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Foreign. The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Hello and welcome back to your favorite podcast, D Influenced. I have another solo episode today. Don't worry. I feel like we have a lot to talk about, but I do feel like this episode might be a little different than what you're used to. So I just wanted to give you guys a little warning also, because I changed things last minute all this the time. I probably still have to do, like, ads and things in this episode. Yeah. Our producer is like, yeah, like, shaking his head. Yeah. But I just kind of thought about changing it up a little bit just in light of everything that has been going on. It's, you know, I am not. I'm not a news anchor, I'm not a theologian, I'm not a pastor. I'm not really. Sometimes I don't really feel qualified to talk on certain subjects. But. But I am a Christian and I even that word, that term, sometimes I feel like, you know, you're labeled that and everybody's like X. So I would like to just say, like, I am someone that is trying desperately to follow Jesus, and I am not perfect at it, but I did feel a little bit of, like, conviction this past week because I feel like with all of the horrible things going on, going on, from school shootings to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, to the violence we saw in Charlotte on the, on the subway, like, it's just so heavy. And I see in my DMS that a lot of other people are hurting and it just didn't feel right to, like, get up here and just, like, start a Q and A, which is what I was going to do today. And maybe I'll do that in the latter half of this episode, but it just. It just didn't feel right. So I really hope that if you are watching this, no matter what you believe, whether you are left leaning, right leaning, religious, not religious, I really hope that you know that I am, like, so honored and grateful for this community. And I'm so thankful that you're here because I truly adore every single one of y'. All. Like, I. I genuinely, like, don't care, like, where you came from, what you do. I genuinely love you. And so I am so, so happy. But at the same time, I'm a little scared of this episode. Like, I'm just gonna be honest with y'. All. Like, I. I'm just human. But I do feel like this is something that I want to speak on. I also want to apologize because I think a lot of people immediately feel hurt by Christians in The church. And I'm gonna be honest. I feel like sometimes Christians are not great at that. Like, I've even experienced that, too, where I feel like other people or churches are like, judgin, maybe I'm not good enough. Or maybe they say something because they're trying to stand firm in their faith and they're trying to, like, you know, express what scripture says and what they believe, but it just comes across as hateful or hurtful. And I feel like the church is not always good at repenting of that and understanding that people have feelings and they have church hurt and they have different experiences. They weren't raised in the church. And so when you say some of these things, it hurts. Hurts them or it scares them away. And so if I've ever done that to anyone, like, I. I want to apologize, and I apologize if that's ever happened to you, because, you know, it is a fine line between being, like, a lukewarm Christian where you just kind of, like, you know, go with the flow because you don't want to ruffle any feathers, and you want to be accepting of everything, but also, like, standing up for what you believe in and holding people accountable and loving people, even though, you know, maybe they live life differently. And so it's a fine line. And I feel like a lot of times Christians miss the line. And so if you're someone that's experienced that for me or anyone else, like, I just want you guys to know that I'm sorry, and I'm so happy that you're here. Like, I really do love you guys. So I want to talk a little bit about Charlie Kirk, which I know is. You know, I honestly didn't know how controversial his passing was until I posted about his passing in my DMS and. Or my. All my stories. And then I saw my DMs, like, how many people were actually kind of celebrating his death and thought he deserved it. And it just kind of shook me to my core so much that I posted about. I got off my phone and, like, I was just so, like, oh, my gosh, like, what's going on? But I want to ask you guys, just for a second, if you can have, like, an open mind just for a minute, and just be willing to understand just for two seconds. You know, don't jump to a conclusion. Don't jump to a clip that you saw of Charlie Kirk saying something or what. Just, like, if you could just, like, for a second, just be willing to hear why it hurts so many people and why so many people are Having such a hard time, like, getting past it and why it's really tough to digest. Charlie Kirk was someone, no matter what you believed about his polis, his politics or whatever, he was someone that always proclaimed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And he went around, like, I mean, all over campuses, speaking this, sharing this to thousands of people. And as Christians, that's what we were called. That's what we're called to do. And so we respect him. Like, he was able to do what a lot of us weren't able to do. Not only that, but he was really smart and used scripture and theology to back a lot of his arguments. He wasn't perfect by any means. We don't worship him. He's. We only worship Jesus. Jesus is the only, you know, one that is perfect. But we see that he was striving to share this gospel, and we respect it. And when he is, you know, assassinated, killed for sharing his beliefs, that we all are called to do it. It really shocks us. We're like, wow, this. This really happened. And. And he didn't stop. Like, he was persecuted. People hated him. They twisted his. His words, but he just kept going. He really took the scripture to live as Christ and to die is gain, because now he really has gained the kingdom of heaven for, you know, putting Jesus first and for living for Jesus and not living for the world, which is something that I think a lot of us haven't been able to do, and I think a lot of us, like, so desperately want to do that. So we just, like, feel for him. We feel for his family. I mean, the fact that he probably shared the gospel to more college students than, like, really anyone, it's just insane. I mean, it's. And he just didn't stop. Even when I've seen videos of people throwing eggs on him, food on him, cussing him out. And he would just always just stand there and, like, you know, just kind of stand there and take it. And sometimes I'd be like. I'd be like, charlie, get in there. And I'm like, fight him back. I'm like, you have the words. And, you