Living Faithfully in the Small Moments

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, friend. Welcome to Perspectives into Practice, a place where life's stories meet practical wisdom. Together, we'll explore how faith filled perspectives can transform the way we live, love, and grow. So grab a seat, settle in, and join us on this journey to turn inspiration into action. Let's dive in foreign. Hey, friends, welcome back to Perspectives into Practice. Today's episode is all about the small moments. Those everyday, unseen, ordinary times where faithfulness matters just as much as the big moments. And guess what? I have my sister here again today to share with us. I love how she lives out her faith in both the big and. And the small moments. And I love that I get to watch that from her. Hi, Bri. [00:01:00] Speaker B: Hello. Hey. [00:01:02] Speaker A: Hey. All right, so our fun fact for today is very interesting, actually. So Brianna drives for the Amish. And you've done this for many years, right? [00:01:15] Speaker B: Yes, ma'am. Three years of driving the Amish, ten years of being in with the Amish community, but three years of me. Wow. Individually driving, I guess you would say. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Wow. And I'm sure that you have learned so much about yourself and their culture and customs in that time too. [00:01:35] Speaker B: It is humbling in some instances, and it also really allows you to see how Christianity is very different for a lot of people. [00:01:50] Speaker A: People. Yeah. [00:01:52] Speaker B: And the Amish, they are Jesus believers, but their religion is very different from ours. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:02] Speaker B: So it's, it's, it's a learning experience for sure. It's definitely interesting. But overall, it's very humbling because I can't be doing all that. Can't be building barns in a day and a whole bakery full of bread. Just. Nah, I'm good. [00:02:16] Speaker A: They're amazing. Yes, it is amazing. Everything that they can do and the choices that they make in life are different from ours, but it works for them. And I know that. That God has given you that as a place of ministry, that you can be a disciple and share your faith and plug the podcast in the car when you're driving and have those conversations that might not have ever had with them. And so I just love that you get to plant these little seeds in their life, in their. Their way of living. And I just. That I think it's the coolest thing ever. I love hearing all of your stories. [00:02:57] Speaker B: It is pretty cool. It is pretty cool. The Amish are definitely interesting individuals. And if you ever get a chance to come to a place where there is an Amish country, I promise you, you will leave well fed. [00:03:13] Speaker A: Oh, every time. Every time. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. All right, so we are diving in about talking about small steps, powerful, faithful steps. And, you know, it's easy to think that faithfulness only matters in these big decisions, but so much of our walk with Jesus really happens in the small, everyday choices. So can you talk about a time where you've seen this play out in your life? [00:03:42] Speaker B: Oh, girl. Daily, Daily. Something that, you know, I do every single day because I drive and I'm on the road every single day. When the light turns green. Thank you, Lord. When there's a parking spot right up front. Thank you, Lord. And it's not a. What's the word I'm looking for? A thought, a thoughtless thank you. Because it's genuine. It's in those moments that, you know what? I'm pulling into a parking lot, and I have faith the Lord's gonna provide a good parking spot. The Lord knows I'm in a hurry, and I've got three more girls that I need to pick up. Lord, I know that you're going to help this light turn green, and when it does. [00:04:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. [00:04:22] Speaker A: Thank you. Do you remember our great grandmother used to say, talk to the parking lot, The. The change in lights. [00:04:32] Speaker B: She'd say, green, green, green, green, green, green, green. Yes, yes, yes. [00:04:38] Speaker A: I'm like, that's the same thing. We're like, thank you, Lord, that you can help me here and that you care about even these little, small, seemingly insignificant things. [00:04:49] Speaker B: Yes, yes. I mean, there's so many blessings in our. Every single day that we overlook or forget to thank him for. And I know that it seems, you know, like it's. You know, people say all the time, lord, I'm. Thank you for waking up. No, genuinely, Lord. Thank you for waking me up this morning, Lord. Thank you for giving me a warm cup of coffee, Lord. Thank you for giving me the clothes on my back that are clean, Lord. Thank you for giving me my animals who are healthy. Thank you for giving me a running car. Thank you for giving me the money to get gas. Thank you for the little things. You know, in the previous podcast, I've talked about my past and living in the present. [00:05:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:27] Speaker B: And when you don't have those things, you cherish those things. And you thank the Lord for those things. They may seem small to you, but they are huge. Huge to God. They