166 Journey From Empty to Well Nourished Soul with Gretchen Saffles

166. Journey from Empty to Well Nourished Soul with Gretchen Saffles   Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. John 15:4   *Transcription Below*   Gretchen Saffles is passionate about encouraging and equipping women to drink deeply from the well of God’s Word and to find their identity and purpose in Christ. She is the founder of Well-Watered Women, an online ministry that reaches women worldwide with the hope of the gospel, and the author of The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith. She has written several Bible studies including Redefined: Defining Identity through the Mirror of God’s Word and Esther: The Fingerprints of God. She is also the creator of the Give Me Jesus quiet-time journal for women, a tool to help women study Scripture daily. On any given day you can find her with a cup of coffee in hand, her boys by her side, a message stirring in her soul, and a God-sized dream on her heart. Gretchen lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Greg, and her two sons, Nolan and Haddon.   Will you share more about the pit that led you to a transformative encounter with Jesus in college? How did God begin to pour out His grace on you and even allow you to begin sharing your story in what felt like the midst of living your story? Which relationships have impacted your walk with the Lord that you also wrote about in your book?   Other Savvy Sauce Episode Mentioned: Fruitful   At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.    The Well-Watered Woman   Well-Watered Women Website and Instagram   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Leman Property Management Company   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   [00:00:00] <music>   Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    [00:00:18] <music>   Laura Dugger: Leman Property Management Company has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,600 apartment units available in central Illinois. Visit them today at MidwestShelters.com or visit them on Facebook.    Gretchen Saffles is my guest today. She is the founder of Well-Watered Women, which equips women to be rooted deeply in God's Word. Now we get to hear her personal story of ways God has helped her up through storms in her life, and how He's given her delight through her obedience to Him. She also shares practical ways we can abide in Him and grow spiritually.    Here's our chat.    Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Gretchen.    Gretchen Saffles: Thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this.    Laura Dugger: Well, can you just start us off by going a bit back and give us some context about your upbringing and your childhood dreams, and then eventually, a pit that led you to a transformative encounter with Jesus in college? [00:01:28]    Gretchen Saffles: Yeah. So I grew up in a Christian home in Texas and had parents who loved the Lord, who taught me the word, and I'm so grateful for that upbringing.    When I was seven years old, the Lord called me to Himself and I gave my life to Jesus. And I remember just loving Jesus. He was my best friend. I would sing songs to Him, you know. It was like He was just always with me and I was always aware of Him.    But as I grew older, we were always in the church. I ended up going to a private Christian school. I started to fall into this kind of pit of legalism thinking that as a Christian I have to be perfect all the time. Like, this is what I have to be. I have to live up to this standard of perfection and always be the good girl that I thought everybody expected me to be.    The legalism and the struggle with perfection continued to just grow and amplify in my life. When I got to college, I struggled with a lot of insecurity. [00:02:32] I feel like I was very sheltered in a way, you know, when I was in my parents' home and went to a public, you know, university, and it was just night and day difference from what I'd come from.    I struggled with comparison. Had actually gone into college. I mean, I'm sure everybody's heard of the freshman 15. With my, you know, whole legalistic perfectionism tendencies, I remember saying, "I am not going to gain the freshman 15. That is not going to happen to me."    What ended up happening was the opposite. I started to fall into this pit of an eating disorder, of being very controlling over what I ate, thinking all the time about what I ate, exercising, and all of the above to where by the end of my freshman year of college, I had lost, I mean, over 20 pounds. The starting picture of me going to college and then the ending picture of that freshman year, it could not be any more different. [00:03:32]    I remember I was blinded for a while by my struggle, by the eating disorder. I thought that I finally had arrived. I'd, you know, met my goals. I remember trying on some clothes one day with my mom and her looking at me with such concern in her eyes and just seeing tears. It was almost like God took these blinders off my eyes to see what I really looked like and what I was really struggling with.    I feel like that was one of the moments where I just started to hit rock bottom. God was so gracious to just show me His grace and His love that endures forever in those moments where I felt like I had lost everything. You know, I had lost my beauty, my outer appearance, my confidence. I feel like I had lost maybe my reputation of, you know, being like the good girl who had it all together. And it just totally wrecked me. [00:04:28]    In that time, God brought so much understanding and clarity, but also through the brokenness, He brought healing. I really believe it was through that brokenness that God set me free from a lot of strongholds that I wasn't even aware were really controlling my life. So I'm so grateful.   