know, and he just wouldn't. He was also a dad, which took Sabbath. He took Sabbath and raised his two daughters to love Jesus. And that's something that a lot of us respect, too, that a lot of men respect. And it's really sad to see someone that's trying so hard to live for the kingdom die. Like, not only that, but he loved his wife. He, like, you know, people say he's misogynistic. Or whatever. Dude, that guy loved and just, like, respected the heck out of his wife. And he acknowledged, like, I've seen things where he's acknowledged, like, she is so much better at this than I am. And. And that's just so. That's so beautiful to see, like, see a man respect his wife so much. Like I said, you might not agree with his policy, and I don't even really know all that. I don't want to talk about politics. I really tell. I'm telling y', all, I am not qualified. There is so much that I don't know about politics, but I do know that. That he always tried to share his faith whenever he was speaking. I know that when I post about it, I received, like, a lot of people that were angry. I had a ton of unfollows. And, you know, I'm human, and I'm like, ouch. It hurts a little bit. But I have really, this year, tried to find my worth in what Jesus says about me. And as a daughter of the King, and not by how many people follow me. And not like. And so. But I'm going to be honest. Like, it still does hurt, and it still makes me sad. And the reason it makes me sad is because y' all are un. It makes me sad that we can't find. Follow each other, and we can't listen to each other, and we can't have, like, differing perspectives. And, you know, I've seen some Christians get on social media and say, oh, you unfollow me good. I don't want you following me. I don't have that perspective. Like, I want to have a relationship with y'. All. I want to be able to talk about things, these things. I want to be able to disagree and love each other through. Through it. I'm not someone that's, like, good. I. I'm losing followers. I don't want them around anyway. Like, that just makes me sad because that's not how Jesus was at all. I mean, he sat with the nastiest. The nastiest people. The. The prostitutes and the criminals, you know, people that killed, like, murderers. And he wasn't like, good, you unfollow me. You're not gonna follow me disciples. Like, good. I think it really broke his heart when people chose to unfollow him. And I'm not sorry. Like, I'm not comparing myself to Jesus. That was weird. I didn't mean to do that. I just mean that, you know, I. It does make me sad. And when y' all unfollow me, you know, I want you to know that it does just, it's. I'm not sitting there like, ha ha ha, I don't care, I don't need you. That's not what it is. I, I wish that we could have a relationship where we could have these type of conversations. One thing I know for sure is that Satan is so happy about the division and where social media and where this country is with politics and just this spiritual warfare. Overall you see people that are joyful for such a gruesome public death. And no matter what you believe, that's just evil. Like, it's just evil to see people celebrating murder. And it's something that, like I saw the video up close of the assassination and I've seen videos also where when he got assassinated, people immediately in the crowd started cheering. And that is spiritual warfare. That is a, like, that's demonic. And spiritual warfare is the ongoing battle between God, the kingdom of God and darkness. That's Ephesians 6, 6 12. So if there's spiritual warfare and if we believe in a God and if there's a heaven, then there is a hell, and if there is a God, then there is a Satan. And Satan has his demons and they come here to kill demons, steal and destroy us. He wants to rob us of our joy. He wants people to see these videos and for people to fight. You know, you see a lot of these shooters that are going into wherever they're going and when they do research on like who did this and why, a lot of them have diaries or journals where they're struggling with like demonic thoughts in their voices in their heads, or they're drawing pictures of like demons and they see demons within themselves. Like it's, it's spiritual warfare. Satan also hates children. He hates children. And you see this war on our children. Like our children are as moms. Like, we don't even feel safe for like our children to go to school. And that's like, that is, that is demonic. That is Satan. This happens because Satan doesn't want for these blessings our children to grow up and be for his kingdom. I mean, that happened in. See, after Jesus was born, Herod ordered the massacre of all baby boys in Bethlehem because he didn't want Jesus to grow up and save people. And a lot of times the devil does work through powerful people. And that's just like one example of it. Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. That doesn't exclude children. And Jesus warned anyone. This is in Matthew 18:10. Jesus warned anyone who causes a Child to stumble will fall to severe judgment, implying that this is a demonic act, like when we hurt our children. Satan also loves to lie and confuse and cause deception. In John 8:44, Jesus says Satan doesn't stand in truth, he is the father of lies. And you see that all over the Internet of like these radicalized groups that are being fed lies about one another and deceiving one another. And it's really scary how once they get a part of this like demon just grabs a, or Satan just grabs a hold of them and radicalizes them to a place where they're just like not even really human anymore. It's super scary. Then you also have that Satan loves when we are, when we self exalt and we, we pride ourselves and we have ego. And it's so prevalent, especially in the influencer industry. Like it says Isaiah 14:12, Satan loves ego, self worship and pride. This is like when you think of I'm the main character energy, or when you think of like you do you because like you are basically the God of your life and you do you. Or just even cancel culture where we put these people up on these pedestals where we think that they're worthy of condemnation or like of canceling because we think they're supposed to be perfect when they're not. Like it's just impossible. And, and I think that's definitely a way that Satan works on the Internet. You also see that Satan loves violence. He loves targeted violence. He loves murder, random violence. I mean, we saw that with the train on the girl in Charlotte. You see that with Charlie Kirk. Assassination, Gaza, Israel, it's everywhere. And then the last one, which is so huge is Satan loves division and accusation. Satan loves to divide people against one another. He loves to shame them and con and condemn them. This episode of De Influence is brought to you by Huggies Little Snugglers. Parents, you know this. There are plenty of things we can improvise as mom and dads, but a diaper blowout, that's not one of them. In our family, you already know we've had our fair share of blots. One time we were at home, I just finished getting Stella dressed in a fresh outfit and I thought, perfect, we're finally on schedule. Not five minutes later, I picked her up and felt something warm. Sure enough, the blowout had gone all the way up her back of her onesie, straight through to the couch cushion. That's happened so many times. 