The Ridiculous Hour

Our story this month seems totally made up. You may have a hard time believing it is true, until you read past the highlight reel of her life. Diana Timmons ridiculous life includes time with Pope Francis, Zig Ziglar, Barbara Bush, Joel Osteen, Dallas Willard, and time in The White House, the Vatican, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Israel [13 times], and presence at the red-carpet premiere of the recent Lionsgate film, I Can Only Imagine – 2 about her son (by marriage) Tim Timmons played by Milo Ventimiglia of This is Us fame. Listen to the full podcast for the fuller list of unbelievables.  Laced through that highlight reel, however, is a little girl who carried the burden of perfectionism through some painful circumstances and came out on the other side with a faith refined in suffering. So much so that at the ripe young age of 79, Diana Timmons started Joy Please! a nonprofit dedicated to exploring the mystery of constant joy. Not because her life has been easy. It hasn’t. But because she asked God for joy in hard circumstances and He was pleased to give it to her.

For the most part, we don't start at the beginning of much in life, do we? We are born into the middle of our parents' lives, a political culture, a particular century. When we meet new people, we don't start with "in the beginning." We don't say: "My parents decided to have a second child in New Jersey in 19......" No, that would just be weird. We start in the middle of our lives and theirs -- cancer, divorce, aging parents, graduations, weddings, births, funerals, renovations, job shifts, you name it. The same can be said of our faith walks. Our awareness of the Lord's presence comes in the middle of every imaginable circumstance. Join Kat Silverglate, Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the organization's 76th true story and responsiveness challenge. To learn more about the Mobile Mission Project and The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

What we magnify, we become. Sounds a little dramatic, doesn't it? Samuel Hubbard Scudder, a mid 1800's scientist, learned that lesson in a most humorous way from a quirky passionate professor -- a mentor he credits with the way he walked the rest of his career, eventually becoming the foremost expert in his field. When the Scriptures talk about moving through our lives from one degree of glory to another, they talk about what we magnify. Join The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for its 75th consecutive true story and Mobile Mission challenge. If you would like a free set of the equipping pieces discussed in this episode, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

In this Episode we'll met a metal-detecting, treasure-hunting lawyer who faced a personal storm that brought anxiety to the surface of his life -- a storm he preferred to keep buried. When an emotional storm swept a fellow-lawyer away, his own hidden struggle with anxiety seemed more like treasure to others who needed to know they aren't alone. Join Mobile Mission Project founder Kat Silverglate as she introduces the true story that frames the Ridiculous Hour Foundation's 74th consecutive Mobile Mission called The Order Project: Hidden Treasure. For more information about this mission and project, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

She was angry when things didn't go the way she hoped. She prayed. Everybody prayed. But God said no.Her anger was tempered, however, by a crack in its hot logic -- her father's faith grew the sicker he got. With every unanswered prayer, he seemed to fall more in love with the Lord. Meet Hannah Miller King, author of Feasting on Hope [Intervarsity Press, release date February 2026]. God met her in what she calls the "wilderness of why." But it took years to unpack.Join the founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, for the foundation's 73rd true story and Mobile Mission -- Tiny in a Spacious Place. To learn more about the mission and the project, visit www.theridiculoushour.com

If we are meant to live lives worthy of our callings, how exactly do we figure out calling? The concept can seem a bit amorphous until we look at a real life in the rearview mirror. Until we see the least likely candidate for speaking [severe speech impediment] and writing [average student] and counseling [suicidal child and teen] walk one day at a time past a promise ["you can do whatever you want with my life"] to circumstances that only God could orchestrate.Join The Ridiculous Hour Foundation's founder Kat Silverglate for the Foundation's 72nd Mobile Mission and true story.To learn more about the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

When Mr. Ed snuck across the threshold of his daughter's life, Don Blackwell went through a heart scrubbing of sorts. Mr. Ed is a akin to the mayhem character in the Allstate commercials -- showing up for no other reason than to bring disorder to life. Mr. Ed, unlike Allstate's Mayhem, has a specialty in the havoc wreaking department -- disordered eating. While relentlessly intent on unearthing the root cause of her struggle, Don found himself over a different threshold of sorts. He found himself dealing with his own disorder -- perfectionism. In the process, everything changed about the way he saw and lived his life. Join the Ridiculous Hour Foundation's Mobile Mission Founder, Kat Silverglate, for the audible version of the organization's true story and 71st Mission -- Threshold. Learn more at www.theridiculoushour.com.