are huge. Even making the light turn green, he. He knows that if you. That light stayed red, what the repercussions would have been, and he is saving you from further distress, Lord. Thank you for that. Thank you. [00:05:51] Speaker A: Yes. But on the other hand, Sometimes he keeps it red because he's saving you from a possible accident or something else down the road. And so we thank him for those times, too. And we can. I feel like we can get caught up. Go ahead. [00:06:06] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I have always said that if you forget something at home, go back and wait a few minutes because God is keeping you from something. Because. [00:06:14] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, it's very possible. Yeah. [00:06:17] Speaker B: There's always, you know, it's the. The adult equivalent of hands and knees and toes. It's key, cell phone, drink. And if you forget something. [00:06:24] Speaker A: That's right. [00:06:25] Speaker B: And usually there's a reason that it was forgotten, and it was because God was keeping us from something else. [00:06:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So why do you think God cares so much about faithfulness even in these unseen small moments? [00:06:38] Speaker B: Because faith is the basis of Christianity. Without trusting the Lord, there is nothing. [00:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:45] Speaker B: Having faith, even, I mean, I know that, that you've heard faith is small as a mustard seed. Does anybody actually know what the size of a mustard. See this? It is so teeny tiny that, like, it's like the end of a sewing pin, it's so small. That's all the faith that you have to have. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:04] Speaker B: And having that, just a little bit of faith, even in the small moment, shows God how trustworthy you are. And that is hard because we there. In a previous podcast, I think it was Elena that said it is that we can trust God with the scary moments, but we. It's hard for us to trust God in our blessings. And having faith in our blessings, that's huge. [00:07:28] Speaker A: That's huge. Well, and it says in the Bible, it says that whoever is faithful in very little will also be faithful with much. And so when we are thanking him and we are faithful and gracious in those small moments, the Lord's like, okay, I can see that you. You are taking care of these small moments. You can take care of these bigger moments. And it's that faith grows when we continue. It's like working a muscle. It continues to grow the more we use it, the more we activate it. And, you know, I love it. Makes me think of the, you know, having childlike faith. Think about a child. They're like, they'll pray, hey, Lord, help me to. To find the right clothes to wear today. Like, okay, that's may seem silly to pray for, but maybe what you are wearing makes someone come to you and say, hey, I really like your shirt and it's given you a smile today. Or your shirt has made somebody else smile. Or you, like, you have no idea why the Lord has brought you to these things, but that's why it's so important to ask him and invite him in to every little bitty moment of your life, because you have no idea what he wants to do in that and what he can trust you with next, which. That's amazing. [00:08:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. [00:08:51] Speaker A: I know. [00:08:51] Speaker B: For my husband and I, one of our biggest things that we have really had to pay attention to is our ministry. The fact that we are walking testimonies. We have young adults who look up to us. We have young adults who are watching our every move while they're baby Christians to figure out this thing called faith, this thing called Christianity. And when we. Who are somebody who's being watched with a scope, it is those small moments that shows these baby Christians. Hey. [00:09:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Even in the small moments. Even in the small moments, there's. [00:09:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:35] Speaker B: You know, there's. I. [00:09:37] Speaker A: It's. [00:09:37] Speaker B: It's been said, you know, I struggle really, really bad with mental health. And when I am sometimes at my darkest, my small moments include, Lord, thank you for letting me get up to eat today, Lord, thank you for helping me take a shower. Lord, thank you for helping kill those bad thoughts so the small moments don't have to be gloryful, like a light turning green or finding a good parking spot. Those small moments could also be. [00:10:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:07] Speaker B: Getting up to eat today. Those small moments could be walking outside. Those small moments could be going to see a friend. You haven't. Those small moments aren't necessarily the bad things or the good things. They're the small moments that we say, thank you, Lord. Thank you for that. [00:10:24] Speaker A: It's the everyday things that I feel like we take for granted. And it's. It's taking a moment to. To. To. To recognize them. And I feel like far too often we think that being faithful to the Lord has to be some grandiose event. It has to be seen, it has to be witnessed. It has to be this huge thing. But it could be something as small as giving someone your cart at Aldi. I. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. [00:10:54] Speaker A: Giving them your, you know, like, that's. It seems silly. Like, okay, it's a grocery cart. It was a quarter. Like. But that could be someone. You. You have no idea what someone else is going through, and you have no idea why the Lord has asked you to do that. [00:11:10] Speaker B: Yes. You might not have had a court. They might have had a quarter. They might not. They might have been able to go in there with a few dollars and you helped them be able to take 25 cents with them. That's 25 cents. That could go towards a piece of bread, some of the baby's formula, you know, some diapers or wipes, or, you know, we, as humans, we live very fleshfully. That it's for me, it's what I want, what makes it convenient for me. What can I do? Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And someone who's been on the other end of it of hoping somebody would give me a little grace, somebody would give me a little bit of peace, somebody would give me just a little bit of their time. I understand that side of it. And so, like you said, if I was in that moment where, you know what? I'm going to give this lady my grocery cart today so that she doesn't have to pull it out so she doesn't have to have a quarter, Lord, I'm going to give. Yeah, I'm gonna. I, I can't even think of an example. But there's just so many small moments that we live in. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Small things. [00:12:20] Speaker B: Yes, yes. [00:12:21] Speaker A: So in, in those moments, in those seasons of, like you were saying that you are, are this youth minister to these babies and they, they, you know. Yes. They are watching you in everything that you do, whether you know it or not. And so in those seasons where you might feel unseen or it feels like those small things don't matter, how do we stay faithful in those times? [00:12:52] Speaker B: I think that's definitely something for myself is tuning into the Holy Spirit. That conviction is something that will help direct you in your Christianity. That if in your gut you feel that that's not right. That's conviction. That's the Holy Spirit saying, yeah, hey, you probably shouldn't be listening to that. Hey, you probably shouldn't be saying that. Hey, you probably shouldn't be hanging out with them. Those are those moments. And you know, obviously the, the, the young adults that, that, that watch me, they don't see my everyday life. But, but you know what? That shouldn't deter how I live. Because they don't see it, doesn't mean this person didn't see it. And this person knows that person, and that person is going to tell the person. Living every single moment for Christ is important. When you have people watching you, when you have people that your ministry and your testimony could turn them either away from the Lord or towards the Lord. It is very crucial that every single moment, big or small, is for the Lord. [00:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And whether you are working in ministry or not, people are watching you. If you say that you're a Christian, you wear something that says Jesus or a cross. They. People are watching you. [00:14:14] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:15] Speaker A: And. And what the sad truth is is they're. They're hoping that you screw up. [00:14:19] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:19] Speaker A: They're hoping that you do the wrong thing. And when we live intentionally, when we ask Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and our intentions and our actions, we are more likely to be a great witness for these people than when we're living for self. [00:14:38] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yes. [00:14:38] Speaker A: And then we get caught up because that, I mean, that we live in a broken world. And so. And we are broken people and we are going to sin. That is. Yes. It's not if we sin, it's when. [00:14:51] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. [00:14:52] Speaker A: And it. Yeah. And. And it's just we get scrutinized by outsiders who are watching. And, you know, honestly, I don't care who's watching me. I got the big guy upstairs. He's watching me. He is who I report to and he is who I live for. And that's just, that's just truth. [00:15:14] Speaker B: And that. [00:15:14] Speaker A: That's just truth. So, yeah, that to me is like. [00:15:17] Speaker B: One of the, like, you know, you. Even if. Yes, you're right, even if you are not in ministry, you living a life that is. And the only way I can think to describe this is so full of God, so sparkly, so disco ball that people are attracted to you. That is your seed. That is your. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:41] Speaker B: Small moment that you living, but you have God. So, so full. You're so full of God that you sparkle so bright that you blind the devil and you bring in those who, who are weary, who don't quite understand, who don't see the greatness. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:02] Speaker B: But that small moment, so it doesn't. You don't. You don't have to be a ministry leader. You could also be a baby Christian. You could absolutely be a baby Christian. You could be a listener listening today that hasn't even asked Jesus into their heart yet. But living in those small moments and knowing that you're living a Christ like life is something that I promise you, you will never regret. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Never ever, ever. And if you are one of those listening that don't have a relationship with the Lord, go back and listen to episode three or four and we talk about that. And I even like walk you through this prayer. Prayer that again, is. I've said, I say it in the podcast, but there is nothing special or magical about the words that I said. It's just what your heart is. And if you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, like, that's how easy it is. And he wants to have that relationship with you. And so that you can sparkle with. Sparkle with the joy of the Lord, because that. That is our strength. And that is where, you know, those outsiders see it. And it's absolutely. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Beautiful thing. Yeah. I feel that it is. It's so important to live every day in the faithfulness of Christ. Like, he is faithful. He is. His promises are good. And, you know, the Bible says that whatever you do, it doesn't say if you do something big or if you do something small, or if you do something hidden or if you do something seen. It says whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. So it's saying no matter what you do, whether it is picking up a piece of trash that you didn't drop, or if it's giving someone your Aldi cart, or if it's leading ministry at a church, whatever you do, do it for the Lord. Put your heart in that for the Lord, and live faithfully through that. [00:18:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:03] Speaker A: So are there. Is there a. A story that you can maybe share that a small act of obedience or this small thing maybe, like, led to something bigger in your life? [00:18:14] Speaker B: So about three years ago, my husband and I were struggling really bad with our marriage. We were to the point of divorce. And it was a small moment, but also it is a huge moment. And this moment isn't even for myself personally, but it was a moment for my husband. And that small moment was that when he heard my need, he heard my hurt, that he asked God how to help. And his help, God's answer was to. To learn to love me, how I need to be loved versus how he thought that I should be loved. [00:19:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:09] Speaker B: And because of that small moment, my husband and I have. In my opinion, I might be biased. The best marriage that I have seen, we have friends and that we know, we see into their marriage. And I am by no means saying that me and my husband's marriage is perfect. Please do not take this away from that. But I also see how other husbands love their wives for how they think they should be loved, and I'm not. That's not the road we're trying to go down. That's definitely not the speech today. But that small moment for my husband and listening to the Lord of love her, how she needs to be loved versus how you think she should be loved, which is a huge difference. [00:19:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:56] Speaker B: But that small moment changed our lives, changed our perspectives, because now he loves me with such a Love that is unexplainable, that is unforgettable, undeniable. And. And he too has, in those moments, in this, these last few years, has gained such faith and such a godly aspect, such a godly perspective that that small moment opened his eyes to how much better our lives can be if you just do this one. Yeah. And I mean, well, and that's. [00:20:40] Speaker A: That it's just a small act. Yeah, it is. [00:20:43] Speaker B: I mean, it's. And I, I genuinely too feel that there's a lot of small moments that we live in faithfully, that we don't realize that it's a God thing, that we don't. We don't. God whispers, yells and slaps us in the face a lot of times and we don't really listen or feel it. And small moments are those whispers. Small moments are those. I'm here. It's God. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's obedience in that small. Because Brandon could have chose, chosen. He could have chosen not to listen and go, eh, well, that sounds silly. I already, I already know how to love her. [00:21:37] Speaker B: Or that's. [00:21:37] Speaker A: But instead he. Yeah, right, that sounds like a lot of work pass. But because of that small ask and then his obedience in that walking in it, God was faithful. And I just, I love that it is. It has changed your life, it has changed your marriage. It has changed what people see, you know, from the outside looking in. And. [00:22:05] Speaker B: The Lord, when you, when, yeah, like when I was. When I first, first started walking with the Lord regularly, there's a giddy. You get. You get giddy for Christ. You get excited for Christ. You get excited. And the only time that you get excited is when you know you're walking right. When you're not walking right, you ain't excited. You're not going to open your Bible, you're not going to listen to worship, you're not going to pray. It is. It absolutely is. And I am giddy for the Lord and giddy for my