Hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there friends and welcome to my favorite time of the day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. We need it, let me tell you. Are you in the middle of this many Maycember madness? Ever since I heard this term Maycember where we just have things going on, I have been feeling like that. And so you may know that you are in May simber if your calendar looks like a game of Tetris. Did anybody ever play that? Or your kitchen counters are covered in permission slips. Maybe, dare I say pizza boxes because you've given up on cooking this week. Maybe you just have said we'll rest next month then my friend, you are probably living through what we are calling Maycember. This is a season where May just feels like December. But it's so sad because there is no holiday cheer. There is no cozy tree, there's no Christmas cookies. Just a lot of events, a lot of pressure, everyone running around on fumes. But right now we can pause and I encourage you, invite you to just to pause for a moment, just to breathe, just to have a gentle reminder that God sees you in this stretch. He is not asking you to juggle more. He is asking you to lean in. And that's what we are going to talk about. And I think about Eve. That's what we're going to talk about today. Because I think about even in the Bible, even in the book of Isaiah, God is speaking to a people who is running, who's chasing after worldly things, who is over scheduling, who's trusting themselves. We do that too. And I invite you today just to rest and just to refocus your mind on the Lord who loves you, who sees you, who knows you. And we have a guest today here to encourage you to do just that. Because if you are feeling spiritually dry, if you're stuck in a cycle of a. Okay, I know this is a problem. I know that my faith is not at the forefront. I know I've been neglecting some of those spiritual disciplines and I'm just gonna try harder. You are not alone. And today's guest, award winning author and Bible teacher, Cheri Strange. She's here to help you bloom where you're planted. In her newest devotional, increase your bloom ability. She invites women into a 40 day journey of abiding more deeply in Christ and unlocking the full, abundant life he designed for you. Now, you may be thinking, okay, so this shows for women. Let me tell you, if you are married, if you're a husband, if you have a loved one, don't go away, listen in. Because you may be looking at your sweet, precious, frazzled wife, thinking, why are you so frazzled in this maycember Well, this show may give you some insight onto how to minister to her, how to look into her world. I was having this conversation the other day with my husband saying that our. Our brains are like spaghetti. And he said, what are you thinking about? And I just got this look on my face, and I said, I really don't think you want to know because you will be overwhelmed if I tell you every thought that has passed through my head in the last 20 seconds. It has taken a turn. We have gone all over the place, whereas men generally are more linear. And he said, well, I heard on this radio show, this lady talking, saying, well, I heard. I. You don't need me to fix your problem. You just need me to empathize with you. Is that right? Oh, I could not have been more happy. Best. Best thing ever. Thank you, honey, if you're listening.
Cheri writes Bible reading plans to increase your bloom ability
So, Cheri we. I think we have you on the line. Welcome back to the show. So glad to have you.
>> Cheri Strange: Thank you for inviting me. I'm excited to be here.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I am so excited to have this talk because I feel like this is just a subject that comes up over and over again. We all want to bloom where we're planted. We want to thr. But the pressures and the stressors of life just seem to always get the best of us. So let's just, for those who may have missed you on the show before, just tell us a little bit about you and what. How God put this message on your heart to increase your bloom ability.
>> Cheri Strange: Well, I. I've been talking about this for probably over a decade. It's kind of one of those evergreen topics I can take to any group or trying to put it in any format really, because it just is so basic. But I was trying to think, how did it come about? And I think it must have been a Sunday school lesson. years ago, my husband and I taught Young Married, and we rotated teaching, and we just wanted to get them in the habit of reading the Bible every day as a couple. And so, we did the one year Bible. And so when we would prepare to teach, whatever was in that week's reading was up for grabs.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And.
>> Cheri Strange: And so we just kind of decided on our own what it was. So I think that's where it came from. and then it turned into a youversion plan. And then I started speaking about it. It just was so, I think critical to me in my own life. And then helping other women sort of get, the basics of what Jesus is kind of telling us about this idea of fruitfulness.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I appreciate that so much. Let's take a pause really quick Cheri and go back to the youversion thing, because I think there may be people who are thinking, wait, what's youversion? So for those who may have missed the youversion train, how can they find out more about that?
