Welcome to the WTG Podcast Blog where we’re going to recap 2020 on the last day of 2020! What a year it’s been. We’re not going to recap everything that’s happened in 2020 (we’d be here forever) but we are going to recap all the incredible advice we’ve heard from some our amazing guests this year. Ready for some gold in your ears? Let’s do it!
1. “If you can’t change the situation, change your attitude.” – 2 Mama (my grandmother)
LOVE! Christian and I talk about how it’s hard to shift your attitude in hard moments, but it’s always worth it. It will ALWAYS change things for the better.
2. “The best thing you can do in this season in your life is find your own voice. Find what uniquely makes you you and unleash that.” – Miles Fidell
That’s what it’s all about! The world needs to see your original you. Whatever God has given you, unleash it. Let the world see it.
3. “Give more than you take. That covers every aspect of your life.” – Willie Robertson
So often, we take on a consumer mindset in life, but it’s so much more blessed to give. You’ll never regret it.
4. “Jennie, don’t be the fancy version of yourself, just be you.” – Jennie Allen (piece of advice from her husband)
Again, all about living your original self! It’s so tempting to try to be a fancier version or someone that we’re not, but that’s not who God created you to be. Simply be you.
5. “Moments of pleasure that are outside of God’s will will produce years of rebuilding.” -Mike and Natalie Todd
SO REAL. Whether you’re single, dating, or married, it’s always denying that moments of temporary satisfaction to experience the fullness of what God has for you.
6. “It’s the Holy Spirits job to convict, God’s job to judge, and it’s only our job to love.” – Bella Robertson (quoting Billy Graham)
I LOVE that my little sister who was 17 at the time was quoting Billy Graham. Young people, learn from wise council who came before you! We have so many pillars of faith who have gone before us for us to learn from.
7. “If you have to eat a frog, best to do it in the morning. If you have to eat two frogs, best to do them one after another.” – John Luke Robertson (quoting Mark Twain)
Again, love to see the advice that comes from the people I love and admire. I love the message in this advice, but I love what it represents more. It represents people in our generation hungry to learn from those before them. GREAT ADVICE!
8. “True freedom is giving people the people the permission to misunderstand you. Offense is given, not taken.” – Lauren Daigle
At the end of the day, not everyone is going to want to understand you. If you give people the permission, you will reach the maximum freedom because at that point, you can freely love.
9. “Succeed at home first.” – Max Lucado
SO GOOD! Success in any manor tends to make us focused on the job, the office hours, etc. And your focus can shift from home to your work place. If you don’t have peace at home, you won’t have peace. Taking this one with me into our family!
10. “Comparison will always steal from the creativity and the calling in your own life.” – Kari Job
Comparison will steal so much! Again, you’ll never be a better version of someone else! Run the race God has for you, friend.
11. “Make the decision right at the beginning that you will never be offended and you will never take offense. If you can be offended, you will be offended.” – Christine Caine
Make that decision… today! Offense steals from the call on your life. You will live a more peaceful, free life 🙂
And there you have it! Best advice of 2020! I hope you take hold of this advice and treasure it up in your heart for 2021. You each have purpose. You each were created in the Image of God. You each are so deeply loved! See you in in the new year, friends!
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Hi there! Sadie, here. I wanted to share this chapter from my book LIVE today because it is just so fitting for the year that we’re in. This is one of my favorite chapters and hope it speaks to you right where you are at today. I love this chapter so much that I’ll be covering this chapter and more in my new LIVE book club launching January 2021! Full of additional content, guided prayer, live chats with yours truly and more, you can join LO sister today and be ready for the book club. *PLUS: Take advantage of our Christmas Bundle and get (or gift!) one year to LO sis at a great price! Tis the season!
AND, get your LIVE book right now for 40% off at Books A Million! Click the image below to go to the deal.
*Valid until 12.19.20*
Now, enjoy this chapter from my book!
In high school I was good at throwing the javelin and shot put, so the track and field coach asked me to join the team. “Okay,” I told him. “But I can’t run.”
He said, “Okay. You can just do field events.” So we had a deal.
Track and field is a team sport, but the scores are based on indi- vidual performances. For each performance, athletes are awarded a certain number of points, which go toward the team total. The better each individual does, the more points the team gets.