You know, I can see how the Lord in those early years, you know, He was forming me. He was showing me just his friendship and His kindness and his love. Later when I hit that pit, the bottom of that pit, and met Jesus there and just experienced His grace in a whole new way and the beauty and the power of the gospel that it changed me forever.    Laura Dugger: It just makes me think of that verse that the kindness of the Lord is what leads us to repentance. And it sounds like in your mom's eyes, maybe you saw kindness there. Is that accurate? [00:05:30]    Gretchen Saffles: Yes. Not judgment, not anger, but compassion and kindness and love and mercy. You know, she saw past what my body looked like and, you know, could see this struggle. And how much more does the Lord see past that? You know, He already knows the thoughts of our minds and the intentions of our hearts. He knows all of that even before we're aware of it.    And so as He was making me even more aware. I feel like I understood the gospel in a whole new way because I thought the gospel was for people who had it together for some reason, not for people who were falling apart. I began to see that the true gospel of Jesus Christ. That He came to save sinners who are dead in their sins, who are separated from God, who are hopeless and hopeless without Him. And it is only by His grace that we have been saved. [00:06:31]    God is so gracious. He doesn't save people who have it altogether. He is the only one who has it altogether.    Laura Dugger: Amen to all of that. And it's so interesting, Gretchen, as you share openly your story. It makes me think of how clear it was for your mom as an outsider. It's something that you said you were blinded to. I'm assuming the world was giving you compliments and praises, and you said you had reached your goal for whatever size that was, and yet your mom had the spiritual eyes to see the wisdom of that emptiness. And that's so gracious of the lord to let the scales fall off of your eyes and not be blind.    But what did your path to recovery and healing look like?    Gretchen Saffles: You know, I think everybody wishes healing and recovery was just like an overnight flip a switch on and the lights come on, And it's not. I mean, when I think of that path to recovery and to healing, a few other things that come to mind. [00:07:34]    One of the very first important things was bringing other people into my struggle. For so long, I had been battling this, and I thought it was between me and the Lord. But other people could see this struggle. You know? They could see the stronghold. They could see the way that my body was looking different, the way I was spending my time, the way I was eating.    And so as I began to open up about it to people who were trusted and to people who I knew would encourage me and point me to Jesus, that began to bring some freedom. Because when we step out of darkness and into the light through confessing to the Lord and then also sharing it with other people, God begins to start that healing process.    I was involved in a local church at my college and my pastor's wife was somebody who I had gotten to know really well. She was kind of mentoring me as I would come into her home and just help clean and, you know, do whatever I could to be around her. [00:08:34]    So bringing those people into my life just made a huge difference. And then Christian counseling. I still go to Christian counseling. I just believe so firmly in the power of having a wise counselor to listen and to help us see things. And so seeing a Christian counselor who helped expose the stronghold of perfectionism that I had and kinda helped me see, like, not the fruit of the eating disorder, but the root of it, that was really helpful.   And then memorizing scripture. Oh my goodness. I wrote down so many scripture verses on note cards and took them with me everywhere. This was before you had the Bible on your phone. You know, right now, it's so accessible to us. There's apps for scripture memory and all that stuff. But none of that stuff existed when I was walking through this fifteen years ago. So I would carry these little scripture cards with me all over the place.    When I was studying in the student hall, I would have these verses there, and I would just go through them over and over. [00:09:38] They were healing to my mind, and they were also replacing these wrong thoughts that I had.   But overall, healing was slow. I mean, it was slow and it was long. In that though, in that slow healing, God was doing more than just healing my body. He was healing my mind. I have seen over the past fifteen years that God is so much greater than the strongholds that we're struggling with, and He is able to restore our souls.   Satan will try to steal our joy and our identity and label us with shame and our struggles, but ultimately, it's what God says about us that has the final say on our lives.    Laura Dugger: How did God begin to pour out His grace on you and even allow you to begin sharing your story in what felt like the midst of living your story as you were on this healing journey? [00:10:38]    Gretchen Saffles: Well, I remember thinking that I was alone. You know, we all think that when we're walking through some kind of struggle. Like, It's just me. I'm the only one struggling with an eating disorder or anxiety or fear or whatever it is. And that's one of the ways that I think Satan keeps us in the darkness is believing that we are alone and that we'll be judged for what we're struggling with instead of allowing us to enter into Christian community that, you know, ultimately the body of Christ, it's this picture of Christ, like the hands and feet of Jesus. So there's so much healing that comes through that Christian community.    