>> Cheri Strange: Oh, youversion is just Bible, dot com and youversion is the app form of bible dot com. So it's a free app. It's probably had a billion downloads. Any language you can think of. and they offer, versions of the Bible, but they also offer Bible reading plans. And so that's what I do. I write Bible reading plans. They're all free on various topics. And this just became one. It's like five days. And you, it gives you scripture, it gives you a little devotional sometimes there's audio or visual, things to go with it. But, you can do it with friends. It's a great app.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is a great app and I love it because you can sign up for a plan, just like you said, a five day plan. So it's not a major commitment. And then it gives you a little reminder on your phone, day one. And you can go through these journeys. You can pick things that are relatable and I love that. So I just want to make sure everybody caught that on youversion and know that they can get plans that you have written as well as a lot of other wonderful authors. Well, Cheri when we had you on before you, we talked about your previous book, can you see me now? Good news for the lonely, left out, & less than. And you shared a little bit of your personal story and, and your background into how that inspires you to write. So let's take that forward to this book and tell us about just how your personal and your professional journey have influenced this book.
>> Cheri Strange: Yeah, this one, I don't think I was planning on writing it yet, but it just leaped off the page to me when I was just praying about what was next. can you see me now? Is sort of my story of feeling like I'm in the background and, that's where I belong. But that's not what God calls us. To he calls us to be the city on the hill and to not be hidden, but to be an influence wherever God has placed us. And so many of us, we don't feel that way and we feel like it's relegated to someone else. And we're not responsible for that. We're not capable of it. And so that's sort of, that, that story of. And how do you, as a, as a person, how does God want you to be seen for all the right reasons in all the right ways, that kind of thing. So that, that was that book. And it's a, it's a 75 day journey. It's kind of a devotional. Not really, it's a journey. It's more than a devotional is what I would say. this book is more the, the standard devotional where there's a verse, there's a, ah, devotion and then there's a prayer at the end. and so it's set up sort of in that format. But it's so critical to me because it's at the heart of what Jesus calls us to. In John 15, Jesus gives that illustration about I am the vine, you are the branches, and that the God the Father is the one who takes care of the vineyard and just walks us through that process of what it looks like. And there was a key verse in that passage that I just couldn't get rid of, because I am M. So I so tend to think that I'm, I'm not wanted, I'm not, I'm not important enough for God to use that kind of thing. I'm not in the special super Christian club. And John 15:8 says, this is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. And that, that's not, that's not just the super Christian club. That's every ordinary Christian woman, just like me, you know, and I just couldn't shake it. And if that's true, if that one statement is true, then what does it look like to be fruitful? What does it look like in my life? And in an ordinary Christian's life, what does it look like? And that's kind of what started me on the journey. And the Bible's not silent, so it was not too hard to find a direction to go.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Cheri I think, you know, you have a PhD. You are Ah, you've had a lot of education, you're a mom, you do, you run a ministry and yet you're still sitting here saying, I don't feel like I'm that important. So what hope is there? How do you find hope in that? I think this is a struggle no matter what we are. And it's a great reminder that no matter how much we strive for, how much we do in your ministry, you know, she yearns, you talk about, we just have this yearning in our heart. We want to matter. We want what we do to be, to, to be appreciated. You know, we want it to make a difference, but, but it's hard to do that. And so where have you found the hope in all of that? to, to know that you do matter and that you're deeply loved by God.
>> Cheri Strange: You know, it, it's it's not like somebody saying, I want to, I want to be healthy, I want to lose weight. and then, then your, your, your guide says, well, then you need to eat less and run. I mean, it's more than that, you know, but sometimes I think we approach Christianity, that way. Like, we know we want more, we know we want it to matter for us. We want to, we want our life to be significant. But I think we, we approach reading our Bible and prayer like somebody's just telling us, well, you need to eat less and, and run five miles. And, and it's not doable. It doesn't feel doable and it doesn't feel like it's for us. And so, but what I, I have learned, I just came to a desperate place in my life where, where if nothing else, I could, I could learn how to be an ordinary Christian girl. Okay? And so for me, that looked like, okay, I bought a one year Bible. And like I told you about earlier, that just transformed my life so much. This gave me 15 minutes of structure. So I figured if I'm going to stake my life on this, saying I believe in this Christianity thing, I should at least know what the Bible says. You know, I should read it all the way through at least one time to know what's in there. And so that's kind of where I started. And it felt a lot like, spiritual sit ups. You know, I just picked a time, 15 minutes, you know, and then I would say a prayer. Not very long at all. But I did it for a long time and it felt like spiritual sit ups. And, and, but what I began to notice over time was it was more than that. I mean, it built the discipline in, but it didn't feel like God wanted me. But, but over time it seemed that there Were things going on in my life that that piece of scripture seemed to answer. So that, that was sort of a buildup. But, and I think I talked about this in the other book, but, there was the first year I started doing