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is so tall that the top is sometimes covered in clouds. When the clouds are low, you can see a curved pole on one side and a curved pole on the other but you cannot see where they connect. You know they do. You can see they must. But how? It's beyond our sight. The great mysteries of faith are like this. Partially revealed. Partially hidden. God makes the connection. Scripture reveals the Holy Spirit as our guide, comfort, counselor... as the inspiration for God's Word and opening our hearts to understanding it. The mystery comes in how those promised realities will surface in our daily lives. When we actively seek and yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves in a powerful dance -- a GUI-dance; God's Unending Invitation to dance toward the mysteries of faith. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation as she recounts the power of the yellow arrows on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

Andy Stanley’s book on minimizing regrets by making better decisions gives several questions to ask before making important choices [Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets]. They’re all great questions, but this one – what story do you want your life to tell – is profoundly halting for anybody who attempts a genuine response. It’s comforting to comprehend that God has actually given us agency over the story ourlives will tell. It’s humbling to imagine that one day the people who love us most dearly will answer this question in a different tense – what story did his/her life tell.In this episode we will hear from many who had the courage to share their answers to this regret minimizing question and we will celebrate a life that told an epically beautiful story through action. DEDICATION: The Ridiculous Hour Foundation’s 69th Mobile Mission is lovingly dedicated to Rebecca Miller Webner [April 1952 – August 2025] and to her friend group, the Elephant Sisters, who like elephants in the wild, chose to surround the one in need kicking up dirt to distract predators. JOIN US: If you would like a free set of the equipping pieces listed in this episode, visit www.theridiculoushour.com and they will arrive in your mailbox within 30 days. If you'd like to receive them every 30 days, tell us. We'll get you started.

Sometimes you need to know how lost you are before you want to be found; want to be rescued. That's what Spencer Silverglate discovered on a dusky evening while lost deep in the woods of North Carolina on his trusty Mountain Bike.Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at the Ridiculous Hour Foundation as she launches the Audible version of the Foundation's 68th Mobile Mission called, Find Me. If you choose to join us on this month's 30-day responsiveness challenge, you'll be joining individuals in 18 countries, 48 states and territories and 440 cities! All are welcome. If you would like a set of the equipping pieces described in this episode, pop on over to TheRidiculousHour.com and we'll get a set out to you right away. All are welcome.

Pliny the Elder, a first century secular naturalist, is often quoted for the principle that you cannot appreciate the magnitude of redemption until you glimpse the depth of the darkness from which it came. He says it this way: “The depth of the darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.” Exact measure? Aspire to reach? Laura Starsoneck’sstory of redemption takes Pliny’s seemingly high bar and explodes the ceiling off it. When a lie snowballed out of control, Laura found herselfsurrounded by people intent on compassionately walking with her through restoration. While her book, Single-Handedly Blessed, hints at the back story to her journey to life as a single mom, the deeper back story makes the redemption shine blindingly bright for all who think they have gone too far to be blessed by God.Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Projectat The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the organization’s 67thmission story and wildly creative responsiveness challenge. To receive the “equipping pieces” referenced in this podcast for free or to receive monthly mission packs in the mail, go to the contact link at www.theridiculoushour.com.

We never mean to carry someone poorly through loss. We don't plan to drop them or miss a step in how we show up. Nor do we plan to push people away when we are in the pit, but we aren't sure how to let ourselves/others be THAT vulnerable. THAT messy. THAT exposed. We either move quickly to the "bright side" to avoid lament or we create distance out of a sense of discomfort over what is coming out of the hurting person's mouth. Join The Ridiculous Hour Foundation's Founder, Kat Silverglate, as she shares a series of vignettes that led to "equipping pieces" for those who are grieving, and for those who seek to be a source of comfort to others.If you would like to receive the equipping pieces mentioned in this podcast [free], contact us at theridiculoushour.com.

