part of the mess.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not pregnant.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's exciting.
[SPEAKER_01]: So come on over on Thursday at the beginning of CCN Day of its episode, I will share more about that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But today we're talking about week 35.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we are praying that our kids and our families would proclaim our faith publicly.
[SPEAKER_01]: What an important topic and I think the the story of the jail ourselves I actually didn't know much about so I'm so glad I got to read back up on that and study this a little bit But it's in Acts 16 and so we find Paul and Silas and jail
[SPEAKER_01]: In the next 1625, it says about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, which side note, I'm like, if I was in jail, would I be praying and singing hymns to God?
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the prisoners were listening to them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, already we see her guys there, faith was replaying out.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of the theme of this one.
[SPEAKER_01]: And suddenly, there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
[SPEAKER_01]: And immediately, all the doors were open and everyone's bonds were unfassened.
[SPEAKER_01]: When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
[SPEAKER_01]: for we are sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: Prisoner's had escape.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's feeling guys like this is all my fault.
[SPEAKER_01]: I better kill myself.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Paul cried out with a loud voice.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do not harm yourself.
[SPEAKER_01]: We are all here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear.
[SPEAKER_01]: He fell down before Paul and Silas.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[SPEAKER_01]: He obviously just, this is just my commentary.
[SPEAKER_01]: He'd obviously just experienced an act of God and so quickly all the prisoners could have run out, but Paul and Siddlestar are still right there.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so he says, what must I do to be saved?
[SPEAKER_01]: And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you in your household.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he took them the same hour of the night, washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once.
[SPEAKER_01]: he and all of his family.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love this story.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's like, I'm all in baptize me.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just want what you've got.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to be a part of what God is doing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then he brought them up into the house and set food before them and he rejoiced along with his entire household.
[SPEAKER_01]: that he had believed in God.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so there's a couple things I just want to remind you about and then we'll pray together.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the first one is trust God's timing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'll tell you in a embarrassing story if you haven't heard me tell it before, but we were living in Orlando, the girls were like in kindergarten for a second grade, something like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And our church summit did baptisms at the ocean.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, what an epic place to be baptized.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I was kind of mentioning it to Ella.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I did have a pure heart, but I was probably manufacturing
[SPEAKER_01]: making it more of my idea than her idea.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I look back at that with some embarrassment.
[SPEAKER_01]: But she timidly said, like, yeah, I think so.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe, so we went to like the baptism class.
[SPEAKER_01]: And she's like, OK, I'll do it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I look back and I'm like, I think she did it for me.
[SPEAKER_01]: And not because she wanted to publicly proclaim that Jesus was the Lord or Lord and Savior.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we got there.
[SPEAKER_01]: And she said, I don't want to do this.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, that's okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: And thankfully, I was mature enough in that moment to say have a good reaction and say that's all right.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you can do it whenever it is your time.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we'll just sit here and watch our friends and cheer people on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Y'all, next thing I know, Ron Defeo has come up to me tapping me on the shoulder and saying, I'm gonna get baptized.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was so shocked and so excited.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was such a cool moment for our family.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I left because I was like, why didn't you tell me?
[SPEAKER_01]: He was like, because I know you and Y'all know me.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would've had a marching band straight up.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would've had confetti poppers.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, 50 of his closest friends coming and he just wanted it to be his way and his time, but I was really proud of that and so if you're sitting right now and you're like, I don't know, I was sprinkled as a baby my husband was sprinkled as a baby.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even know if I believe in baptism and so this can be confusing.
[SPEAKER_01]: depending on your denomination, but ours, we're non-denominational church, a Christian church.
[SPEAKER_01]: We believe it is biblical to be baptized when it's your decision.
[SPEAKER_01]: When you want to stand up and say, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that's what we say at our church.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just so beautiful when it's people's decisions.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've gotten to be a part of baptism's
[SPEAKER_01]: and baptize several people in summer 70 making that choice in summer 10 and summer brothers and summer cousins and spouses and it's really beautiful because when you get to that moment where I say, you know, I believe Jesus is the Christ, some of the living God and I take him today to be my Lord and Savior.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they repeat that after me, y'all, there are tears in their eyes.