I remember just feeling like my Christian witness was ruined thinking I have just totally blown it, and I've ruined everything. You know, that was just the thought process that I had. And I remember just praying and just saying, "God, if this is part of my story now, which it is, then use it for Your glory in some way." [00:11:38]    I remember just sitting with a friend and we were eating and just kind of seeing some patterns in her. I was like, "I think she may be struggling with what I'm struggling with." And again, this was a girl who was leading, a strong believer. I just shared with her, you know, I said, "Hey, can I just share with you something that I've been struggling with and what God's been doing in my life?"    And so I kinda told her about this eating disorder that I was really battling to overcome and just kind of how it had impacted me and what God was teaching me. And she looked over at me just with tears in her eyes and said, "I have not told anybody this, but I'm struggling with the same thing."    And we were able to just walk with each other, encourage one another. I've seen God just bring healing in her life, which is so incredible. And so, you know, the more I was willing to share my story and to be, you know, a vessel of the Holy Spirit, to pay attention to those nudges that He would put on my heart that, you know, He opened up these opportunities to set others free as well. [00:12:47]    That's one of the beautiful things is that our brokenness, they're not the end of our stories. They become part of our stories and our testimonies, an opportunity to share of the gospel of grace, of what God can only do to bring us healing and wholeness through his son, Jesus Christ.   Laura Dugger: That is such a powerful takeaway, that we are always invited at any point of our stories to share our stories. We reference this verse a lot at The Savvy Sauce, but in Revelation, it talks about the way to overcome Satan really is by the blood of the lamb and the power of our testimonies. So I appreciate you sharing yours.    And just a really practical piece, with your friend, you said you noticed some patterns. Are there any indicators that we could notice in our own friends that maybe we could call this out in a loving way as well?   Gretchen Saffles: Yeah. So for me specifically, you know, I was very restrictive about what I ate, you know, very obsessive over calories and fat content, whatever it was. [00:13:54] I was also over-exercising. So it wasn't major idol in my life. Like, I wouldn't take the bus to class. I would only walk, which meant that, you know, sometimes I was really cutting it close to get to my next class walking two miles to get there instead of just taking the bus to get there. You know?   Then my body was changing. Like, it was very clear. My pants weren't fitting. My face was looking very kind of swollen and sunken from losing so much weight. I had noticed that in my friend as well that, you know, when I would eat with her, she would only eat, like, a yogurt for lunch or she would exercise a lot and all the time. So I saw those patterns of legality in eating and exercising and also the way that, you know, I would think about it all the time and I would talk about it all the time. I noticed that in her too. [00:14:53]    When it comes to eating disorders, there's also just overarching disordered eating. So it's not just I struggled with anorexia, but there's bulimia and anorexia. And I think those are the things that people think about the most. But, you know, there's also other forms of disordered eating, like crash dieting, constantly being on a cleanse or I have to do this, this, and this in order to be okay.    And so whatever it is, if you see this kind of obsession tendency of like rule following when it comes to eating and exercising. I think those can be some kind of warning signals. I needed people to be there for me instead of trying to fix me. The process to healing was slow and long. I needed people to just encourage me and to walk with me and to let me know that this wasn't going to be forever.    If you see somebody like... I had people that pointed it out to me in ways that were unhelpful, that felt very judgmental and scary. [00:15:54] But the people that came alongside of me and said, "I see you. I know that this doesn't define you, and I'm going to walk with you in this journey of the healing," those were the people that helped me the most.   So I want to add that into that, if you do see somebody, not to point it out in a way that feels judgmental, but to say, "Hey, I've noticed some things. Is there anything going on? How can I pray for you? How can I encourage you? How can I walk alongside you in what you're walking through?    Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsor.    [00:16:27] <music>   Sponsor: With over 1,600 apartment units available throughout Pekin, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Morton, Washington, and Canton, and with every price range covered, you will have plenty of options when you rent through Leman Property Management Company. They have townhomes, duplexes, studios, and garden-style options located in many areas throughout Pekin.    In Peoria, a historic downtown location and apartments adjacent to the OSF medical center provide excellent choices. Check out their brand-new luxury property in Peoria Heights overlooking the boutique shops and fine dining on Prospect.    In Morton, they offer a variety of apartment homes with garages, a hot downtown location, and now a brand-new high-end complex near Idlewood Park. Their beautiful spacious apartments with private garages in a quiet but convenient location await you in Washington. And if you're looking in Canton, don't miss Village Square Apartments.    Leman Property Management Company has a knowledgeable and helpful office staff and maintenance crew, including several employees with over thirty years working with this reputable company. Renters may be excited to learn about their flexible leases, pet-friendly locations, and even mini storage units that are available in some locations.    