As our team prepared for our regional meet, the coach gathered all of us and said, “We need as many points as possible in the region- als, so some of you will have to compete in events you don’t normally do. We’re going to have to have someone run the two-mile.”
As soon as I heard that, I tried to hide behind the people in front of me—like you do when you don’t want someone to call on you in class. I was so clearly not a runner, no one would think I would have been in danger of being called on. I was happy in the field events and felt confident I could do them well. I was not interested in doing anything else, especially the two-mile.
Now, I know some of you reading this book get up at 5:00 in the morning and drink juice the same color as the grass you run on. And you are laughing about my two-mile crisis. But two miles was more than I had ever tried to run around a track.
As my mind went back and forth from no way to no way, I suddenly heard the coach say, “Sadie, you’ll do the two-mile.”
Everyone on the team started laughing, including me (at first), because I thought he was joking. We all knew I would not do well in a two-mile event.
He responded, “Why is that funny?”
When an authority figure wants to know why something is funny, what you thought was hilarious just moments before is no longer funny.
Just a couple of days later I was lined up on the track. As soon as the race started, I knew it would not end well for me. It wasn’t long before everyone in the event lapped me. Even the middle schooler who was competing in the high school meet passed me.
The coach must have realized how terrible the experience was for me because as I rounded the corner where he was standing, he yelled, “Sadie, do not step off this track. You are going to finish this race!”
I was miserable—so miserable and so dramatic. I remember looking up at the beaming sun and clouds and saying as I rounded the sixth lap, “Oh, God, I have lived a good life, but take me now—or come down from heaven!” The humiliation of being lapped by liter- ally everyone else in the race was bad enough. But even worse was the revelation that I would have to run the last lap all alone, with all the spectators watching me struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone running down the bleachers toward the track, and I heard the first lines of my warm-up song for basketball. My brother John Luke was headed straight for me with the song playing on his phone. He had come down from the bleachers to run that last lap with me! The spectators loved it! I loved it! Everyone who had felt sorry for me minutes earlier had re-engaged and stood to cheer us on. It was not a pity clap; it was an uproar. They were pumped up because they saw something that day that amazed them—my brother completely took away the humiliation of my performance.
What John Luke did for me that day was a perfect picture of what Jesus does for us all the time. He meets us in the place of our embarrassment and failure and redeems our story. He makes a pitiful picture into a beautiful, powerful visual we could never have created for ourselves.
If you are feeling humiliated for some reason right now, I want to encourage you. You may even be past the feeling of humiliation and feel you would rather die than face the last lap in front of you, but friend, keep running your race. Don’t stop when it gets hard or even when the middle schooler leaves you in the dust. Don’t let the most painful part of the story become the end of it. Keep moving ahead, even if you have to go slowly, trusting Jesus to redeem everything.
The apostle Paul wrote about this, saying, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14 nlt). That’s pretty impressive when we think about everything he went through— being thrown in prison, being whipped, facing death several times, being beaten with rods three times, being stoned once, and being shipwrecked three times (2 Corinthians 11:23–25). No matter what he had to endure, Paul never gave up.
Life is like a race. It takes humility to keep running when you feel the race will never end, but that’s exactly what God calls us to do. I don’t have much in common with Paul; I’ve never been beaten or shipwrecked, but I do know what it’s like to run a race that feels impossible to finish, and I am not just referring to that two miles. Life gets hard, but it is always worth the run. There are a lot of people who are watching and are impacted by your continuing to run, no matter how insignificant it may feel.
One reason you are living is that God wants to give you a story, a testimony that helps the world see who He is. Jesus trusts us with our stories. I think that is amazing to think about. Yet sometimes we try to bail right before our story gets good because that is usually when we get pushed beyond the limits of our comfort. Life becomes hard. Someone lets us down. Something we were really hoping for does not happen. A friend rejects us. All kinds of things happen to cause pain and disappointment, and sometimes they hurt so much that we just want to quit. However, it is so important that we keep pressing on because that decision to push past the pain and the fear will change everything for your life and will impact a lot of people around you. You see, if we don’t press through the hard times, then the hard times will be all we’ll know and all that others see in our lives. But if we push through them in the power of the Holy Spirit—God within you—we get to the good stuff. The difficulties make us stronger and our stories better. They are part of the way God transforms us, and our transformation is what leads to our testimonies.