[SPEAKER_01]: There is something in them that's saying, this is, I've known this in my heart of quietly said this.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe I've been a Christian, but I'm saying in front of my family and my friends and my church that this day publicly proclaiming that Jesus is my Lord and Savior.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it is just super powerful.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you haven't done that, I just want you to pray about that today.
[SPEAKER_01]: Talk to God about it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Go to your local church.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just say, is this what I'm this is my next step in my faith journey.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if your kids haven't made that decision, I'm not saying don't talk to me about it, but don't make it your idea shoved on them.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's pressure.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would just open their eyes to this is part of the walk with the Christian faith.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in their time, God will make it clear to them.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they will say, I want to do it or
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I want to, but I'm scared and then maybe you go talk with your kids pastors and let them just explore it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so learn from me, it's not a great idea to pressure your kids to get baptized.
[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing I learned from this story and just love is the ripple effect of our faith.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you look at Paul and Silas.
[SPEAKER_01]: And they experienced a miracle and they didn't just bolt from the prison, they actually witnessed you and shared about Jesus with the jailer who would lock them up.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I want you to remember that nobody, people, sorry, scratch that today, I want you to remember that people are watching and God is using your own story and your own baptism.
[SPEAKER_01]: He may be, you may be the reason you're entire
[SPEAKER_01]: family makes a choice for Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so get excited about that and pray that God would use the timing and the moment that he would use our own lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think if we are living like we're believers, we're living like Jesus is this God of our lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like our lives will reflect that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when people kind of lean and go, what's up with you?
[SPEAKER_01]: You say, is Jesus?
[SPEAKER_01]: because I'm naturally not a great person, all of my friends know.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I didn't come out of the womb or wake up in the morning, just be in real sweet, but as Jesus and me, if you see anything impressive about my life is the work that God has done in me and through me.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I just wanna say like, if we get to the end of this season of the podcast and this end of this prayer journal year and you don't know Jesus and you don't know where to turn, will you please DM me?
[SPEAKER_01]: That is more important to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then anything I do on this podcast is I like that you listen and get parenting inspiration I like that you feel seen but if you listen to this over the last three years with me And you don't have a place to turn and know that you can make a decision for Christ Let me be that person let me connect you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me pray with you and I mean at y'all DM me That's the most important thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: I could help you do in your life And if God is nudging you right now and you're like oh my gosh, I think she's talking to me
[SPEAKER_01]: do it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Send me a message today and let's have that conversation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me pray for us and hopefully a Christmas song won't come on in Jesus name.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, I love you so much.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just thank you for the gift of salvation that you died on the cross for our sins.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that we get
[SPEAKER_01]: just your grace and your mercy and love the story of the jailer that in that moment of releasing those prisoners and bringing an earthquake earthquake and in the middle of a miracle you brought one of your people home and his entire family not just the jailer, but his entire family so thank you that that can be our story to and so I pray for my family and for Ella and for Larson that our lives would speak of your glory that people would look at us or be in in contact with us and
[SPEAKER_01]: And learn about grace, learn about where we messed up and used to love us.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, I pray for the parents that are feeling guilt or shame or behind that their kids haven't been baptized yet.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, meet them there, educate us on baptism, show us the verses, show us your way and why that's even important to you today.
[SPEAKER_01]: I pray in Jesus name that our families, all the parents and the kids represent on the spotcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: would proclaim our faith publicly, that we would not be shy about it, that we're not just out there defending people left and right, but we are not hiding it, that we are going public with this and Lord, we want to shine.
[SPEAKER_01]: We want to shine in a way that we only can through you and our hearts.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, we love you so much.
[SPEAKER_01]: I thank you for all the moms and dad's listening.
[SPEAKER_01]: I thank you for these kiddos and just be with us today and do what only you can do in our lives and we love you, Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[UNKNOWN]: You