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Keep your baby comfy, keep yourself sane, and keep the mess where it belongs. Huggies Little Snugglers up to a hundred percent leak proof with blowout protection in every direction. Sizes one and two. Huggies, we got you baby. I want to read. I don't know if y' all have ever heard of the Screwtape letters. I want to share one of the letters from the Screwtape letters. It was written in 1942 by C.S. lewis and it has 31 letters that are. So it's written by this demon named Screwtape and he's writing and he's like one of the more experienced higher up demons and he's writing to his nephew who is a demon in training. And his nephew's name is, let's see, Wormwood. And he's kind of mentoring him on how we tempt and how we corrupt a human. And in the book they use the word patient like, this is how we corrupt our patient. This is how we keep him away from God. So this is one of the letters that a demon is writing to another demon that he is mentoring. I have it on my phone and I thought this was like just so interesting. My dear Wormwood, be sure that the patient remains completely fixated on politics, arguments, political gossip, and obsessing on the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control. Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of human race in order to Avoid any kind of charity or inner peace. Or from further developing, ensure the patient comes to believe that the problem is out there in the broken system, rather than recognizing there's a problem with himself. Keep up the good work, Uncle Screwtape. And I mean, that was written in 1942, and it's pretty creepy how relevant that is and just how, like, we are so fixated on our anger and our division and proving ourselves right that we are. It is impossible for us to look within and to repent within and to, like, see that maybe we've caused some of the problems. And I am speaking this on both sides, like, a hundred percent on both sides. We are. We are all sinners. We all fall short. And so we all have, you know, we all have to repent to anyone that is, like, also angry, because I went through a little. A couple of days of just feeling, like, so much frustration and anger for the. The world and things I was seeing online. Like, I. I was so angry when I saw this video at UT's camp campus, like, the school that I went to, and some guy went around the campus and asked, you know, Charlie Kirk was assassinated. What do you think? And it was, like, 10 students that were, like, good. He deserved it. So happy. He got what he was, like, looking for. And it just made me so. Just disgusted. Like, no matter like, what side you are on, like, it's just evil, you know? So my flesh is angry. And I thought a lot about 2020, and I was like, my flesh, like, I wanted to, like, revolt. Like, I wanted to, like, I was like, remember when all those people, like, destroyed cities and, like, rioted and protested? I was like, I want to do that because I'm so angry. But Jesus calls us to pray for our enemies, which is so freaking hard. He calls us to turn the other cheek. And not to me, not to meet an evil with an evil, but to meet an evil with a good. And Charlie Kirk definitely believed that. I have heard so many arguments, debate debates where he believed that that's Matthew 5. 44 and Luke 27, if y' all want to look those up. So I wrote this down. I made this up. No eye for an eye. Instead, we revive. I heard about this, actually. I heard about. Or I got this from our. Our pastor, a church sermon that I actually did link on my stories. I'll maybe try to link it in the show notes, too. But how do we, like, find vengeance in all this if we are angry and we don't know what to do, but we want to do the right Thing. What our pastor shared with us, which I thought was so insightful and so helpful, is the only way to fight this is through a revival. So I'm always, like, hearing about revivals and churches and college campuses, and I'm like, okay, it's a really, like, churchy word. And, like, I don't really get what you mean by that. And so I went ahead and looked it up, and it, like, really hit home for me. It's when God's presence is near and active. It's when you have a renewed faith or when you repent from your sin. You decide to pray, and then you start to evangelize. Revival. Revivals bring dead or lukewarm Christians back to life. And I was like, oh, my gosh, we need this because there's so many people that we identify as Christians and we think that we follow Jesus Christ, but do we repent from our sins? Do we pray? Do we evangelize? Not always. You know, maybe I go through waves of it, but I have fallen short all the time. So a big question that I want you all to ask yourselves and I really had to ask myself is, am I a lukewarm Christian? Like, you know, how do I. How do I respond to all of this? Do I avoid it? Do I pray about it? Do I what? And, you know, this past week, I've. I've been praying a lot about this episode, and if I should even do this, because I'm going to be honest with y', all, like, there's a lot going on in our personal life, and I was like, I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle this right now. You know, I don't know if I'm equipped. I, I, you know, I might get canceled again. I've been canceled so many times. People might take my words out of perspective or out of, you know, context, and. But then I realized that's probably me seeking or trying to serve, like, two masters. Like, that's probably me trying to serve myself and try to serve God at the same time. And it's really just not possible to do. And I think about what people like Charlie Kirk did. Like, they did it so much that they got killed for it. And I'm just scared about a little hate on Instagram. Like, come on. Like, it's just crazy. You know, I wrote down, do ask yourself, do you follow Jesus? When it's just convenient. I know I do. A lot of times I sometimes just get to post the scripture or post what's going on and then move on. And not really, you know, like, pray about it or really think about it. Are you scared to speak your faith because of what people will think of you? I am, for sure. I'm not gonna lie. I'm very. I'm very scared all the time, because it hurts. And we're just human, and I'm sensitive, and