[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.
Welcome back to Perspectives into Practice. I'm really looking forward to today's conversation because it feels like one of those episodes where the Lord gently taps on your shoulder and says, pay attention. Today I'm joined by my new friend, Val. She's someone who's learning what it looks like to loosen her grip, quiet the noise, and let God lead with clarity instead of controlling. Her story isn't about having all the answers. It's about trusting God even when the path still feels unfinished. And I think that so many of us are living right there as well. Welcome, Val. I'm so thankful that you're here, Jessica.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: We have already had so much fun. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Oh, we will continue this because you guys know that I love a fun fact. Val has won two karaoke contests, and she actually thought that it would land her in American Idol. Spoiler alert. It did not. But I love your confidence and your sense of humor because it really does tell us a lot about your heart. And I absolutely love karaoke and will never turn it down.
So I need to know, what is your go to karaoke song?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Oh, goodness. It depends kind of on the mood because I kind of have a, like, a secret karaoke career that's I haven't actually lived out, but it's just in my head.
And I think, you know the song that everybody sings, the Black Velvet. Alana Miles. Absolutely. Go to karaoke song. However, Martina McBride's broken wing is probably my favorite to sing because it's such an emotional song, and I like to sing kind of dramatically. Yes.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Yes, I could hear that.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: I think I would have to say Martina McBride. Broken wing.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: I love that. Oh, man. Makes me want to. We're gonna have to meet up and have a karaoke night, because that's gonna happen.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: You know, I turned 45 last fall and had a birthday party, which I haven't had in years, and it was a karaoke party, and I said, come dressed as your stage personality, and we had the best time.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. See, I am about to have my 40th, and so I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna have to take. Take that idea because that sounds like a blast dress. Is your point that I love that. Thank you for that.
That is just wonderful. So today, I mean, that just fits in beautifully with what we're talking about, because we're talking about expectations, control, and what happens when God gently invites us to step out of our own way, which we have to do a lot when we're learning new songs. Right. So I want to start with the season that you've been walking through recently. You shared about feeling confused, things fel heavy, and almost like you were blocking what God was trying to do. So can you talk about what it looked like and how you realized that the Lord was asking you to pay attention?
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Last year was one of the more intense struggle bus rides in my recent past, we'll say. And the whole year just felt like I was swimming against the current and not getting anywhere except more and more frustrated. Toward the end of the year, even my job was affected. My health had been affected. And I just found myself going, like, what. What is this? What am I supposed to be doing here? I can't be doing anything good if everything bad is what's happening. There was so much uncertainty. There was so many unanswered questions. And we were at a prayer event, and someone had suggested, like, find someone to pray with and pray for a breakthrough for them. And I found a friend, and I prayed for her. She's been having several health issues, and so I just prayed that she would have a breakthrough in health and that this would the year that she can feel like herself again. And she, in turn, asked me, how can I pray for you for a breakthrough? And, Jessica, I sat there and I stammered because I had no idea. I was like, breakthrough in what? Where do I start?
[00:04:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And as I'm trying to figure it out and figure an answer that I can, you know, plea for with her, it was almost as if my lips were taken over and they said, clarity. Pray for clarity. And even as I said those words, my eyebrows kind of raised, like, where is this coming from? She started to pray for me. And I don't feel like I have any more answers than I had last year. Things are still uncertain. Things are still up in the air, but I don't have the weight or the burden of that uncertainty. And I believe that as things progress and move forward this year, I will have clarity when I need to have it, and it will come. And I just felt a weight lifted when she prayed. And I've. I have been a control freak my whole life, even in the worst possible situation.
You know, we had a child die 13 years ago. Jessica.
And I still wanted to control things. In that it was completely out of my control.
But ever since then, it feels like the more control I had to have in any situation, the more chaotic things became.
And so last year was kind of a peak of that for me. And that prayer that she prayed over me and praying for clarity and seeking the Lord's answers instead of just any answer I wanted him to give me has. I mean, it's only been a few months, but it has been an absolutely life changing experience so far.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: Wow, that's. That is amazing. And you actually mentioned to me that a phrase that I just love that you have to, we have to get out of our own way in order to let God move. And it just, it landed like a brick. And that's, I feel like exactly what you said. You, you were saying, give me clarity, even though you didn't even know what that meant. But that clarity is God moving away the pieces and giving you the clear vision of what he wants in your life, even when you don't know what the answers are next. And that's a, I feel like that's a very powerful prayer. Why do you think that that moment of asking for that clarity hit you so deep? Is it something that maybe that was the first time that you had to ask for that or was it just because you didn't know where that was coming from?
[00:07:04] Speaker B: I think it's a, both. And so previously I've always asked people for, you know, pray for wisdom, pray for us to have wisdom, pray for us to have discernment. And those are wonderful things. But just because you have wisdom or discernment doesn't mean that you're going to know the next right step.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: And so this praying for clarity, I've never even thought to have that request before. And also it's, it's not only a prayer for clarity, but it's a test of faith.