this, I mean, I'm 30, I'm 30 years old. I think, I think my kids are little. I am, I'm in this, the, I'm in the busiest time of my life. I'm in the middle of grad school. And, I had no time, but I, I realized I was, I was a mess. So I just told the Lord, okay, listen, I don't remember you ever staying up half the night, you know, in doing a project and not have any time to pray. So, that's not the. What Jesus shows us in the Bible. So there's got to be something to this. So if you needed it, I need it. So if you'll get me up, I'll get out of bed. And so, because I had a really light sleeper, baby, and so I had to do it outside of the awake time for my family. And so I just prayed that prayer. And I caution you to be careful about what you say to God the next moment. I've never woken up without alarm. I'm a not owl. I step all night, but I cannot get up in the morning. But from that moment on. And really for the next 25 years, he has been, true to his side of the bargain. And so I would get up at different times, kind of like the children in the wilderness. You know, they'd step up the tent, look out and see if the cloud was moving. That's kind of what happened to me in the morning. Sometimes it was 4 in the morning, sometimes it was 6:30, you know, just, just enough time to get me going before the family woke up. And it was exactly what I asked for, just not how I thought it would play out, you know. And so I just, every time I woke up, I would just automatically get out of bed because that's, that was the bargain I made. And I was learning through this spiritual, setup process that this one, this one day I woke up and, it's my birthday, okay? It's my birthday. I am exhausted. And it's 4 o' clock in the morning. And I just was like, my first reaction was not godly. And I was so tired. I was like, lord, what in the world? It's four o' clock in the morning and it's my birthday. I mean, can't a girl get a break? You know, that was my automatic thought. And, it was like God was happy. He was like, oh, no, I know it's your birthday and I couldn't wait for you. And I just never thought about God wanting to be near me. It was just spiritual sit ups. And really that just struck me so much.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Cheri that's. We have a lot more to talk about of that we're going to break here, but we have a lot more to talk about. We'll talk about how you increase your bloomability and share with you some from the devotions for unleashing your most flourishing self. I think all of us want to flourish. We'll talk about how we can nurture our spirits when we come back.
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>> See Me Through It by Brandon Heath : things are getting real. Jesus, take the wheel. Only way I'm getting to the other side? Days are getting dark? Life's a little hard blinded but I'm trying not to lose sight? I don't got this. I know you got this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'll believe it before I see it? Yeah, I know you're gonna see me through it. If anybody can, you can do it. God, I know in the trial and the pain, Fire and the rain You're gonna see me through it you're gonna see me through it. If anybody can, you can do it. And whenever my heart goes away you say the day you gonna see me through.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends that See me through it by Brandon Heath. And you know, I'm feeling that way. I am feeling like May Simber has just gone mad and I am hanging on for dear life. But I know that God is going to see us through it. And if you've ever felt like you were made for more, but you just couldn't figure out how to get there, today's episode is for you. Join us as we're welcoming Cheri Strange. She's a Bible teacher. She's an author of Increase your Bloom ability, a 40 day devotional crafted to help you move from spiritual stagnation to supernatural fruitfulness. And it is time to embrace the flourishing life God has prepared just for you. You know, it's interesting to me in the scientific community, I'm seeing a lot of research interest around the concept of flourishing. What does it mean to truly flourish? And there are definitions that are trying to be attached to this, and there are researchers that are trying to figure out what is it? Is it economic resources? Is it access to conveniences? Is it health care? Is it, you know, where you live? Is it geographics, what other sociocultural factors contribute to flourishing. But we know that God has come to give us life. Not only life. He sent his son to give us life more abundantly. And we can find flourishing in that. Cheri thank you so much for joining us. And before the break, you were just talking about spiritual sit ups. And I have to. I have to confess here, Cheri I do not enjoy athletics. I do not enjoy. I. I've just never been gifted in that way. But I will tell you, I remember a time, when I thought, you know, I was kind of coming out of the. All right, I've had my. All the babies I'm gonna have. And I really want to make sure that I'm taking care of myself, that I'm strong, that, you know, I don't need to be like some superstar, but, you know, I just want to be healthy. And so I went to this little workout group and I started going, and, Cheri, it was just miserable. Honestly, I'm going to tell you, every single day, I would drag myself out of bed and go and think, why am I doing this? I hate this. And one day the trainer came over to me and she said, are you miserable? And I said, oh, is it that obvious? Like, is that on my face? Yes, I'm miserable. And she looked at me and she said, it gets fun when you get good at it. And that really struck with me. And I thought, yeah, no, discipline is fun for a time, right? Like, that's what it feels like, but after you, after you really make it, that discipline, just like you were describing, like the Lord waking you up at 4 o' clock in the morning saying, I can't wait to tell you Happy birthday. I think that's absolutely beautiful. So we're going to dive back into talking about this. But before we do, Cheri I'm showing the book on video. If you're watching or you can look at this online. It's increase your bloomability. It is a beautiful, beautiful book. So many floral illustrations. Like, it just looks so aesthetically pleasing. Did you draw these yourself? Did you create these?