I get scared, and I don't want to hurt anyone. Like, I really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Are you just a comfortable, casual Christian? If you're a lukewarm Christian, you're trying to make this world your heaven when this world should be your hell. This should not be the place that we're trying to store up earthly goods and riches. Like, this life is so short, and if you believe in God, there is a heaven, and there is an eternity available in heaven for all of us. And it scares me. Like, it really does scare me thinking about how much I could be wasting this life. And I think about. I. I often, like, don't understand why I have this platform or this influence. I do. Like, I. I really do, like, forget. A lot of times I'm like, oh, we have, like, a couple million followers, like, whatever. And it's like, I'm really thankful for it, but, like, I just want to keep everybody happy. And. And I was like, really? Like, I was in church the other day, and I was like, I don't know. Like, maybe God. Like, maybe I am, like, anointed, and maybe God maybe gave me this platform for a reason. And it's not just to have fun and make people laugh and be funny. Like, it's. It's maybe supposed to be bigger than that. And, gosh, what would it be like if I went to heaven and God was like, man, I gave you all of that, and you totally wasted it. And that kills me to think about. So I've chosen to be part of that revival, and I. Who even knows what that looks like? It's. It's one day at a time for me. But like I said, it starts with confess, Confessing your sins, reconciling relationships, reading God Word, God's word, and ultimately praying. Something that I often think about is just how many times in the Bible it talks about how challenging it is to make it to heaven. Because I do. See, I do feel like following Christ and living, you know, his will is. Is challenging. Sometimes I feel like it's easier to be a non believer because anything goes. Like, there's no rules and regulations, and, like, you know, it's just, like, there's no guidelines. So you just. Anything goes. And then, you know, God in the. In the Bible and God's Word, it's. He has a pretty, like, beautiful outline for what he wants our lives to look like if you want to follow him. And there's a couple of scriptures that I always just think about that I wanted to share with you guys, not to scare you, but I just want you to know the reality that Jesus is coming back. And I pray that we are all ready for that. And if you are not following Jesus and it's something that you're interested in, I, like, implore you, I urge you, like, this week to figure that out, because he is coming back and you don't want to be on the wrong side of things. Either God is real and this is all real. And we are going to heaven or hell, or at least we're going to live our lives believing in something that we truly, truly believed in. But, like, let's not waste our lives. Like, let's not just waste and wait around and say, oh, I don't know. I just. I'm trying to figure out what I believe. Like, this is the most important thing right now. Like, what do you believe? Um, Matthew 7:13 says, Enter by the narrow gate. The gate that is wide and easy leads to destruction. The gate that is narrow and hard leads to life. And those that find it are few. I don't know what few means, but it sounds like a few. And it makes my heart kind of beat really fast because I'm like, am I part of the few? I really hope I'm part of the few. And I think that there's an opportunity after this, you to be part of the few. And you can, like, God is calling you right now. Like, you. You don't have to miss out. You don't have to be one of the people that is confused and deceived and lied to. Matthew 19:23 also says, Only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. With man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. It's easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle. Like, that's freaky, too. I always hate that scripture. It always just, like, really freaks me out. But I think that only with. Only with difficulty will a rich person. And I don't think that that just means money. I think it's anyone that just idolizes anything other than a relationship with God, whether they're rich in, you know, followers or fame or money or whatever they're idolizing, whatever they're finding outside of, you know, their true worth in Jesus Christ, I think is a worldly rich. And when we put all of our worth in that, and we're not pursuing Jesus like, it just says it's. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Ugh, yuck. I hate that. There's one more. Matthew 18:3. Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. This, to me means, like, there's a lot in the Bible about having, like, a childlike faith. And, you know, like, you remember when you're a child and you're like, when I grew up, I'm going to be a bird. Like, I literally thought that. Like, I remember telling my mom, she was like, what do you want to be when I. When you grow up? And I was like, a bird, I'm going to fly like a bird. And I truly believed that that's just like, that's just having, like, this faith that makes no sense. Sense. And you just believe it. And you know that you've experienced God in so many ways, and that's the thing that, that the devil cannot break is when you experience God. Like, when God changes you and transforms you from the inside out. And when you can turn the other cheek and decide not to riot and rebel and be, you know, super angry and protest or whatever, when something so horrible happens to a brother in Christ, like, that is Jesus working within you. We're called to have humility. We're called to trust, and we're called to have dependence on God. Just like a child is just so dependent on. On a parent, like, they can't do anything without you. This little baby, when I put summit on the. On the floor, he just, like, literally flops over. And I'm like, these babies are so dependent on me. It is just insane. And that's how we want to be with Jesus. So this is like, something I, I. Let me tell you one thing about me. I'm not very good at praying. Like, I am, but I'm not one of those people that, like, prays really eloquently, and I'm like, oh, my God. And people are like, oh, my God, this is such a good prayer. Like, I kind of pray like I'm a child, and that's okay. Like, that's how God wants us to pray. He just wants us to talk to him. And you don't have to have these, like, flashy words and this, like, way. But I felt. I felt like this was maybe an opportunity for me to pray. And for anyone that feels like if you feel this, like, conviction in your heart and you're feeling like, oh, my gosh, like, I don't want to waste this life, and, like, I want to follow Jesus, and I'm looking for more and this deception and this evil that