Because if I do believe that the Lord directs my steps, then I have to trust that as I'm stepping, they will be directed rather than me taking the time to pray and worry over having wisdom and discernment so that I can plan those steps and not move until I have that plan in place.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: So I think it's a, both and
[00:08:01] Speaker A: yeah, I totally agree with you that you can't pray for one thing and hope that you can be the answer to it. But that clarity gives you that wisdom and the, the obedience in taking that next step is where that is. There's, there's joy on the other side of that. And sometimes we have to look a Little bit harder to find it. But there is joy on the other side of taking that next right step because God knows exactly what we're supposed to do if we will just get out of our own way and let him do that. And so where have you noticed God's grace meeting you in this new way of living with this new clarity in your life in those last couple months?
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Part of it is, and this is such a blessing that I've discovered in this, I mentioned the word chaos before and everything going on in our personal life, in the world, in our country, in fill in the blank seems like it is chaotic and a lot of noise. So being able to still have clarity in the midst of all of that or in spite of all of that is a tremendous blessing to show that it's even possible that even though all this is going on, the Lord still grants you clarity for his call for you.
So I mentioned that my job was affected and at the end of the year, my, my hours and therefore also my pay were cut in half. Right. At the end of the year. And there was a lot of stress. We'll say I have wanted to be retired for the last five years. Right. And my husband is so not on board with that.
And so when, when this happened, I thought for sure, my husband, who I love and respect and appreciate so much, he is going to put the hammer down because he is the budget guy and he's going to say, val, this doesn't work on paper and we need to make this work on paper, whether that's a new job for you, a second job. You know, whatever the case, we still have bills to pay. And I think that when I sat down and talked with him about that, I was so worried about his response and reaction and how that would affect me, Jessica, that I left no room for the Lord to move in this situation at all and did not even consider that the reduction in hours or in pay could end up being a benefit or a blessing for us, which ultimately now, all of these weeks later, it has shown itself to be in ways we'd never expect.
So that's like, that's the biggest one that comes to mind. But it's in other things too. I have a 15 year old, an 11 year old. They're in very, I don't want to say awkward, but this, this is a season of discovery. We'll say for my children, for who they are, who they want to be.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: And so I've never parented before. Right. And they've never been kids before. So we're learning all of this together. But I feel like instead of immediately reacting to the things that they come to me with or kind of, you know, being like, oh, you can't think that way, or whatever the case. It's more of an approach of the Lord just kind of shepherding my heart and saying, you are their mother, not their martyr. You do not have to die on every hill that they lead you to. And so I'm like, okay, Lord, this is. This is a season for me where I really am getting out of my way.
And I'm just, you know, just. Just like, you have to let kids toddle and fall when they're learning how to walk so that they learn how to balance themselves. That. That hasn't changed. That hasn't changed just because they know how to keep upright on their feet. All these years later, yeah, they still
[00:12:01] Speaker A: need our help and our guidance and our boundaries. But we also have to let them fall sometimes in a safe way. And God allows us to do the same thing. He allows us to fall in a safe way, but he. We. We know that there to pick us right back up and to put us on the right path, even if we make the same mistake over and over.
And I'd love to. I'd love to talk about the Israelites for a second, because when we were talking earlier, you made a really great point about how they literally could. Could see God's presence and still struggled to trust Him. How has that story helped you to recognize your own patterns and gently shift them?
[00:12:43] Speaker B: That is something that I think I have to walk through every single day.
So they stepped out of their tents and they saw the. The cloud or the pillar of fire, depending on the time of day. All they had to do was step out of their tent and see to be reminded. Yes, I don't necessarily have a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire, but I have within arm's reach even. So many tangible answers to prayer, so many tangible proofs that the Lord is not only with me, but for me. And I think that it becomes a matter of trust.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: They.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: They saw the Lord, but they did not trust that he was really for them. Even though he destroyed the Egyptians before their very eyes, even though he allowed them to plunder the Egyptians on their way out of Egypt. All of these things, when it came to it, when. When the Lord became busy with Moses on the mountaintop, they lost their trust in the fact that the Lord was for them.
And so then they said, make us a God. Make us this image that we can say this is what brought us out of Egypt because they lost patience and they lost trust when the whole time the Lord was with Moses on that mountaintop and everything he was saying to Moses, telling Moses, directing Moses was for the benefit of those Israelites.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: And so sometimes Val has to step out of her tent and say, like, I, I don't see a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire, but I trust that the Lord is for me. And whether I can see it or not, whether it happens in my time or his, am I going to believe God is who he says he is? And that's kind of the wrestling match that I have with myself.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: It also, it goes back to that control is that when we are holding so tightly to everything that God has given us and everything that possibly could happen and try to control the situation, we lose that trust in him because we are putting ourselves higher than, than him. And we think that we're alone in all of these things. But if we really go back and look at the Bible, there are example after example of showing how. And the Israelites are such a great example because they had such amazing and great things that happened. And you're right, they literally all they had to do was look out their door and see that God was, was, was there. And in our, in our case, we, we can do the same thing. It's going to take a little bit more of our perspective change and a, a little bit of, of trust. But we can look outside and see what God is doing in our lives as well and see that he is in every thing. But it, it's going to take, it's going to take us obeying. It's going to take that clarity that we have to ask for, knowing, having the wisdom. And like you said earlier, just doing that next right thing. And that's, that's that obedience when, when he asks us to be obedient, he doesn't say, hey, I want you to worry about everything else that's going to come next.