>> Cheri Strange: Well, I'm more of a, I'm a digital designer. So if you think about an interior designer, they don't have to make the couch, you know, but they can make the room look really good. They know how to pull all the colors together and put everything in the right place and so much better than you. And I could probably do it. And that's kind of what I do on the screen. So I don't make the couch, but I can tweak it. I can put a different cover on it. You know, I can do all the things and, turns into something really nice.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is, it's absolutely beautiful. So I want to know, Cheri who did you write this for? When you're writing, you know, every writer has an ideal reader on the heart. Who were you writing this for?
>> Cheri Strange: This is for any, any woman who, wants to want, is looking for purpose and satisfaction in her life. Honestly, she just wants her life to matter and she wants to be that bloomer, the woman that she looks at, she doesn't understand the difference. Why is that person fruitful? And I just can't get my act together, you know what I mean? And, and so this is sort of a, a deep dive into what it looks like. What does Jesus mean when he tells us to be fruitful? And what keeps us from it and how can we make it? How can we have lives that are increasingly more and more flourishing?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, what is the heart of this? So when a woman reads this book, this beautiful book, I mean, really, it just makes me smile just to look at it. What do you hope her experience will be like? What do you see her journey as being?
>> Cheri Strange: I think it's very relatable. I think that's one of my strengths, is that I can. It's as if I'm there with you, reading through it with you or talking with you through it. And I really just want to take her through what Does Jesus say to her about drawing near and how he draws near to her? What does it look like on a daily basis to abide? John. John, chapter 15 is kind of the heart of the message. We look at several verses in there and look at other, stories and illustrations and teachings throughout the Bible that relate to that, that demonstrate what that looks like. But it's really. How do you. What does it mean to even abide, and what should it look like? In my regular life, like you said, I'm the mom. I've had eight kids. we're almost done. We're graduating. The last ones on tomorrow.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Congratulations. That's a really big deal.
>> Cheri Strange: I know. It's. It's really exciting. However, you know, that means I've been in the. I've been in the trenches, you know, for 20 years, you know, trying to just do the regular mom thing, in an ordinary life. So I want her to know that this is for her, that her life can be beyond her expectations in terms of what God has called her to. And it's. She. She can reach it. And, there are steps for how you can do that.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, whenever you write a book, I have interviewed an author or a few hundred authors, and their story always comes from a personal place, from a lesson that God is teaching them. And I. I say that over and over again because I think it can be easy to listen to someone on the radio and think, oh, well, she has it all together, and she's so sm and she wrote a book. But this comes from your own personal struggles. And you shared some of those, and can you see me now? And you've shared some of those today. And feeling like a wallflower. Feeling like, okay, I'm, I'm here. I want to matter, but I'm just the wallflower. What did you find? What was the hardest part of that for you to write? Cheri as you. As. I know that God was teaching you and growing you even as you were writing it, what was the hardest part to write?