This is the question I have started to ask myself over the last few weeks. I have watched debates, speeches, interviews, and talk shows. I’ve read celebrity’s tweets, looked at different Instagrams and listened to friends talk about all the things going on with this election. Let me start by saying I am fully aware that this election is absolutely huge, and I strongly encourage every single one of you to use wisdom and discernment as you prayerfully consider who to vote for based off of what you believe. I encourage you also to vote, because your vote does matter. I am writing this simply as another perspective for this election. It is oftentimes so easy for us to get fixated on someone else’s problems and rarely flip the mirror to our own. Today I simply just want to hold up the mirror to each of us individually and ask ourselves the question, “Are we are part of the problem?”
There are two people our whole country is focused on right now, and although it is important to pay close attention to what they are doing and saying, I do wonder if those two people are our biggest and easiest distractions from ourselves. I have seen people saying the most hateful things about these two people, wishing they were dead, mocking their weakness, being cruel about their appearance, and speaking lies to spread more fear about one than the other. We can debate all day long about the character of these two people, but just for a moment I want stop focusing on them to point to all of us. The ones who are mocking, lying, being cruel, being harsh, being insensitive, and so much more. Are we any better than these two people? My question is are they really what is wrong with the country or are we?
Matthew 7:4-5 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
You may say, “Well Sadie, this is different. These people are running for president to lead our country. We have to judge them.” I hear you, and I agree that we need to be discerning, wise and lead others with truth, but unfortunately a lot of what I am seeing is not that. I see hate, fear, dishonesty and downright bullying. And we the people make up this country. I say all this more of encouragement then anything that the character of this country is not only in the fate of the two men in charge – the character of this country is in you.
I hate to see good people excusing bad behavior because that is “just politics.” Especially those who are following Christ, because nothing I have named above is a fruit of the Spirit. It is easy to make excuses for our behavior when everyone is acting the same way, but just because it is easy does not mean it is justified.
Galatians 5:7-9 says, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
We need to stop letting this one area of our life excuse behavior that we would never ignore in other parts of our life. Can you imagine treating a friend or a neighbor that way? Jesus said our neighbor is the one we would least expect.
Christians, this is a call to you – the world is freaking out right now and there is a lot of darkness, but YOU are called to be the light. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13) – Let’s just stop right here for a minute. These are from the words of Jesus. If the salt loses its taste then it is no longer good for anything. If you are not being the flavor of Jesus in this world during this time, then what good are you doing?
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16
YOU are the light of the world. You are also not meant to be hidden during this time, to just not speak, not act, or not try. But when we do speak would it be done in love, and when you act would it be with fruit of Jesus. If you walk in love and in the fruits of the Spirit of God the world will notice, because the contrast is sharp. Go be the salt and the light in the midst of a time when the world needs it the most. To God be the Glory…even in this election season.
In honor of being light and love in this world, we have created a special and timely piece inside my Words of Affirmation Collection. “LOVE IS…” sweatshirt ON SALE now (limited quantities available). Be light. Be love, fam.
Want more encouragement from Live Original? Follow us on Instagram @legitsadierob and @liveoriginal.
It was such an honor to have Lauren Daigle on the “WHOA That’s Good” podcast a few weeks ago. So good that I decided to write a blog about it!
God is so intentional about who he puts in our lives, and Lauren is one of those people who God placed in my life to make me fall more in love with Him. I remember sitting behind Lauren at the Dove Awards back when I was there for Duck Dynasty. I wasn’t really into the Christian music world and because of that, I was very timid when I worshiped. I never raised my hands or felt truly free to do so. But that night, I watched Lauren just worship so freely with her heart abandoned to the Lord. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow I want to have that freedom whenever I worship.” And now today, I could care less what people think and I am so free when I worship, and to see that influence from Lauren impact my life today is so cool.
When I asked Lauren what’s the best piece of advice she’s ever been given, she said that a guy on tour who was going through a hard season at the time and told her that, “True freedom is giving people the permission to misunderstand you.” WOW. SO GOOD.