So make sure you check them out on Facebook today or email their friendly staff at [email protected]. You can also stop by their website at midwestshelters.com. Check them out and find your place to call home today.   [00:18:07] <music>   Laura Dugger: Can you share the story of how you met your husband? Yeah. We actually met at middle school camp, except we were not in middle school, we were working at a camp at a church. I had never dated anybody. I'd made a commitment to the Lord when I was in middle school that I wanted to not just date around, I wanted to really wait and be very clear about who God was calling me to date and get to know people.    And so that was not, you know, I graduated college and thought, oh, you know, my plan when I go to college, I'm going to get fall in love and get married and graduate with my MRS degree. But that did not happen. I graduated single, having not dated anybody seriously.    I had graduated and was wondering, God, what do you want me to do with my life? Because this is not what I was thinking. Through just His sovereignty and His wise plan, I ended up working at a church in Tennessee and I ended up going to intern for the middle school ministry. [00:19:09]    And I remember thinking, "Okay, well, I'm never going to meet my future husband here. I'm going to work with middle schoolers. Clearly, I'm not going to meet my future husband." So it was just kind of funny because I felt like I went to work at this church going, "Okay, Lord, I surrender this to you."    And while we were at the middle school camp, I ended up meeting Greg. It was on 80s night, so they have different themes for each camp night. And I looked totally ridiculous in an 80s outfit. And I remember meeting him, and he said his name was Greg Saffles, and I was like, "Saffles? Wait. What's your last name?" He said, "Saffles, like waffles."   Now that's pretty much what I always say to people because it's hard for people to know, like, what Saffles? Even though that's not technically how you say it, you don't say sapples. So we met and at first, you know, I remember just thinking, "He is really different from everybody." [00:20:04] I would see him just being so servant-hearted, so humble, just worshiping the Lord and being there for others.   I was still pretty guarded, though. I was not just going to start dating somebody. So we ended up just getting to know each other for six months. I stayed on board at the church and started working in the women's ministry. It was funny because he would always come to the women's ministry events. We needed someone to do sound and he always volunteered.  And I loved it because I'd get to hang out with him.    So we were just friends. And I made that very clear. I was like, "We're just going to be friends because I know it would be a big deal if we started dating because we're both on staff at the church. I'd worked in student ministry.    That January, my windows were frosty every day, you know, because it's cold in Tennessee. And I'd wake up and somebody had scraped my windows. And I was like, "What is happening?" Because I lived with a roommate and her windows were all frosty. [00:21:02] I'm like, "Why are my windows being scraped off?"   Eventually, I found out that he was waking up really, really early to come scrape off my windows just to serve me. I mean, once I discovered that, and we talked, we started dating. And then we were engaged four months later and married five months after that. So we joke about meeting in middle school camp, but, technically, we were older than middle school.   Laura Dugger: That is amazing. I love hearing that story of the way that he served you well.    Gretchen Saffles: Yes.    Laura Dugger: At that season of life, did the two of you have similar visions for your future life together or your career aspirations?    Gretchen Saffles: I always thought I'd marry... My dad was a pastor. My sister married a man in ministry. So I was like, I'm going to marry a pastor or a worship pastor. Greg was neither of those. He worked at the church, but he did the creative ministry, and just different than what I was expecting. [00:22:01]    He was this man that, and he still is, is just like a behind-the-scenes servant. Always there to help others and to do whatever, you know, to make things just joyful and helpful to them. As we started to get to know each other, I realized just his heart for the Lord, his desire to just honor God and whatever he was doing.   It was funny because back then he talked about seminary, and that's still something we're talking about and potentially pursuing. So we really did. I mean, the more we got to know each other, we realized how similar our passions were and that even some of the things we were passionate about, like going on adventures and things like that, we were able to bring that out in each other. So it was fun because I feel like we were able to be even more of ourselves with each other.    I mean, we're very different. I'm the talkative, want to get to know everybody. He's more the quiet, you know, behind-the-scenes, introvert. [00:23:03] So we are opposites in some ways, but in a lot of ways we're very similar.   Laura Dugger: As we look at that season of life, that's when you were transitioning into a new career. And I've heard you say before that Well-Watered Woman began as a big dream in a small apartment in Tennessee.    Gretchen Saffles: Yes.    Laura Dugger: Can you just elaborate on those small beginnings?    Gretchen Saffles: Yeah. We got married that November, and he was still in school. So he graduated that December, and he'd been offered a job at a church plant of the church we'd been at. So we knew we were going to move from Nashville to Knoxville. We had kind of a delayed bigger honeymoon just because of his school and our jobs at the church. That was just a busy time.   Later that December, we went to Hawaii, and it was so much fun. And when we were coming home from Hawaii, we found out that my mom was in ICU with a very rare autoimmune disease. [00:24:05] So we came back from this high of just the best honeymoon to a crisis. A major crisis.    