The name her birth parents gave her included a Bassa tribal word that means "God's Power." Nobody could know in 1950's Liberia how she'd come to depend on that power. Born into impossible odds to a traditional father who declared, "girls have no value," she contracted polio at two losing the full use of her right leg. Her mother refused to give up on her, taking her from bush doctor to bush doctor to find a cure. When a missionary couple offered to give her the care she needed and raise her as their own, everything changed. Everything. She would become strong spiritually, intellectually, physically and emotionally. And then she would be foisted into the middle of a civil war that would require her to mother others.Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundations, as we hear the story of Rosana Schaack, former Liberian representative and founder of THINK Liberia, a mission designed to create safety-nests for the care of Liberian girls recovering from war and abuse.This Episode announces the content of The Ridiculous Hour Foundation's 65th Mobile Mission. To receive a free mission pack, contact us at theridiculoushour.com.

Ever play that worst case scenario movie in you head? Thinking about what might go wrong? Ever let that movie affect the way you choose to live? In our story this month, we'll meet Uri Melendez, a woman who appeared to the casual observer as fearless in her approach to life, undaunted by hard challenges and filled with confidence. The choice to do a competition that included swimming -- when she didn't know how to swim -- brought her face to face with those movies and the past traumas [earthquake, flood, death, etc] that got them started.Learning the phrase "stop the movie" and the biblical underpinning that supports such a bold command, moved her through the race and post-race life with healing and freedom.Curious? WE sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the release of the organization's 64th Mobile Mission. For more information about the Mobile Mission Project, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

We often hear that expectations are the enemy of joy, but could it be more nuanced than that? After all, when the seed of something is planted in a heart, or a womb, don’t we begin to think about what could be for this potential creation? What should be? Aren’t those good things? Most certainly! But when the unplanned confronts our expectations, we need a holy shift that keeps us from living under the weight of disappointment.  Curious? We sure hope so!Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation as she celebrates the release of the organizations 63rd Mobile Mission and story called Ridiculous Hours. It’s a celebratory message for all who are laboring to birth the things the Lord has called then to... and hopefully some hope for those who are feeling the crush of dashed expectations.  Learn more at TheRidiculousHour.com. 

Ever seen one of those videos of a baby with total hearing loss hearing for the first time post surgery? You see the too-awesome-to-comprehend-feeling overwhelm them as an unspeakably beautiful thing they’ve never experienced and didn’t even know existed enters their sphere. Or the child with profound vision challenges getting glasses, seeing clearly for the first time the parent they’ve known primarily through touch, sound, taste, smell; like a vision of one made in the image of God? Even the stoniest of hearts must see that and find itself defenseless against the pang of tender flesh pushing against the armor built up through God-knows-what kind of heart-hardening pain? When a NICU nurse did all she knew to do to move past her feelings of worthlessness, God came in the side door of her one ridiculous life – through her love of travel – and over-whelmed her with His great love. Rather than a dramatic moment of healing, she experienced a warm slow embrace so deliberate that the low din of worthlessness that hummed constantly in her ears was drown out by the Lord’s relentless pursuit. Curious? We sure hope so! If you'd like a set of the equipping pieces referenced in this podcast, contact us at theridiculoushour.com. We'll get them out to you...

So much is written about the danger of expectations. But the reality of our life in Christ is built on promises that command hopeful expectations. Like a symphony where instruments enter and exit at appointed times, so to do we experience God's presence through others who are responding to His pokes, prods and nudges to fulfill His great purposes. Do we expect this? Look for it? Delight in it? Do we see ourselves as an instrument in God's great love affair with the people we meet on the battle field of life? Are we expecting to enter the score at any moment? Can we set the tone for 2025 with Symphonic Expectations? Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the organization's 61st Mission story and challenge called Symphonic Expectations. To participate in this mission for free, contact us at www.theridiculoushour.com. We are serving individuals in 17 countries, 46 states and hundreds of cities across the US.

In many ways, we are living arrows, pointing others in various directions. Whether we speak up or stay silent, our action and inaction both point, sometimes in subtle ways, toward or away from potential help. When subtlety isn't what Abigail Wallace needed in the winter of 2014, she learned through a seemingly planted-for-her-to-find-at-just-the-right-time podcast on meekness, to recognize her Up Club. To see in the rear view mirror those who chose to point her heavenward, rather than dish out toxic empathy or sympathy or "Hopium" -- [Abigail's word for hope in thin things and airy promises]. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the December 2024 true story and Mobile Mission called Up Club. If you'd like to receive the signature equipping pieces discussed in this message and join us for the responsiveness challenge issued at the end of this episode, head on over to www.theridiculoushour.com. They are free! NOTE: In this episode, we inadvertently left off a chapter citation for Galatians. The fruits of the Spirit are found at Galatians 5:23. Thank you for grace!