is surrounding me that is eating me alive. Like, I don't want this anymore, and I want to find. I want to find, like, the. The fruits of the Spirit, and I want the Holy Spirit to live within me. Like, I thought this could be an opportunity where, like, right now on this podcast, like, you guys could accept Jesus into your hearts. And I thought maybe I could pray, which this is, like, probably not gonna be a pretty prayer, but, you know, I thought I could pray for you guys. And if you're just feeling that, like, within you, maybe this is the opportunity where you decide to follow Jesus. Maybe this is the moment where you decide to be a Christian, and maybe no one's ever invited you to do that before, and maybe that's what God wanted me to do on this podcast, and maybe that's why Jordan said that he couldn't come to this episode. Like, I don't know. I'm just trying to be obedient. And so I just thought that our podcast producer, he can pray, too, you know, silently over there. You're not. You're not mic'd up, but okay. Dear God, for anyone on the other side of this podcast that desires to follow you and desires to have the Lord, to have Lord Jesus be the center and savior of their life, I pray for them right now. I pray for that conviction. I pray that we accept Jesus into our hearts and we believe that he is our Lord and Savior and that we repent from our sins and we decide to follow Jesus. I pray for anyone on the other side of this. I pray that the. The Holy Spirit just enters them and they receive gifts that they've never received before through the Holy Spirit and in Jesus name, amen. The only thing I ask is that if that was you and if that was someone that, you know, wanted to accept Jesus in their heart, just tall or text, like, any Christian friend that you have that maybe follows Jesus and, like, just ask them, like, hey, like, what do baptisms look like at your church? Or what? Like, what does it look like to repent? Or can I just, like, come to church with you? And can I just have, like, somebody in my life that can guide me and lead me, because it's hard. It's really hard for us to do it alone. And I don't want you to just do this through a podcast. Like, I want you to have community, community and friends and people that are really like, helping shepherd you into the right places. Because like I said, if you've had like a really horrible, scary week, I think it's scary and horrible for all of us. But there's a lot of hope that we can find in Jesus and there's a lot of hope for you guys and we're not doomed. Like, this is just the beginning. Like, there are. There is an amazing revival happening. And I do believe that the death of Charlie Kirk and just like the state of our country is, is, is pushing us in that direction. And something that I've realized is, is our pastor touched on this is Satan is no longer like just working like, you know, behind closed doors and behind websites and social media. Like it is like all out war now. Like you are. It is violent. It is out there. It is at malls and churches, in schools, you know, at events. It's everywhere. And so, and it's kind of sad that it takes something so scary like this for believers in Christ to stand up, but it, it does. And I'm thankful for it because I saw, I don't know about you guys, I went to church yesterday and I've never seen so many people in, in church before. It was pretty cool. And so, yeah, I just encourage you to text someone, reach out and, and yeah, just know that we love you guys. We're praying for you guys. I don't know, it's just. It's a really, really heavy week and I'm trying my best to not be a lukewarm Christian and to live the way that God wants me to live. Recently, Jordan did health testing with Function Health. And it was honestly such a cool and easy process. I've always wanted to do this, but right now I am pregnant. So I want to wait until like, I feel like if I do right now, all my levels are going to be out the wazoo. Jordan I chose Function because it's the only health platform that gives you access to the kind of data most people never see and the insights to actually take action. Inside Function, you can test over 160 biomarkers, from heart and hormones to toxins, inflammation, and stress. Oh my gosh, I need that. You can also access multi region MRI and CT scans, all tracked in one secure place. Over time, it's an enhanced view of what's happening in your body. That's why top health leaders like Dr. Mark Hyman, I love his podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman, love his podcast, and Dr. Jeremy London are all behind Function Health. So Function Health is this really cool, like, lab test that Jordan started taking annually. Like, they sent. I think he just, like, did his blood work. They sent it off. It was super accessible. That's what's so nice, is they make it to where, like, anyone can do these tests. Usually these tests they do will cost over, like, $10,000 if you did all of them on your own. But you send off your blood work, and then they send you all of the results, and you get to see, like, all your levels, and you get to see everything going on in your body, and it also tells you, like, how your bio aids. So, like, I have a friend that's like 32, and her bio edge was 17. I think Jordan's was, like, 22. Um. Oh, my gosh. I would be kind of scared to know what mine is, but I feel like it's good to know because the best thing is, is that you can take your results and talk to your doctor about everything. Mark Hyman is really cool. If you haven't heard his podcast too. He's the co founder of Function Health. He's an American physician, author, and prominent advocate of functional medicine. He founded the Ultra Wellness center and has served founder of or senior advisor to other functional medicine programs like the Cleveland Clinic center for Functional Medicine. He is a multiple New York Times bestselling author podcast Hope, and speaks often on diet, longevity, and prevention of chronic disease and reforming how we approach healthcare. So the way that Jordan also, just so y' all know, the way that he did his blood work was he just went to a lab. Like, you can just Google it. You find a lab that does your blood work, and then, you know, we sent it in, and then the results were literally just emailed to us, which was so nice. Something else that is so nice about Function Health because I've done some blood work in labs, and actually last year when I was out of town, I got some of my blood work back, and they. They, like, emailed it over to me. I could not read a thing. It was like a joke that the nurses sent to me. It literally looked like. What is it? Like, like code? Is it Morse code or something? I don't know. It looked like I was trying to, like, design, decipher code. And what's so great about Function Health is the insights