>> Cheri Strange: I think, number one, it's not like, okay, I can check the box. I now know how to flourish. It's just a cycle. It's just something we continue to do. So I think there were aspects of it that are more difficult than others. One particular aspect is that I should be further along than this. I should really have moved beyond. there was one instance where, And I think. I think everybody can relate to this, but, you kind of have. I mean, they may not be accurate, but we have kind Of a sense of where we think we are. And I'm just going to use my life as an example. And in terms of a writer and a speaker, you know, we kind of. It's the realm, you know, there's other people. We can play the comparison game as well. Just because it's a Christian environment doesn't mean we're immune to comparison. and so here I am. And Gotten a lot of no's in this season, you know. No, you can't do this. No, we don't want it. No, we reject you. You know, that's just part of the business. And that's really hard for me. I don't really like to be, I don't like rejection at all. But it's just part of the game that you have to play. And you just keep praying through it and ask God to lead you in the direction you are supposed to go. And it's all part of the deal. So here I am. And I, I just was coming back from a conference, minding my own business and I ran into somebody that that she's kind of further. She's not as far along as me. I mean I'm years into it, lots more experience and all these kind of things. But she just, she's just blooming all over the place, you know. And I just, I just. Not that it was comparison, but I was like. I had such a spiritual thought about it. I was like, lord, this is not fair, you know. And I should have said, oh, you're doing so great. I'm so proud of you. And I did, I did. I got there. But my first reaction to myself was, man, you know, it just felt like spiritual sit ups all over again, you know. And so anyway, that was my spiritual prayer, you know, my, my really holy prayer. God, it's not fair. And so I threw it away. I just moved on. You know, I kept doing the thing. And really within a week or two I'm again, I'm minding my own business. I'm on a road trip. I have lots of time to read. So I just grabbed a book off my stack and started reading it. And I was reading this book by Martyn, Lloyd Jones, that had been recommended to me that I read. And all of a sudden it just jumps off the page. And he says something like, you are approaching all of these things as if you're a regular person, but you're not. You are a believer in Christ. The Holy Spirit is in You. And then he talks about, the passage in Joel where God says he can restore what the locusts have eaten. And Joan says, you know, God can do in one year what has taken 10 to, be destroyed. You know, God is not limited by your time or your resources or anything. but you have to approach it like, you have to trust him that he can do that and that he's willing to do that for you. You are a believer in Christ. You're not a regular person. And for however that that played out in me, I just started crying because, you know, I think what he was trying to tell me was, you don't have to compare yourself to anybody. It doesn't matter, doesn't matter what I'm doing in that person's life. We are on our own timetable, girl. And I can do in your life in a very short period of time. But you've seen struggle, what you've struggled through for a decade. And, for me, that was just so, so penetrating. And, I think it was hard to share because it's kind of raw, you know, I would. I would like to be further along then, Lord, that's not fair, you know, but I'm not sometimes, you know, and so. But. But it just keeps bringing me back and bringing me back, this whole abide thing. Or you're sitting sort of knee to knee and, if you have a word picture of just, leaning into Jesus and meeting with him on a regular basis so that he can speak into your life in those moments, makes. Makes all the difference, you know, just gone off on myself and started letting my mind wander, and I would get myself in a whole mess, you know, But I'm regularly, regularly, in the word so that he can show me, how I can trust him.
Cheri says comparing can rob us of joy, and it's hard
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know what I think is interesting about what you said, Cheri? You're talking about comparison. And we've all likely heard the phrase comparison is the thief of joy. And it is, it really does rob our joy. And we look at. It's easy for us to compare the middle of our journey to the end of someone else's the. And to compare the low lights of our journey to the highlights of someone else's journey. A lot of times I feel like we do that and we look at someone else's highlight reel in their life, because usually we're only presenting the good things. Just like you just said, Cheri it's hard to present those things that are raw and real and say, you know what? I had a really spiritually immature Status at that moment where that's all I had was just God, I stamped my foot and said it's not fair. And that was the real realness. But we don't often share that. We share the oh, God has blessed me in this way and oh, I'm in a season of abundance and oh, you know, this is going so well. But what's interesting to me about all of that is Cheri you know, we're, we're mom, like you said, you're about to launch eight kids. So I am not even going to be nearly as rude to, to to assume our age. But we're, you know, not like in our 20s, right. And yet we, here we are as women still struggling with the same thing that young women struggle with today. And I would argue that that's not just a woman problem, that is a people problem where, you know, I'm sure men look at other men's careers and think, why haven't I progressed that way? Why haven't I been able to get that financial security? Why haven't I been able to have that kind of spiritual maturity? All of us feel that way. And I think it can help us to have some compassion for young people who are growing up in a world that is on full display on social media where that comparison machine is just amped up to no end. It is really, really hard. And the other thought that I had when you were talking Cheri is you talked about if we want to, if we want to confess weaknesses here. I've already confessed like I'm not good at athletics. And you talked about spiritual sit ups and then you talk about growing and blooming where you're planting. Okay, so my mother in law says that I have a black thumb. I kill everything that I'm given for plants. I have a lot of gifts, but these are just not them. So actually on Mother's Day, the church handed out these little succulent plants and I thought, you know, I know my mother in law is going to look at me side eye and she's going to give me a hard time and say, don't even take one because I know you're going to kill it. And I thought, no, I am going to take care of this plant. It's going to be fine. I am going to, this is going to be the actual plant I can grow because surely I can grow a cactus like that shouldn't be too hard, right? So I took it home, I got, I put it on the counter and then I went back to go and look at it and Cheri The cactus was totally gone. Like, it was just disappeared. It was just an empty bucket there. I don't even know what happened to it. My husband told me later, like, he found it in a plastic grocery bag that was in my car. I guess it fell out or something. But I think, you know, some of these things it can be because we just think, ah, we want to grow. I want to bloom. I want to get stronger. But there are a lot of times no easy answers. We really just have to walk with the Lord daily. We've got to learn his voice. We have got to read his word. And, Terry, that's one of the things that your devotional does, is it gets women in the word of God. You cannot know God's voice if you never listen to it. And you listen to it by starting to read it. And I think that is so important. Just all of those character traits you were talking about, just being honest before the Lord and sharing your desire to grow and knowing that he will be faithful. He who started a good work will be faithful to complete it in Christ Jesus. Well, the devotional is called increase your bloomability, devotions for unleashing your most flourishing self. And if you are longing for spiritual growth but you feel stuck, this might be a way forward. There are daily scripture divided devotions. There's guided reflection questions and practical action steps to really move you forward in your spiritual growth. Much better than my cactus did. Listen. We'll be right back after the break with more from Cheri Strange. Here's pastor Erwin Lutzer from the American Family studios documentary, the God who speaks.