And we moved not long after that to Knoxville, and I didn't get a job at first because I was going back and forth from Georgia to Tennessee to help take care of my mom. God really used that time to kind of shift my priorities. Like, okay, I really was able to see how fleeting life is. Greg was really gracious even though we were making no money, like barely getting by. He just encouraged me, "Okay, now's the time. If you want to try something new, let's dream about it. Let's make something happen."   So I took some time during all of that, you know, going back and forth while my mom was in. She had to go to a rehab facility to learn to walk again from this autoimmune disease. So during that time, I was dreaming, Okay, what are some things that I would love to do someday?    So I ended up coming up with this idea to create my own Etsy business. [00:25:05] Again, we had no money, no resources, so I would just go to garage sales and thrift stores and Goodwill and find old things that I could make into something that would be useful and enjoyable to somebody else.    I did that for nine months to a year. But I knew that that wasn't what God was calling me to do long term. I'd always had a heart for ministry and wanted to work in like girls ministry or something. And so I ended up, you know, having this desire to create a quiet time journal for women that would help them get into the word. And that was just for my own need. I knew I wanted something that would be exciting and engaging and inviting to open my bible each day and spend time with the lord, and I had no clue how to do that.    But I was leading a college small group at the time at the college that was there, and one of the girls that started coming to group was a design major. So I was like, "Hey, I have this idea to create this. Can you kinda show me how to design it? I can sketch it out for you." [00:26:09]    So she showed me, and I used the little bit of money that I had made from my Etsy random store that I had to create these quiet time journals. Once I started doing that, I knew, okay, this is what God called me to do, to create resources to help win and get into God's word.    So started creating the Give Me Jesus journal, different Bible studies and just tools that would help women be excited to open their Bibles. It grew pretty quickly from there, and we found ourselves shipping all this stuff from this itty-bitty apartment.    One of my friends came on board with me and took over the shipping responsibilities so I could just create and write and do the things that I felt really passionate about doing. Since then, we have grown. We have a warehouse in the Atlanta area, and I think there's maybe like 16 girls that work with us now from the warehouse side to the design and writing and all those different aspects of what we do. [00:27:11]    So it's been really cool to see how the Lord has just provided. Obviously, there's so many twists and turns in anybody's journey in the road that we take. But even along those, it's all part of God's plan, and He works through every single thing. So even the things that may feel like failures or major dead ends, God is still working through them, and He's forming our hearts and our minds so that we can be more like Christ. So, ultimately, at the end of the day, that's what I long for is to know Christ and to make Him known throughout we do.    Laura Dugger: I think you're doing an incredible job with that. It does help to have a fuller picture of those high highs and those grand experiences, but also remembering those small beginnings. With your mom, what is the current situation?    Gretchen Saffles: So she still has this autoimmune disease. It's somewhat under control. It can still flare up. Autoimmune diseases, you know, they're all different, but a lot of times they can kinda manifest in similar ways. But it's a hidden illness, a lot of times they'll call it. [00:28:18]    So, what she had attacked her central nervous system, like her spinal cord, her immune system attacked it, which caused that paralysis. They were able to treat it with steroids. So she is constantly battling different pains and just the effects of the disease, but she has done that with such grace and relying on the Lord. It has really allowed me to see what it means to trust God and to live for what is to come instead of for what is right now. Because right now, we will walk through suffering and through very, very hard things, but God, He's so faithful, and He's with us in them.   Laura Dugger: Absolutely. But I just think that had to be such a tough season coming home from this amazing honeymoon experience into a very new reality. But you have your roots dug so deep into the Lord that it sounds like He's been with you, and he's prepared you for some of that. And I love this resolution that you have to put the word over world. [00:29:25] Will you tell me more about that?    Gretchen Saffles: So that was several year... I'm thinking that was, like, 2017 when I kinda came up with that little phrase "word before the world". It was because I love the end of each year to kinda go back and evaluate, like, what happened? What are some things that I would love to work on in the new year? I love that season. Some people don't care about it, but I just think it's really fun. I'd always made some sort of resolutions: Oh, I want to exercise more. I want to eat better. I want to do this project. You know, just very kinda typical.    But that year, I'd really seen that I was struggling with waking up and just grabbing my phone because I would sleep with my phone next to me. So I'd go to bed looking at it, wake up first thing, and look at it. And it would really start my day the wrong way because I'd see an email that came up that was discouraging or a text or something on the news or something on social media to compare myself to, whatever it was. [00:30:25]    Then I would realize, like, it kinda just dampened my desire to even be in God's word, and I wanted that to change. I knew that if anything else in my life was going to change, it would only happen by the grace of God by putting His word first. Ultimately, that is what I needed.    