they send. You are so easy to read. They give you A summary. They break it down easy. And if you have any results that are urgent, you'll get a call from one of their clinicians to go through it with you, which is also very nice because it could maybe find some things that are more serious. Okay. So when I'm looking at the website, they have, like, a list of all of the tests that they do. They look at tests for your heart. There's so many. There's like 160 tests. They look at, like, your cholesterol, your proteins. They look at your thyroid antibodies, iodine, all these things that I honestly don't know. They look at cancer detection, autoimmunity. This is why I need this. Because you all know I'm, like, always so sick. I'm always getting the flu. I had the flu 10 times last year. I can't wait till, like, I have. I'm. I'm not. I mean, I love. Sorry. It's a blessing to be pregnant. Like, I'm excited to, like, have a time period where, like, I'm not pregnant and everything can kind of level out. They look at immune regulation. They look at their lymphocytes. They look at female health. Oh, which is so nice because we have so many hormones. They look at HCG for pregnancy. Testosterone. That was, like, one of the biggest things that Jordan was really interested in was seeing if he was testosterone, like, deficient. He wasn't at all. And so because he was like, I want to be able to take testosterone because he just wants to get more jacked. But he, like, wasn't deficient. So I was like, no, you're not. So anyway, learn more and join Using my Link, the first 1,000 people get a 100 credit towards their membership. Visit www.functionhealth.com influence or use the gift code influence100@. Sign up to own your health. I'm so excited to share that this episode of D Influence is brought to you by the Real Real. The best place to shop. Authenticated luxury bags, clothing, watches, and so much more. I'll be honest, I'm obsessed with Prada. I love their bags. I love their shoes. 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Now you can get 25 off your first purchase when you go to therealreal.com that's therealreal.com Danny to get 25 off. Start shopping now@therealreal.com Danny. So changing gears a little bit, but actually not really too much because we did like a Q and A and you guys asked a bunch of great questions. But, like, obviously I feel like that was kind of like a little heavy. So I don't really. People are like, how do you avoid stretch mark? Like, that's one of the questions I'm like, I think we'll kind of answer. I'll narrow down some of the questions that are kind of relevant to today's episode, if that's okay with you guys. So actually, it's kind of crazy because the first three were very relevant. Number one is how do you handle having friends or followers with different viewpoints? Do you think that religion and politics should be talked about with friends? What a great question. I have. Let's see. I have some new friends that probably have different political views than I do and they are Christians. But, you know, it's, it's. There's so many, like, different types of denominations and, like, ways that people want to pursue, you know, Jesus. And so, so yeah, I, I do have a lot of, like, friends with different beliefs. And of course, like, everybody that follows me is. It's like 50, 50. But honestly, I don't. It's never really bothered me. Like, I grew up. I told you guys, I grew up in like, a Jewish community. We had very different beliefs. I've always had, like, been to, like, my high schools. I went to a public high school. Like, everybody kind of believed different things and it's never been, like, an issue. I kind of just assumed that a lot of times people are going to believe, you know, have different religions and live their lives differently. I hung out with, like, a lot of girls in high school that smoked pot. Like, and I never smoked pot. It never bothered me. I, like, always, like, loved hanging out with them. And I was like, yeah, whatever. I'm not saying you should do that. I just. I'm just telling you, I'm to be honest. And so, yeah, I just. I truly see, like, every single person as, like, as God's child. Like, I really do. I've never really struggled with that. I've never, like, seen. Been like. Like Taylor Swift versus a billionaire versus me versus my neighbor, whatever. We are all equal. I've never. Yeah, I get nervous about around one of them because they're really talented. But we are all equal, and God loves us all the same, and I've always been able to see that. I feel like that's been a blessing in my life. But do I think that people should talk about. Do you think that religion and politics should be talked about with friends? Oh, it's so tough. Tough, because it's like, what kind of friend are we talking about? Because some people just, like, don't want to have open discussions. They just want to be right. And I probably would not talk about religion or politics with that type person, but if you have, like, a friend that is, like, humble and wants to learn and ask questions, like, my best friend Ellie is Catholic, and, you know, we've been friends for years, and I've always just gotten really curious about, you know, what she believes, and I respect a lot of what she believes. I really do. And I've learned a lot about Catholicism. And we've always been able. Except for that one time that we had a fight, we've always been able to, you know, have peaceful discussions about religion and politics. Politics gets so nasty because people just want to be, like, labeled by them or they want to label you by them. And. But, like, a lot of times I'm telling y', all, like, I might have voted some way, but, like, I'm not happy with everything that they're doing. You know, it's like, it's so hard. And so just because you vote a certain way doesn't mean that you're put in that, you know, you're put on the left or you're put on the right and you subscribe to all of that. It's really. Is kind of like a spectrum. And at the end of the day, like, politics does not. Like, we don't worship politics. Like, we worship a God. And what makes me so sad is that we really are all on the same team. And it makes me so sad that it feels like we're not. And so. So, yeah, I would say, you know, if you're. If. If your friend is mature enough to have the conversation and is humble and wants to learn, why not have the conversation? Also, I've always thought about, like, if I ever had a friend that just believed in something totally different than. Than me. And I've always thought about, like. Because sometimes I get on this, like, high horse where I kind of, like, want to debate somebody, which I never do because I'm not very good at debating. So. But I've always thought about it. I'm like, what would I say? You know? And if you're, like, one of those