>> Pastor Erwin Lutzer: You know, so often I see even in evangelical circles where you have a great deal of emphasis on human wisdom now that human wisdom sometimes is right. For example, human wisdom, wisdom can diagnose certain problems that people have psychologically and so forth. The problem is human wisdom does not have an answer to the deep needs of the soul. What we need to do is to get back to the Bible. Do we begin to think in human terms as to how problems can be solved? Or do we come to God seeking his wisdom so that the answers that we have for human need and human conflict are truly biblical? Visit thegodwhospeaks.org.
>> Cornerstone by TobyMac featuring Zach Williams: Looking out my window feeling the crescendo sunset on a quiet sea? Sitting with the ones that I forever love? We're waiting on a flash of green and even when the nights got cold you have always held me close? You're the only rock that I could ever stand on you're the only one for me the sun goes up, the sun comes down? This whole world keeps spinning round? I'm, here traveling down this long and winding road? Seasons come and seasons go? They take me high then leave me low? But I'm still standing on the only rock I know? You're my cornerstone? Oh, oh? No matter where I go? My cornerstone.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That's Cornerstone by TobyMac featuring Zach Williams. And God is our cornerstone. We are so blessed to have something that is so sure and so unshakable in a world that seems more chaotic by the day, where the only thing certain seems to be uncertainty. And we're talking today about the powerful words of John 15. And based on that, today's guest, Cheri Strange shares, how God calls us not just to survive, but to thrive. And in her new 40 day devotional. That is a beautiful hardback book. It would make a great gift. Increase your bloom ability. Cheri helps women step into the fruitful, purpose filled life that comes from abiding in Christ. And if you are hungry for transformation and deeper spiritual growth, well, this is the conversation for you before the break, Cheri
Cheri says staying rooted in Christ is key to staying successful in life
We were commiserating and our shared lack of ability to grow plants. My mother in law is so good at this and this is one of the things that I have learned about blooming where I'm planted, Cheri Because I think so often we feel like we have to be good at everything and anytime there's something that there's a lack in us that we don't feel as good at, we feel like, oh gosh, okay, well now I've got to learn that too and I've got to do it all. And that's just not the way that God created us to walk in fellowship with each other. I think about the fact that, you know, for a long time I tried really hard to be the Pinterest mom. That's just not me. I'm the Pinterest fail mom. Like I'm going to try and it's not going to work out. But you know what? I have sister in laws who are amazing at that and they're gifted in that way and it's their joy to serve in that way. And if I call them and say, hey, I need help, they are so happy to step up and to use their gifts in that way and looking at the same way. You know, if there's a mom who's going through tough stuff with her teen, she can call me. And I, I love serving in that way. There's other moms who would say, oh, My gosh, I don't want to have those awkward convers conversations. I don't want to do that. But that's the way that I'm gifted to serve. And so I think part of this, like we were talking about in the, in the last segment, we've got to learn contentment with the pace that God is growing us, the way that God is growing us, where he has planted us and having that contentment there. And so what do you see as staying rooted in Christ? I mean, really, that's what we're talking about. Just being rooted where you're planted, being content where God has put you, and abiding in Him. How do you do that?