I just want you to take this next step. That's it. Which, it sounds easy, but in reality it's, it's difficult for our human brains to wrap our minds around that.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Yeah. And to go, to go back to those Israelites too. Even so, Moses wanted to see God's glory. And the Lord said, like, I can't let you look directly at it, but if you go into this cleft of the rock, I will put my hand over it as I pass by. And once I pass you, will you. You cannot look at my face, but you will see the glory.
And I feel like the Lord does that with me, with Val Kleppen so many times where he says, I'm going to hold you safe and secure in the cleft of this rock. I know what's best for you, and you don't have to understand why, but I cannot take my hand off until you will be taken care of. And this whole time I'm just in the cleft. Like, when's it going to happen? What is. What's going to be next? Why isn't he letting me do something?
[00:17:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: When instead I just need to rest, secure, get it together, Valley.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Yeah, but you're. You're absolutely not alone in that. And so I wonder what is.
How do you stay grounded when the clarity does feel partial instead of complete and you don't know what that next step is?
[00:17:28] Speaker B: This is something I'm still learning, Jessica. This is honestly so new for me, this clarity piece. And I feel like I've worked myself up into such a frenzy and such an anxious ridden ball of nerves before when something hasn't gone how I expected or how I wanted it to go.
And instead of seeking, like, is there a reason for this? I just kind of was like, well, how am I going to fix this my way, number one? Or, what's wrong with this picture that I can change to get the result that I want? Which is key characteristic traits of an ambitious, driven person. Right.
However, looking through the lens of Christ, that's. I'm not trusting him. And so having. Just having that singular piece of knowing and believing, he directed my lips to say that request for that prayer because he knew I didn't know what I needed, but he did.
And just seeing the fruit that has come forth since, like, I'm. I'm still learning about it, but even I. There are still so many unanswered questions in my personal life right now as far as, like, are we going to have to move one day because of my husband's job? Like, that's been something we've been wrestling with for the last three years.
You know, are my kids gonna do this? We homeschool. And so, like, am I doing them any favors by homeschooling them? Am failing them? Like, all these things that just cloud my mind and thoughts on a daily basis.
I wouldn't say that I have clarity 100% on it today, but just knowing that I can have clarity and it's through the lens of Christ and not my own lens has covered me with so much peace.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: That is. That is Beautiful. And I, I hope that for all of our listeners and so for them, when, when they feel stuck in that overthinking and that self reliance that you, you too are working through, what would you encourage them to lay down first?
[00:19:47] Speaker B: If you have to prioritize, because you just want to lay it all down at once, you just want to surrender everything and kind of give up because what you're doing isn't working.
Yes, but maybe that's the piece. Maybe, maybe what you lay down first is just the, the ego or.
I don't want to say arrogance, because I don't think it's arrogance, but maybe the confidence that if something is broken or you have to wrestle your way through it, that you're the one who's going to be able to fix it. And so maybe that's where it starts, is laying it down and just be able to surrender when things aren't working or aren't going and say, okay, Lord, if you do have this for me, I need you to be the one to make it work. And if this isn't working, because it is not what you have for me, I need you to turn me in the direction to go. And maybe that's where it starts.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: Yes, that's it. That's exactly what it is, is your will, not my will, and us continually turning toward that. That. That is exactly it. Oh, Val, this has just been wonderful. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your honesty and your humility and just your willingness to share this story as it's still unfolding. I know that you've reminded us that clarity doesn't come with a full map. Sometimes it comes with the peace and the joy and the courage to take that next step and really trusting that God is already there when we walk to it. And I'm so, so grateful that you've joined us today.
And friend, if you're listening and thinking I have a story of what God has done and or is doing in my life, I would love to hear from you. This podcast is built on real conversations and real faith. Reach out to
[email protected] if you're interested in being a guest, because I would love to talk to you.
All right, Val, so I end every single episode with the same question. And that is, what is one perspective that you would encourage listeners to apply today?
[00:21:54] Speaker B: I have been so excited to answer this question honestly, even though I wasn't sure what my answer was going to be. However, after praying about it, I think the perspective that I would encourage listeners to adopt today would be a perspective of expectancy. Expect that the Lord is going to show up in every single situation in the smallest of details, in the largest of scenarios and that he is going to move on your behalf even and especially if it doesn't make sense to you.
Have that perspective of expectancy.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: Expectancy with clarity. Come on.
I love that.
Love that. Oh friend, thank you so much for spending your time with us. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with somebody else who might need a reminder that they don't have to have it all figured out to follow God faithfully wherever you are. I hope that you trust God in the present and in his leading even when it's unknown. You don't have to know the whole road to take the next step with him, which is the beautiful part of our relationship with Him.
And remember, even small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice. Talk to you next time.