As Lauren dove deeper into the meaning of that advice she was given, she told us that, “Whenever you think about people who could be offended by being who you are, it can cause you to limit your expressivity or who God really created you to be.” When we’re constantly looking over our shoulder and trying to think about if people will like us for being a certain way, it can be so hard to TRULY be who God has called us to be. But when you’re identity is found in God and you know that He has uniquely created you to be exactly who you are, you start worrying less about what other people are thinking, and you start remembering what God is saying about you.
Lauren gave an example of living this out. In interviews her words really matter, and she will be held accountable for them which can be stressful sometimes. If she messes up, it could be so easy to walk away and toil and spin and dwell on that mess up, OR she can walk away and think, “Well there was a moment of humanity that slipped in there and thank God for His goodness because he knows my heart.”
If we take this concept on a smaller scale when you’re getting ready in the morning and thinking about what to wear. Are you choosing your clothes to fit what you want others to think about you? Or are you choosing them because you like them and you want to be free? Caring about what others think about you isn’t bad in of itself, but it can be harmful when it takes away from who you are and who God created you to be!
When you give people permission to misunderstand you, it’s saying “This is what God placed inside of me. This is the way that God wired me. These are the truths I stand upon. But if you misunderstand me, it’s ok, I will love you anyway.”
If you know Lauren, you probably know her song “You Say”. I couldn’t go through the podcast without asking the back story of where these words came from. We really came full circle when she answered this. This song actually came from the Dove awards where I saw Lauren worshipping! Again, God is so intentional.
Lauren said she remembered feeling like she was getting away from who she once was before all the lights and cameras and fame. She felt like she was longing for home. She said, “I was right on the cusp. I walked in and told my producers that I can’t change who I am to fit what people want. I just genuinely missed my Louisiana self being low key and being simple.”
I feel like a lot of us can relate to this feeling when change happens. feeling lost in the shuffle when in a high demand and high-pressure environment. Lauren’s producers told her to replace all the lies with truth and that’s exactly how “You Say” was written.
I related so much when Lauren walked me through that journey. When I got back from Dancing With The Stars, I felt this tug of just missing my old life as well. I was questioning everything God was doing because I felt so far from where I came from. It made me question God’s plan for me, but when I prayed and listened to God, I could have never imagined what He had in store. That song just meets everyone where they are at. We all wrestle with our identity and “You Say” is an anthem for what God says about us and such a good reminder when we feel lost or are confused about who we are.
I also touched on 2020 in the interview with Lauren. This year has been so unpredictable and crazy and I wanted to know how she remained her fun, bold, and free self during all the changes and uncertainty.
Lauren was expecting to be on a world tour this year. Talk about a crazy shift! She said this year hasn’t been easy, but she has spent time talking to God about it and really asking “why?” She was on a path where she was meeting the apex of her career and was meeting the full potential of her dream! She said, “I remember asking God, why was the rug ripped out from under me.” And God just slowly started to reveal to her the goodness that has come out of this season.
As Lauren’s grandma says, in these scenarios, it is about “making lemonade out of lemons”. We need to find the positive in the negative!
Lauren said it perfectly when she said, “God always has a way of always giving back what we think has been stolen.” She may not have been on her world tour, but she got to reconnect with old friends and build a genuine and true connection with a community that will be there to support her always. She is able to spend time with her family which is hard to come by these days. Lauren asked God to show her the lemonade in the situation, and she got it.
There are moments, especially this year, where it’s easy to get caught up in the anxiety of the unknowns and changes. This is when we ask God for help and He will show us the lemonade when were handed lots of lemons!
God will carry you from one point to the next if you let Him in. In this season more than ever we need to seek, and we will find. To seek God in the midst of all this chaos can be hard, but when we do, He will always be there to remind you who you are.
Don’t underestimate what God has put in you during this season. Because God can use those little talents and passions that you might think are nothing, in such BIG ways if you allow him to.
It was my prayer and dream that the Lord would send a fresh revival in London. I was supposed to be there this summer and I was so confused as to why this prayer and dream was just canceled when it was so clear that’s where God wanted me. But I heard God say to me that even though everything is canceled, my prayer is still on! Just because I’m not in London, doesn’t mean God isn’t doing big things there and bringing revival to their people.
I want to end by encouraging you all during this season to really press into the Lord to see what He has to say to you. Ask him the hard questions. Let Him show you your passions, dreams, purpose, and allow Him to give you your identity.
Want to start from the beginning of the Proverbs Study? Find the full study HERE.