Ever see those "tamper resistant seals" that restaurants use on plastic to-go cups to assure the purchaser that the drink is safe? It's a long thin strip that covers the lid and then sticks to the sides of the cup. If someone breaks the seal and opens the lid, you know it has been "tampered" with. With joy, we often live as if there is a lid on our capacity for joy. As if joy will come when circumstances change, when someone in our lives straightens up or gets better, or when we figure something out. But joy doesn't work that way. If the Lord dwells in your heart, there should be evidence that He has tampered with your lid on joy! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the organization's 59th Mission and 30-day responsiveness challenge called Tamper Evident Joy. If you'd like to receive the items described in this challenge for free, go to the contact link at www.theridiculoushour.com

If anybody asked us whether our lives had a central theme, we'd probably bumble and stumble and waffle and throw in a generous number of "umms" while we awkwardly sorted out loud. But not Zelma Colon. When you ask Zelma for the theme that sums up her one ridiculous life, she doesn't even pause. It comes off her tongue as if it was sitting there waiting for an order to deploy -- "beauty for ashes." And while her recent Multiple Myeloma diagnosis and treatment were an utter shock, these aren't the ashes Zelma is referencing when she looks back at her fifty something turns around the sun. Indeed, she sees cancer as the storm that brought a magnifying glass to the beauty that supplanted the ashes of her past. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the release of the Foundation's 58th mission story and challenge -- wASH. For more information about the project and to receive a free mission pack in the mail, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.

Conflict is weighty. Unresolved conflict after genuine attempts at reconciliation can be downright heavy. Our story begins with a priest telling a woman to take a feather pillow to the top of a bell tower and release the feathers. It continues with a woman placing a snow white feather in the hands of a friend with whom she'd had unresolved conflict. And it ends with a prayer that a single white feather would arrive in time for a conscious reception. Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the September 2024 mission story and challenge called Feather Weight.

Does anybody love moving? Sure, we may love where we are going, like change or love that we are leaving something behind, but the physical act of moving... not so much. As unsettling as it is though, moving implies a modicum control. Of choice. But being moved... involuntarily... can imply more than an ounce of pain. Meet Aldos Vance, a fifty-something gentle giant of a lawyer in Alabama, who could teach a master class on being moved because his childhood was largely defined by it. Our story begins with Al and his mother and siblings moving to a two room apartment that shared a communal bathroom with four other units. And it ends with Al voluntarily moving the trajectory of his life after hearing a sermon about a paint contractor doing a fabulous job painting the exterior of... the wrong house. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the August 2024 true story and responsiveness challenge. To receive the free equipping pieces described in this episode, visit theridiculoushour.com contact page and ask for the "Moved Mission Pack."

For most of us, receiving help is harder than giving it. Particularly when we don't know someone very well. We want to hold our own umbrellas in stormy times. But to allow others to cover us? It requires the humility to receive. The humility to be a part of something far bigger than self. The forecast in the family of faith is always partly cloudy with a chance of more cloud coverage because we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses to what God has done and what He continues to do through this incredible family. Our mission this month begins with a new acquaintance who offers a drive to the hospital for surgery at 4:30 in the morning... And it ends with an old acquaintance offering a prayer during a fire alarm in the middle of a surgical ward... Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the July 2024 story and responsiveness challenge -- Partly Cloudy with a Chance of.... More Cloud Coverage. If you would like a free copy of this month's challenge with the equipping pieces described in this podcast, visit www.theridiculoushour.com and we'll get one out to you right away!

In her book Compelled by Love, Heidi Baker, a missionary in Mozambique, describes a condition we may all have. Or perhaps a touch of. She calls it an orphan spirit. In the Lord, we are adopted children with full access to everything in our Father's house but we live as if the things of God are for the special kids or the ones who really belong in the house or the ones He loves better. What we most need is completely available to us but we live as if someone has restricted our personal access. Our mission this month begins with a woman who says "I love you" over and over again to a husband who gets annoyed with the repetition: "Do you think I've forgotten? Or don't know? ... Isn't there a point in a relationship where you just know it's true?" Our mission ends with the story of an abandoned boy in Mozambique who finds freedom from his orphan spirit in a Village of Joy full of repetitive acts of "I love you" and unfettered access to a soda in the family fridge. Curious? We sure hope so! Join the founder of the Mobile Mission Project at the Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the June 2024 mission story and challenge called -- Don't Forget to Remember! If you'd like to receive this Mission Pack in the mail, pop on over to www.TheRidiculousHour.com and we'll get one out to you. They are free.