husband, and the Lord has changed our lives. Small moments, big moments, long moments, medium moments. There are so many things I could say. There are so many small moments all the way back to my childhood. They're small moments that I didn't think that they were small moments in that. And you know, we say small moments. We, like we've talked about, we say small moments and we expect them to be good. We expect the green light or the parking spot or the. [00:23:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:15] Speaker B: Then off clothes. You know, sometimes those small moments are being removed from the home. Sometimes those small moments are being sent to rehab or boarding school maybe those small moments. There's so many things in my past that even though it wasn't necessarily faithfully, it was small moments that God got me through it. God brought me through it. Small moments are big. Big moments are small. [00:23:44] Speaker A: Yeah. The Lord is everywhere. For those that are listening that feel like they. Their small efforts of faithfulness don't make an impact, what encouragement could you give them today? [00:23:59] Speaker B: Quit listening to self doubt. There. There is nothing too small for the Lord. There is no small effort. You can't. There's not one place in the Bible that said he didn't try hard enough. So it wasn't big enough. [00:24:14] Speaker A: So yes. [00:24:16] Speaker B: I mean there, there's not it. So there's you believing, you having faith. That's it. That's all that you need. There's no more to it. If you are putting something in action and faith based, that's all you need, honey. Like, that's all you need. There's. There's nothing. I feel like Christianity has been turned into such a complicated thing. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Yes. [00:24:47] Speaker B: That there's so many things that are right or wrong or do or don't or. It's not, it's not. It's not complicated. It's not hard. It's really easy. [00:24:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:59] Speaker B: And if you love the Lord and you have faith, that's it. Yeah, that's it. There's nothing too small. And doubting yourself, that is of Satan, self doubt is not of the Lord. So if you were doubting yourself in your small moment or in your small faith, that ain't of the Lord. That's the devil. [00:25:19] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. So as we wrap up, Brianna, this has been absolutely amazing. What is one perspective that you could encourage listeners to apply today in their living faithfully in these small moments? [00:25:36] Speaker B: The first thing that came to my mind was start with worship. Like listening to worship is the first thing that leads me into feeling the Holy Spirit. And as soon as I turn on worship and I start singing those words and hearing those songs and really starting to rethink all of the small moments that he's brought me through and all of the small moments he's got me out of and start with worship. It all starts with worship. And they say that we're one or two are gathered, the Lord is present. And if you're there and the Holy Spirit's there and Lauren Daigle's on the other end, that's two or three. [00:26:18] Speaker A: That, that's. That's how that math works. [00:26:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:26:24] Speaker A: You Got the band behind you. I love that. Yeah. Because when we worship, when we invite the Lord in it, it literally changes the atmosphere. [00:26:35] Speaker B: Yes, yes. I. Driving with the Amish, I keep worship music on in my car. And whether it be through song, whether it be through, you know, the messages that come through, you know, we said it before, said it before, that those might be small moments for them, planting small seeds, hearing the verses that come through the radio, hearing the worship that comes to the radio. I mean, worship is everything. And once I turned away from secular music, I saw such an impact on my viewpoint in my. In my faith that when I have worship on in my car and in my home, while I'm getting ready, everything is so beautiful. I. I worship and I am happy cleaning my house. I'm worshiping and I'm happy driving two hours on the road in back roads at dark with deer everywhere, you know? You know, last night I had to take a new route and I had worship music blaring. And, Lord, I was like, lord, please, please don't let me get lost out here. [00:27:42] Speaker A: I've never been out here. [00:27:43] Speaker B: I am out way out in the boonie. I don't know where my next turn is, but guess what? I didn't miss not one turn. I made it all the way home just fine. And I genuinely believe that if I would have had Miley Cyrus on or something, I would have got lost. I know that sounds crazy, but it's probably true. [00:28:04] Speaker A: But we'll never know because you got there, girl. [00:28:07] Speaker B: We will never know. Yeah, we will never know. [00:28:11] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you so much for being with us, Brianna. And friends, if you would like this episode, if this episode spoke to you, please be sure to follow. Share it with a friend who needs some encouragement today. And remember that even the small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice. Talk to you next time.