people that, like, wants to debate, I think one of the coolest things you could do is if you disagree about something, you say, hey, like. And if you're both, like, believers, you say, hey, let's go to a coffee shop and, like, let's, like, do a deep dive and figure out what God says about this topic. And, like, if we come to different conclusions after that, but, like, let's spend an hour just together, like, like, searching and reading. And I've always thought that would be, like, a really good way, because I'm not going to act like I know everything. And if we both went in and, like, really dealt, like, did a deep dive, you know, and still came out on different. With different perspectives, I think because we both did the work together and we both tried our, like, you would just respect the other person. I don't know. And instead of just, like, jumping to conclusions. So, you know, it's. I think, you know what? Colby asked that question. Colby. I think it just depends. Number two, what is your take on Christian culture as a whole right now? Oh, my gosh. Sometimes it gives me the egg. I'm just, you know, sometimes it does, but a lot of times, I. I really do respect people that put themselves out there. My friend Janine Amapola has a great podcast, and she has never shied away from her faith. And I've. I've always just loved that about her. And she does it in such a loving, like, educational, you know, cool way. She's just such a cool girl. And what's so cool is when you see someone like that and they're, like, really cool online, but then they're, like, even more vulnerable and more deep and care more about you offline. Like, that's always really special. And so I'm really encouraged by people like that. I'm encouraged by the pastor that has been speaking at this church I've been kind of visiting or going to. It really did kind of, like, break my heart a little bit when I Heard about all these churches and pastors after what's been going on, like, with Charlie Kirk and in school shootings and whatever, it's such a big thing that happened, but a lot of churches, like, didn't, you know, touch on it. And. And it's a. It's a. Like, a big thing happening that is really affecting a lot of Christians. And it's crazy to me that. That people aren't talking about it. Like, our pastors aren't talking about it, or churches don't feel like they need to speak on it, like, and just to move on and preach about something. Totally. I. I don't know. Like, that. That kind of is a little crazy to me because we don't have to be of the world, but, like, I feel like these things that are happening are, like, really in the world are. Are affecting us. They are making me, like, when at first they're making me want to sin. They're making me want to sit on my computer and just reply to everybody and try to, you know, fight back and defend myself. And that's, like, so not healthy. And so. So I was really thankful that our pastor, like, just, like, went, like. He just attacked it, and he just, like, went full throttle. And you could just tell, like, he don't care what people think. And I think that's. That was really cool. So Christian culture as a whole, I don't know, I'm choosing to be, like, encouraged and not be cynical about it because it's easy to me, especially when you see, like, all those preachers wearing those, like, expensive sneakers and, like, outfits. Like, I can't. It's just, like. It's so funny to me. Okay, what is the biggest thing you've learned in the past year? I have a lot of, like, ambitions myself and a lot of things that, like, I want to do. And I've talked about this many times before. But what I've learned the most is, like, right now I'm called to be a mom. And, like, that is my mission right now. I think a lot of people that grew up and have these, like, really crazy world views or really extreme views probably didn't have parents that. That put them first as their mission. I could be wrong. I don't know. Like, maybe that's a. Not a right statement to say, but. But I feel like when it comes to evangelizing or sharing the gospel or showing up and being consistent, like, it first starts, like, within my home, and it starts with my children first. And a lot of times I'm like. But I need to go to New York and I need to spend. Speak on this panel, and I need to do this and this. And it's like, I think that really what God is calling a lot of us are like, us moms to do is to take care and teach our children about Jesus. And they're never going to listen to someone. Like, they listen to their parents. Like, they're never going to. It's just we have. That's what God. Like, this is how God designed it, you know. And so I've just been finding, like, a lot of peace in that. Like, my purpose right now is to be a mom, and I'm having to say no to a lot of things, and that's okay. Oh, this is kind of ties in. How do you teach your kids about God? I think the best way you can teach your kids about God is having a relationship with God yourself and not worrying too much about, you know, jamming these messages down their throats, especially at such a young age. But when they see you praying and they see you hugging Daddy, and they see Daddy and mommy praying together, and they see mommy worshiping, and they see Mommy putting on worship music instead of Taylor Swift, I'm guilty of that, or they see, you know, mommy by her bed, like, on her knees asking God to protect her children or praying for her babies at night, like, reading her Bible or whatever it is that's going to probably influence them more than anything. And not only that, but, like, gosh, like, you have a husband like that. Like, oh, my gosh, how can you respect anyone more? Like, it's so. I have so much respect for. For dads that wake up and read their Bible and, you know, call their. Their family to, like, higher standards and set boundaries for their family and say, hey, we're not going to watch that movie and we're not going to say that word and we're not going to listen to that song. And how cool is it that, like, moms and dads are fighting for their children's, like, innocence and protecting them and shielding them in that way? Like, a lot of times it takes a lot of work to do that because, like, a lot of times. We went to Spirit Halloween store yesterday after church. So funny. Like, it's like, such a scary place. And I walked in there because they really wanted Halloween costumes. And I'm like, I feel like every time we go to Target, they don't have the right ones, you know, And I was like, okay, we're gonna hit up. They. They wanted. Stratton wanted to Be a dinosaur and sailor, wanted to be a mermaid. And I was like, they're gonna be sold out of these things, you know, So I was like, we're just gonna go inside. And we walked in immediately. You see these, like, terrifying, you know, it was like some witch