Imposter syndrome plagues writers. No matter how many times you try to talk them off the ledge or give them a pep talk, they wonder if their words are gonna sound like a whole lot of "blah blah blah" to the reader. But it isn't just writers, it's most folks with a story to tell. If we are found in the Lord, that includes us! We have an amazing story to tell. Not because we are eloquent, or famous, or great orators or writers, but because God says if we don't speak "the rocks will cry out." Certainly we beat a stone in story skill. Certainly! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation as she introduces the May 2024 Mission called Blah Blah Blah and welcomes Georgie Davis. Georgie, a Liberian missionary, cannot tell her hope story without revisiting the most tragic event of her life, reading hundreds of letters that give context to the loss and interviewing folks that were present at the scene 40 years ago. Listen to how her hardened heart is being remolded and shaped into something akin to putty as she allows the Lord to show her how to process unspeakable loss. If, after hearing this episode, you would like the equipping pieces discussed, or you'd like to receive Mobile Mission Packs in the mail [free], visit us at TheRidiculousHour.com and we'll get a pack out to you right away.

The racetrack ride at Disney – The Speedway to Tomorrowland – is shockingly real to a kid. Bright popping colorful cars, twisty tracks, revving engines, low leather bucket seats and nobby rubber steering wheels all feel so real. But it’s the actual ride that eventually brings deeper meaning to the concept of “real.” We steer our cars too hard to the left and… THUNK… we hit the guardrail at the center designed to keep our ride on the track. We react by over-correcting to the right and… THUNK… we hit the guardrail at the center and are forced back on to the course laid out for us. And on and on it goes -- THUNK, THUNK, THUNK -- until we get to the end of the course and conclude that either the ride is lousy, or we have a defective car, or both. Our story begins with a child on a ride concluding her toy car is defective and in continues with her as an adult concluding she's defective because her mistakes feel a whole lot like THUNKING. She comes to believe she isn’t allowed to course correct or THUNK in public spaces, so she hides. Our story ends with God allowing a course correction that births a women’s ministry with a simple core value -- REAL women get healed because others in the family of faith can only bear what a woman chooses to share. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Inc. for the April 2024 mission story and challenge called THUNK, THUNK, THUNK.  If you’d like to receive the free gift included with this Mission, email us at [email protected] or go to our mission page on the website – www.theridiculoushour.com and request one. We’d be thrilled snail mail it to you. Curious? We sure hope so!

Ever ironed a crease in the wrong spot in a garment? Once that crease gets set and cool, it's pretty challenging to press it out, isn't it? Dry cleaners actually use special tags to make sure a crease doesn't end up where one doesn't belong. They say CREASE and NO CREASE. And if they miss the mark [which we all sometimes do], there's a tag for that too -- DO-OVER. You can buy these tags by the thousands at dry cleaning suppliers.... which we did... just for the mission this month. Because let's face it, who doesn't need a DO-OVER now and again... and again and again? Curious? We sure hope so! Join Ridiculous Hour Foundation Founder Kat Silverglate for the March 2024 Mobile Mission called DO-OVER where we open our hearts to God's call to keep short conflict accounts with others... to iron out creases right away. And if you'd like the dry cleaning tags we sent out this month with our physical mission packs, we'd be thrilled to snail mail 'em to ya. Just visit our mobile mission page on our website at www.theridiculoushour.com.

We've all said it. Under our breath. In our heads. On our knees. To a trusted friend in whispered tones. "I didn't sign up for this!" At the start, we genuinely want in. At the startline, we are focused on the rightness of the endeavor, or the possibilities for the future, or the hope or promise or prize, or just something better... And then it gets hard, or impossible, or inconvenient, or boring or shocking or just plain ugly. And then we hear ourselves say... "I didn't sign up for this." Our story begins with a classic bucket list item -- a full marathon. It continues on race day with the phrase, "I didn't sign up for this." And it resolves with a new mother teaching her mother-in-love a thing or two about self-sufficiency and God's strength. Curious? We sure hope so. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the February 2024 Mobile Mission -- "I Signed Up for This." To receive the gift and challenge associated with this mission [free], go to the mission page at www.theridiculoushour.com. Thank you to Shannon Alderman for her sound edits to this podcast. You make The Ridiculous Hour better.