I don’t know if you have ever heard of the Instagram account called, “Whoa, wait. Walmart?” but it is dedicated to pulling out the gems that Walmart has to offer and gives you the pure shock of finding such quality items. Well, sometimes I feel like we treat the bible like ‘Whoa, wait. Walmart?’.
Some of us think, “Yes, it is God’s Word and yes, it is great, but is there anything in there that really applies to my life? How could something so old actually speak to where I am at right now?” If you have ever thought those things before, I would argue that it may just be a lack of reading the Bible to know the gems that are in it. Maybe it is kind of like your idea of Walmart that has stopped you from going and buying some solid clothing options, because you just didn’t think anything was current enough for you to thrive in. I have a feeling if you just read the Bible you will be saying, “Whoa, wait. THE BIBLE?”
Proverbs 15 speaks to us today better than any influencer could. Starting off in verse one it says, “Respond gently when you are confronted, and you will defuse the rage of another. Responding with sharp, cutting words will only make it worse.” (15:1)
We all know things in the world have been wild lately. It has been hard and sad and brought up the need for conversations that we need to have and have needed to have for a really long time. Many of us are seeking what and how to communicate.
In times like these it is so easy to want to get angry and snap back at people that have different opinions. It has left many of us questioning what to say and how to say things…but did we ever think that even in a time like this the Bible would have such great advice on how to handle conflict? That if we speak gently to one another we might could get somewhere instead of making it worse?
It goes on to say in verse four, “When you speak healing words, you offer others fruit from the tree of life. But unhealthy words do nothing but crush their hopes.” (15:4)
If we want to grow a harvest for the next generation, we have to speak healing words.
The next four verses I placed back to back because Solomon repeated himself several times, so this message must be really important for obtaining wisdom.
You are stupid to mock the instruction of a father, but welcoming correction will make you brilliant. (15:5)
Your plans will fall apart right in front of you if you fail to get good advice. But if you first seek out multiple counselors. You’ll watch your plans succeed. (15:22)
Accepting constructive criticism opens your heart to the path of life, making you right at home among the wise. (15:31)
Refusing constructive criticism shows you have no interest in improving your life, for revelation – insight only comes as you accept correction and the wisdom that it brings. Proverbs (15:32)
Do I hear anyone saying ‘WHOA, WAIT. THE BIBLE?’
Have you ever been told something you really didn’t want to hear, but you needed to hear? If you accepted that advice then you are WISE! That may seem crazy to you because that moment probably made you feel stupid, but it is in those moments in life where we take giant leaps towards wisdom. Having different generations in our life is such a huge blessing and value that we need to realize! “Why Sadie? They are old and don’t get it!” No, they are wise and have lived through it! Let people speak into your life who are older and wiser, because odds are, they fell learning and want to teach you how to avoid the fall.
I want to encourage you in this time to take from what we are learning and use your words to make the world a better place. Allow ones who know more to speak into your life. We have to be willing to be the change we desire to see. In verse 19 it says to bluntly, “Nothing seems to work right for the lazy man…” (15:19) Do not be lazy in the midst of a history making year. This life is the only one we’ve got so rather you are happy about being a part of 2020 or not. You are here so be a part of the hope that is coming!
“The senseless fool treats life like a joke, but the one with living- understanding makes good choices.” (15:21) Make good choices and the world will be blessed by it. Your life is not a joke – it is a miracle and full of purpose that the world needs.
I want to finish with verse 11, “Even hell itself holds no secrets from the Lord God, for all is exposed before his eyes, and so much more the heart of every human being.”(15:11)
Why do I put this in here, friends? Because I want you to know that there is grace for not being the perfect leader, the perfect friend, having the perfect words, or being the perfect person. Just because you mess up do not stop trying. God knows your heart, and nothing is a secret to Him. His mercy triumphs over judgment. Don’t just do this life for Him – Do this life with Him. Let Him teach you.
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Sadie Robertson Huff is well known for her engaging smile and energetic personality, but there is a lot more to the 25-year-old star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty and runner up on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars season 19
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5. “Moments of pleasure that are outside of God’s will will produce years of rebuilding.” -Mike and Natalie Todd
11. “Make the decision right at the beginning that you will never be offended and you will never take offense. If you can be offended, you will be offended.” – Christine Caine
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