standing, you know, there's like, they're like life size. And you see like this witch in front of the house and like her, her head like spins all the way around. It's so scary, you know. And, and right when we walked in, I said, guys, I want you to put your head down. I'm gonna hold you. Do not look until I say open your eyes. I wanted so badly to shield them from this evil place ultimately that I took them to. It's horrible. But. But yeah, it's just like when you prioritize your kids like that and you, you know, like, you're the one that's going to protect them. This is like, you're the one that's going to discipline them. You're the one that they're going to listen to. Like, you know. You know, you always ask these kids, like, why didn't you ever sneak out growing up? Or why did. Why did you not make D's on your tests? And they're like, because my mom would have killed me. Like, because they respect their moms, because their moms cared and, and they put a lot of effort into raising them. And so I don't know, I kind of just rambled about that one. But that's kind of like just my overall thoughts on, on raising kids right now. What Bible verse has stuck with you most lately? There's a lot of Bible verses right now that are freaking the heck out of me. I definitely am fearing God a little bit right now. I sometimes, like, when it comes to spiritual warfare, I sometimes make excuses and I'm just like, it's not spiritual warfare. Like, they just, it's just like a mean person. Like, you know, I just, sometimes I make a lot of excuses and I don't feel like it's a spiritual thing. And I will say I feel like after this week, I'm like, oh no, it's definitely spiritual warfare. But in the past I've made a lot of excuses for that. And so there was a verse in Ephesians 6:12 about spiritual says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Which just really means that right now, like this fight that we're having is not just, it's not against one another. Like we think that it is and we think that the left is the problem. We think the right is the problem. We think that Christians are the problem. We think that atheists are the problem. That's not the problem. The problem is like the spiritual warfare. The problem is the devil. The, the problem is demonic forces. And, and, and man, I, I think like if we could just all agree on that, you know, if we could all agree on that, I think that we would get to like a much more, like be much more understanding and find a lot more peace. But so yeah, I've just been really focused a lot on spiritual warfare because I've experience, experienced it and seen it. Probably like you guys have more this past week than like almost like ever before. Let's see. Do you have any tips for looking for a church home? Oh goodness. I mean I love to go try out new churches. It's kind of like dating and they always treat you so nice and you always get the front row parking. Like you know, it's just like. And sometimes they got donuts in there for like all the first time guests. Like they're so nice. Like I don't know why you wouldn't like just like go try out everything and any. They're literally the most welcoming people. Like sometimes it's kind of annoying like how nice they are. Like I'm like okay, I'm good. Like I gotta see like, like it's like, you know, just take a friend and if you feel scared, take a friend, take your kids and just like go try something new. If you're, if you don't know what denomination you are or whatever. Maybe try out a non denominational church first and then learn more and then be like, okay, I want to do this or I want to do that or I want to learn more about this. But yeah, like I would literally just start with like googling churches or driving around like what's that church that you've always seen on the corner? Churches are freaking everywhere, you know. And like I said text the one Christian that you know, like and just ask them the question, hey, what church do you go to? Which service time do you go to? You don't even have to sit with them. Like just like text them and be like, hey, like do you think I would like it? And I found that it's just like such a great place to like meet friends and other moms and community. Like I went to a Bible study for the first time today and it's at a new church. I've never been there. And it was like, it's a Bible study for just moms. And it was like there were like 200 of us and I would have never ever met all these people. But this is so crazy. So like we, there was, it was so big and they slid us up into tables and our tape. My table, which I always think that like I am, what do they call it, terminally unique. Like, I'm like, I always feel like what I do with the amount of kids that I have, with the age gap that they have, with the pressures that I'm under is like, nobody else understands. It's like such a, I don't know, maybe selfish, self righteous way to live. But I'm always like, you guys just don't understand like what I'm going through. And so I'm at this table and like literally like every single mom there was probably like 20 people in my group had like three or four kids under five. I think the oldest kid there was one mom that had an 8 year old, but everyone had kids like under 5 years old. And we're all talking and like, we're all just like, oh my gosh. Like one mom is talking about how like she's so scared because her three and a half year old is regressing on potty training and like the school is getting mad at her and I'm like, me too. Like, I'm having the same issues and it was just like so cool to find women that are trying to live and follow Jesus, but also like struggling with the same things that I'm struggling with. And a lot of them are working moms too. Like, it's just so cool and so, but also, it's also great to have like single friends. Like right now I have a single friend and she's so available. Like, you know, I would, I would advise, like moms that have single friends, they're just, their schedules are like just so much easier to work with. So yeah, I would say just go for it. Like, put yourself out there. It's worth it. It's so worth it. You know, just be bold and be courageous. I guess that's probably like the biggest advice I'd, I'd have for you. And trust me, it's not scary. And if it's scary, just like leave. Like, you know, just, you don't have to be there. Well, okay. Those are most of the questions that are kind of relevant to today's conversation. Feel free to leave a comment down below. I'm like, I even said that I'm, like, scared. But I'd love to know what you guys are thinking. If you have any other questions, maybe people in the comments can answer each other's questions. Maybe we could be kind to each other. But I love you guys, and I will see you guys next week. Bye. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.