So, I kind of was thinking, Okay, what's the one thing? If I could just work on one thing this year, I wanted to put the word before the world. So that's where it came from. And I shared about it. Essentially, it's a commitment to hopefully read God's word before we pull up social media and begin our day, but also it shifts our priorities in so many ways and changes the way that I view my time with God, the way that I view my days in general. And rather than penciling in time with the Lord, I want my days to revolve around Him.    I'm not perfect at this. It's still a struggle to get into God's word first thing. Sometimes I can't first thing because I've got young kids and they've already woken up and they need me in that moment. [00:31:27] But, ultimately, that still goes through my mind: I want to put the word before the world. Like, I want to spend time with that today.    Because I think that the term quiet time can carry with it a lot of negative connotations. People think, oh, quiet time, it needs to be quiet. It needs to be perfect. It needs to be this long. It needs to look like this. And we put all these stipulations on it to the point we don't even spend time with God because we think it has to look a certain way.   Ultimately, this is just about, like, show up. I mean, God is already with you. He is faithful. And to know that He is speaking and He is working in your life. And we can meet with Him wherever, whenever. So it's a lot bigger than just the whole wake up and try to read the word first thing, to put our minds on Him. It's about centering our days and our priorities around Him and His desires.   Laura Dugger: Love that paradigm shift.    Are there any topics or questions or guests you specifically want us to host this year? We value your input, and we would love to hear from you. [00:32:30] Email us anytime at [email protected], or reach out to us on social media. We're on Instagram and Facebook @TheSavvySauce. We love connecting with you, so we hope you continue the conversation with us today.    I love how you say that this is such an exciting time of year for you that you like reflecting back on the past year and then looking ahead. And I'm with you. I totally geek out this time of year and love January 1. If somebody's inspired to put Word before the world, then maybe they can learn something else from you because regarding your personal walk with God, you also talk about this acronym ABIDE. So will you share about each of those five parts of our spiritual journey?    Gretchen Saffles: Yeah. It's kinda funny this ABIDE acronym. I was studying John 15. I love that passage. Jesus is talking about what it means to live the abundant life. And it comes from obeying Him, being His disciples, and remaining in Him. [00:33:32]    So I was studying this, and I actually was preparing to give a talk to some girls that were leading at Winshape camps and came up with this, Okay, how do I actually take what Jesus says in John 15? Since it's so important. Abiding in Christ is not an option. This is part of what we do. This is our life.    So I wanted to come up with something that actually give it handles. You know, how do we actually do this? So I came up with this ABIDE acronym that comes directly from John chapter 15.    So just to break it down, the first one is to accept pruning. And that's the very first part of John 15 where Jesus says, "I am the true vine and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit."    So this is one of the basic parts of being a Christian is pruning. That God is constantly working in our lives, you know, removing sin, removing parts of our flesh so that the Spirit would be made evident. [00:34:36] I've been memorizing Romans 8 for a really long time and I finally am pretty much there. But I have just really begun to see how important it is that we are led by the Spirit.    And in order to do that, we have to accept the pruning of God. This can come through so many different circumstances. I mean, it came through my eating disorder. He was pruning these different thoughts and beliefs that were not of Him so that my life could bear more fruit so that I would not be attached to that false spine of an eating disorder. So to accept pruning, not to push back when the pruning shears come, but rather to accept it as a gift from the Lord so that we can bear more fruit.    And then we Believe his word. He talks about abiding in Him and His word. That the person that bears much fruit is the person that is obedient to God's word. And so to believe His word, not just to say, oh, yeah, I believe that. But when the rubber hits the road to really say, no. I don't believe that. I don't believe that God is good or He is faithful. [00:35:39] So to really believe His word. In order to do that, we have to know His word, and we have to see His faithfulness shine through in every moment of our lives.    And then we identify false binds. You know, there's so many things that we try to attach ourselves to. So going back to the eating disorder because I've talked about that a lot, I was attaching myself to this false vine of if I just looked a certain way that I would be loved, if I weighed a certain amount that I would be beautiful.   And so I attached myself to that thinking that that's my identity when ultimately our identity becomes Christ as believers. He is the one who lived the sinless life and gives us victory every day. He's the one who leads us to abundance. Jesus, again, He starts out, "I am the true vine." There's so many false signs out there, but only Christ is the true vine.    