>> Cheri Strange: You know, I have to stop listening to what other people are saying and stop listening to myself because I lie to myself all the time. You know, it's. It's easier to believe my own version of how I evaluate myself, and listen to what other people say because it sounds true. You know, I know me and it kind of sounds true. I lean towards the negative, things. but I don't, I don't think, I don't put myself in front of the Lord to find out what he says about me. And it's harder to embrace that and take that as, as true. It's harder to do that for me than it is to believe, you know, what somebody else says about me. And what I've had to learn to do is stop listening to them and to stop listening to myself and start preaching to myself, you know. And you can do that in a variety of ways. this devotional is one of them. Just figuring out, just letting God speak to you and to me in ways that make the truth sort of a resounding, throng in our heads and in our hearts to where, we embrace that instead of what, we tend to think or believe. That, to me has been the key. And I think, the greatest piece of scripture that has helped me do that is Ephesians 1. In that one chapter, God tells us who we are, that we're adopted, we are forgiven, that he, ah, calls us his children, that he gives us all of these, qualities that we get for being his child. And, there's no special Christian club. There's nothing in the Bible that I do not get to be a part of in terms of the inheritance of being a child of God. And I think for me, I just, for whatever reason, and I know this isn't everybody, but I had a hard time embracing that. As for Me, I can believe God could be good to you and that he could do all that for you, but I just had a hard time, accepting that he would do that for me. for whatever reason, I don't think I'm alone. I've talked to a lot of women that have felt the same way. And for whatever reason, we just, tend to. We don't preach to ourselves, and I think that that has got to be a key. but you got to know the truth before you can preach the truth, you know, to yourself, even. So I've done the note cards. I do the screensavers. I mean, I try to do everything I can. I do the podcast, anything I can to stop, the tapes that I'm running in my head that are so negative, and stop listening to that and listening to what God has to say to me. and your show would be one of those, avenues, you know, anything that's the poor truth into me of what the Bible says, I just try to put myself in front of it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I think that is that. And that's a lifestyle choice, Cheri That is a choice in the way that you're walking. And I talk about that all the time. These are lessons that I have learned. There are still lessons I am working to learn and things that, you know, God is still working to refine in me. But one of the things I've learned is being intentional about my lifestyle, about the way I live my life. And I've had the same experience as you, Cheri and. And that I thought one of the first things that, really resonated with me, and I know this will with you, too, because you are a worship leader as well. The kind of music that we play, it's not about, like, oh, don't play the bad music. Don't play secular music. That's not the message at all. It's if I'm struggling with something, you know what I started doing, Cheri I started cultivating playlists for myself that went along with that season of struggle. So, for example, if I am feeling just very not at peace, I am feeling my spirit is not restful, I am anxious. I make a playlist, and I call it Peace. And it's all songs that remind me about the truths of the peace that God pours over me. If I am feeling like I am not in a season of contentment, I make a playlist. That's gratitude. I find that for that negative thinking, gratitude is such a powerful antidote. And by probably the fourth or fifth song in when I'M listening to it and I'm thinking, okay, I think, all right, I'm here. it's. It really influences your mood. It influences your. The way that you're thinking. And it replaces those negative things with positive things. So I think just surrounding yourself with the messages. And really, a lot of those songs are just messages that are straight from God's word. And when you're listening to people talk about God's word, when you're listening to God's word, being ready, all of those messages, they start to quiet out the noise and the chaos that is coming from the world. But I have found one of the most powerful things to be gratitude, just to stop. And, you know, my son is really good at this, Cheri He will see me starting to get grumpy, and I, I can be a real complainer if I'm really honest. I'll say, this isn't going right. This isn't going right. My day. How was my day? Let me tell you about my day. This went wrong. That went wrong. This was hard. And my son will just look at me. And even without words, Cheri my heart will be convicted because I know he's about to come up to me and say, mom, I want you to close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and start telling me what you're thankful for. Cheri you cannot do that and stay stuck in a bad mood. You just cannot.
What do you find to help you flourish in your spiritual life
what have you found in your everyday life that are ways to flourish in your spiritual life?