And then Delight in Jesus. That's the D of ABIDE. So we delight in Him. [00:36:39] I think we forget about this a lot. In our walk with the Lord, we can just come to it with this legalistic checklist mentality rather than just delighting. I delight in my husband. We have so much fun together. You know, we love to spend time together. How much more should we love to spend time with the Lord and just delight in Him and His goodness and His provision in everyday life?    Then lastly is Enduring with joy. So we're going to walk through hard times. There is so much need for endurance in the Christian life, and we cannot endure without being rooted and attached to the vine. So we endure with joy. I mean, Jesus says that He does all of this for the joy set before Him. And He says in John chapter 15, "These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full."   His desire is for us to be full of joy. And He knows that the only way we can experience that full joy and that abundance is through abiding in Him. So that's from John chapter 15. It's basically verses one through 13. And we want to abide in Christ because that's our joy, our connection to Him, and that's what gives us the endurance and the delight and the perseverance we need in this life. [00:37:59]    Laura Dugger: John 15 is definitely one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. I think that and Proverbs 3 are my two current favorites. I just have to say one more scripture from John 15:4 kind of sums up what you're saying. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me." I just love this time of year, especially John 15 comes to life. And if anybody wants to refer back to some teaching on John 15, I'm going to link to the fruitful episode in the show notes as well.    But, Gretchen, we haven't even talked about a recent resource that you've made available. When I was reading your book, Jesus models how solitude and time alone with God is important, and you teach that the Christian life is also important to be lived with others, not just by ourself. So right. Will you share some of the relationships that have impacted your walk with the Lord that you specifically wrote about in your book? [00:39:06]    Gretchen Saffles: Yeah. I'll think of three right off the bat. I talk about my papa a good bit and how his love for the Lord and his walk with Him has had just a tremendous impact on my life. That's why I created the Give Me Jesus quiet time journal was based off of reading his Bibles and seeing how he poured over the scriptures and prayed, and he studied the scriptures, and he loved them, and he lived them. My papa really modeled this. He walked through great, great, great suffering in his life, and yet his hope was in Jesus.    Then my mom, just all of the things that she has faced. So my papa, that was her dad. So my mom has just walked through great physical pain and suffering. And in all of that, she just remained attached to the true vine, so many times where I probably was like, "I don't know how you're doing this. I'm barely getting by." She would say if she was sitting right here, it's all His grace. It is all His grace. [00:40:10]    Then Karen. Karen was a mentor of mine. She went to be with the Lord. Goodness. It was three or four years ago now. Thinking it was four years ago. When I first met Karen, she was battling cancer, about with cancer again. She had walked through so much pain and suffering.    She had lost her husband, her first husband, in this tragic incident where he had taken her boys camping. She and her husband had three boys, and they were on top of a mountain. It was actually December 31st. It was the last day they were going to bring in the new year doing this camping trip.    He was a pastor, and he was with the boys, and he had looked out at just the beauty of the mountains and creation all around him and just said, you know, Boys... he was just marveling at God's goodness and creation, and then they heard a rattle and he was gone. He had fallen off the cliff. They never heard anything. The boys never saw anything. [00:41:10] They didn't know that he'd fallen off the cliff. They didn't find that out until the next day, and it was just like the Lord took him.    One day, and I think this was months later, she was just out shopping and walked into a Thomas Kinkade art studio and was looking at the art and came across a piece of artwork that just stopped her in her tracks. And she said, "Where did he paint this? How did he know about this? And she was so confused.    When she looked at this art piece, and it was very different from Thomas Kinkade's regular artwork, if you have ever followed him. He paints a lot of these cottages, really is just incredible at painting different light. But this was of a mountain and it was high mountain and it had a cross on it.    She was looking at it and it was the mountain. It was the mountain where her husband had died. The cross had been placed where her husband had been. I mean, down to the specifics of the bushes that were on the mountain, these certain bushes. [00:42:12] I remember her telling me about them.    So she contacted him and said, "I'm going to share my story with you. I don't even know how this has happened. Only the Lord." Thomas Kinkade got back in touch with her, and he had actually had this kinda vision, this idea for this painting that December. And it was very different from anything he'd ever done, and so he was working on painting this mountain scene. And I believe that he finished it around the time... the end of that year. I mean, he literally painted this mountainside where her husband died and had no clue. So it was so cool.    He actually invited her, and she was able to come share her story. He sent her a copy of the painting. So when I would go to her house, it was up above her fireplace. And she had little tracks that she would show people. And it was just her story of God's goodness and His provision. [00:43:10] That even in her great loss that God had such a bigger story. He was working on something so much bigger for His glory.    Laura Dugger: Wow. That is so powerful. It leaves me speechless. Well, Gretchen, you're in so many leadership positions with work leading a team of women, and then as a mom, leading your children with Greg and prioritizing your marriage. Like you said, your husband even works for Winshape Marriage. So what are your best practices specifically as it relates to all of those important areas of life in leadership and family and marriage?    Gretchen Saffles: Ultimately, I go back to Matthew 22:28. The first and greatest commandment is that we would love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. Ultimately, in order for me to lead others well, you know, my team or my children or to love my husband well, I have to be loving God first. [00:44:16]    When my priority is to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, it then overflows into my marriage, into my motherhood and into my work. Because when we are loving God in that way that He calls us to, it changes how we respond to people, how we love them, how we prioritize them, how we respond to them. And so I go back to that passage a lot.    And then Jesus says the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourself. So it begins, you know, we love God first. When He is that priority, when He is center stage of our lives, then it will impact how we react and how we just take part in any other relationship in our lives.    That's the verse that I often go back to is, God, how am I loving you first? And how does that love then impact my patience and my long-suffering and my servanthood and all of those different things that is a part of our relationship with others? [00:45:25]    Laura Dugger: Gretchen, you've just given us a taste of all of the teaching that you have available. So can you tell us a little bit more about some of your resources and even where we could find and follow you online?    Gretchen Saffles: Absolutely. I lead a ministry called Well-Watered Women. You can go to just wellwateredwomen.com. You can find our shop there where we create resources to equip and encourage women to be rooted deeply in God's word. Those resources range from quiet time journals or bible studies, verse cards, you know, whatever it is that we can create to help you cultivate this deeper walk with the Lord and a consistent walk with Him.    There you'll also find articles that are biblically rooted, gospel-centered. We also share just encouragement daily on social media. So on Instagram, you can find us at Well-Watered Women or the Well-Watered Co. That's our shop. [00:46:28]    But I also had the joy of releasing a book this year called The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith. There's a whole chapter in there on Karen, there's a chapter on abiding. If a lot of these things that you've heard in the interview have been encouraging to you and you want to just kinda maybe dig a little bit deeper, the book would definitely be where you can go. So you could find that in our shop, but you can find it on Amazon, your local bookstore.   Laura Dugger: Wonderful. Thank you. We will link to all of that both in our show notes for today's episode and on our resources tab of the website. And you know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge. So, as my final question for you today, Gretchen, what is your savvy sauce?   Gretchen Saffles: One of the really practical rhythms that I have sought to implement, I really want to know scripture. [00:47:27] I've just seen the importance of knowing God's Word and being able to call it to mind. So scripture memorization. It seemed so hard to me. I was like, "How do I add this into my busy schedule?"   So I've created this rhythm where every night before I go to bed, I read on my iPad. That's where I read most of my books like that. And I found this app called the Verses app, and I pull it up every night to review scripture that I'm memorizing.   It's a really fun app. You can do (fill in the blank), you can do different things to kinda help your mind start to really meditate on that passage and get it into your thoughts. That's been just a really practical rhythm that I've loved because I know every night this is when I'm going to memorize my scripture, I'm going to review it, and then I use... We have a Word Before World scripture memory journal in our shop where I'll write those verses out, and I can take them with me as I go. [00:48:26] So those are just really practical. It's made that spiritual discipline something that I just really love and I enjoy each day.    Laura Dugger: Well, it is so evident, Gretchen, that you are deeply rooted in God's word and that those deep roots is part of what He's used to help you weather these storms. It's obvious to us listening that there is so much fruit and fruit of the spirit evident in your life. So thank you for sharing all of your wisdom with us today, and I loved hearing your story. Thank you for being my guest.    Gretchen Saffles: Oh, thank you. I loved getting to talk to you. I just really pray that this conversation really, really blesses and encourages everybody who listens.    Laura Dugger: Oh, thank you.    One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him. [00:49:32]    This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.   This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.    We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [00:50:34]    So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.    If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him.    At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?   First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John. [00:51:33]    Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.    We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.    Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.    If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.