>> Cheri Strange: Yeah, so I do. I spent some years in a radio station. My parents ran a radio station. And so, I spent all my time there, you know, and so music, like you said, is, to me, is really powerful because I learn words really quickly and they stick. So, I learned, years ago that one of the powerful mechanisms in my heart and in my head is what I'm listening to. So I have. I have sort of a system, you know, I use my playlist on Spotify. I listen to books on Spotify, you know, any. Any. Chris. I like dead people. I like to know they've lived their life and they have done the thing and finish well. You know, I can trust in them more than the person. I don't. I don't know if they're going to tell their life story, you know, and that kind of thing, if they're pillar in the church or something. So I like century old biographies, and just things that they've written. I love Charles Spurgeon, things like that. Those things minister to my soul. So I Think, One of the things I do in the book is I kind of outline different things that the Bible teaches us about what keeps us from flourishing. You know, the example I gave, earlier about, really just. Just feeling, telling God, you know, this is not fair. That's sort of a defeated mindset. And. And that one was getting me every time. So that's. That's one of the things that we. We deal with, that if we want to flourish, we cannot face, our challenges or our trusting God with a defeated mindset. You know, but there's. There's also. We also tend to drift sometimes. We don't really mean to fall away from the Lord. We don't mean to, put our time with him on the back burner. It just kind of ends up that way. You know, it's like you said, we've got to be intentional about some things like that. So I've had to put some intention and some structure into my days so that, those things are there now. I can't put too much there, or I will do it the opposite direction. I will be way too busy. So I think for every person, there's going to be a balance of where, you know, that I know what I have to do in the morning to stop running the negative tapes. I'm a very. I'm melancholy to the core. And so I know that before I brush my teeth in the morning, you know, some days are better than others, but some days are not so good. And by the time I'm brushing my teeth, I'm already a mess.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, no.
>> Cheri Strange: You know, and so what I have to do, you know, my husband's not this way. He is happy, happy, happy. I'm not. I am. I am, The glass is almost empty every day. So what I know I have to do is I have armed myself with. I use a prayer app. And basically I just cut and paste scripture and prayers into it because I've got to aim my eyes up, as soon as I can. And I just have to go through, I just have a series of. And it does it randomly, but I only feed things in there that are going to minister to my heart and get me to lift my eyes up. So that's what I have to do. You may not have to do that, but I'm a negative person if I don't do that. I'm not going to accomplish anything for the Lord if I stay just cycling, cycling, cycling through conversations that never happened and never really should. All that stuff we do, I Just need to move beyond that. My life is going to be wasted if I don't learn how to, to get past some of these things that keep me from being fruitful. And so that's one of the things I address in the book that I think we don't think about. It's kind of like if you're doing exercise and your diet, you're not really always thinking about what you shouldn't be eating. You know, there's things in there that you probably shouldn't. But if you kind of go down and you kind of take it, some people tell you to take a, make and make a list of all the things that you ate, you know, for like a week or two. you know, you can do something like that. But I think, what, what spiritually we can do is we can start recognizing. Okay, I didn't realize that was keeping me from becoming more fruitful. I didn't realize that was a factor. And so the Bible does a really good job of pointing some of those things out. it doesn't say and you will not be fruitful if, you know. But sometimes in John 15 it does. I mean, Jesus says, if you do not abide in the vine, you cannot do anything. You know, so it's pretty cut and dry like that. But in terms of what that looks like for you, that's going to differ, I think. Know yourself like, you know yourself about the music and the worship. I know myself about the negative thinking. So I'm trying to arm myself every morning or whenever I have a moment to do, my time with the Lord, whatever that looks like. It's different in different seasons of your life, you know, but for me, it's mornings now. I know that I have to put some of that in there. I know when my, my dangerous times are, is when I'm getting ready. You know, I'm not quite out in front of anybody. I'm not talking to anybody yet. And I have a lot of brain time. And so I've just learned to fill that time with something else. Sometimes I do, praise and worship music. Sometimes that does not work. Sometimes I'm still thinking about things. And so, another thing I do is I use the YouVersion app and I can play a version of the Bible, you know, whatever, plan I'm on, and I will play that and that those kind of things help. I do listen to Christian podcast, You know, I do things like that. Just whatever I need to do to get myself where I'm not constantly thinking about things I shouldn't. And it allows me to pour into myself what Jesus says.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Absolutely. And, you know, Cheri I think a lot of times the problem is there's a gap between our feelings and facts. But I think about John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, but it says Jesus wept. This was before he arrived and found his friend Lazarus had died. Now, I am convinced that he knew the outcome of that story. He knew what's going to happen, but he still had feelings. And it's okay to have feelings in that moment, but we have to fix our eyes on the facts and shift our minds to what is true. And we can do that. Well, I hope this has been encouraging to you. I encourage you to just bloom where you're planted and just be patient that God is creating. He is creating a good work in you, and he will be faithful to complete it. And as you're growing, I pray the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.
>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