Some say when we pray for patience, God allows challenges and tests. How else would one know the presence of patience if not by circumstances that require it? During a challenge, as our agitation builds, we look at the person getting on our last nerve, and we blame them for our disquietude. But then that prayer for patience rises in our memory, and we wonder "could that be YOU Lord?" Our mission story begins with a little girl raised in a small town who adopts the phrase "I've got this" as she fights to prove she's worthy of big things. Somewhere in mid-life, we find her on her knees praying that God would intercede in the impact her driven-ness is having on others. Literally she prays for "the possibility of being a deeply spiritual person who has a positive, rather than a negative impact on the people I care about." Our story ends with God bringing her people to impact and care about. Lots of them. Oodles of them! Curious? We sure hope so. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at the Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the January 2024 Mobile Mission story and challenge called -- Boxing. To order the equipping pieces discussed in this story, email [email protected]. And again, we thank Shannon I.F. Alderman for her sound edits on this podcast. She makes this mission better.

Have you seen that viral social media post with the eight-year-old in the car with Mom? 8YO: “Do you want me to throw the confetti in my pocket?” Mom: “No not in the car! – why do you have confetti in your pocket?” 8yo: “It’s my emergency confetti, I carry it everywhere in case there is good news.” It makes us warm but it also makes us pause. Most of us can relate to the mother who worries more about the mess of celebration than the good news being celebrated. Can't we? In worshipping God, we proclaim Philippians 4:8 which celebrates whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praise worthy! We repeat Micah's words -- do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God. But when actually doing so risks stepping out of our neatly ordered plans and risking the mess that may ensue if we live those things out with our neighbors, our enemies, our friends? "No, not in the car!" How do we let the confetti fly like a child without minding the mess? Join Kat Silverglate, Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the December 2023 Mobile Mission called Emergency Pocket Confetti. If you'd like your own set of pocket confetti, go to www.theridiculoushour.com or email [email protected].

When we are invited to a dinner with fancy napkins, we know there's something more than food being served. We know that we will be fed by something else. Something with meaning. Something deeper. Our mission story this month begins with a tribute to the co-founder of a food pantry in South Florida. Long before Tricia Heng started that pantry, she was a struggling single mom who received a basket of food at a terribly difficult time. That gift from a stranger at a church gave her just the courage she needed to say yes to going on a retreat where she had a personal encounter with God. He tugged her heart. Made it personal. Let her know that she had a mission. She wrote a letter to Him at the end of that retreat -- nearly 27 years ago [11/3/1996] and she told Him she didn't know what the mission was but she knew He'd direct her steps. And He did! Our story ends with a series of miracles that have allowed that feast to continue many years after her death. And for many to feast on the friendship of God. Curious? We sure hope so! Join founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, for the November 2023 true story and mission challenge -- Feast Mode. If you would like the equipping pieces referenced in this piece [always free while supplies last], go to theridiculoushour.com and request them. Note, this mobile mission officially begins on 11/1/23. This episode was released early to supply pre-release copies to those who are new to The Ridiculous Hour Mobile Mission.

Our story this month begins with a five-time Emmy winning sports producer who moves from a big city to Boise Idaho to start a family and a family business: "I went from a bustling city working 60 hours a week in a high-profile job that held spotlights on ratings, followers, likes, clicks, views and awards to a small town where they drove slowly, didn’t know my name, and preferred ‘Calvin’s mom’ to Jenn... I loved being mom, but I didn’t know how to grasp the concept of worth outside the context of career success. Where did I fit in the world now?” Our story ends with her having an epiphany about worth while performing as an extra in a few film shorts about the people the world might consider "extras" but God considered central. Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, Founder of The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the October 2023 Mobile Mission Challenge. If you'd like to receive the "equipping pieces" discussed in this podcast [always free while supplies last] go to www.theridiculoushour.com/mobile-mission and request them!

You ARE (fill in the blank) is very different than you MUST BE something. Or you HAVE something. Think about these you are statements... If you got the news... You ARE now a Florida Gator... you wouldn't keep submitting your college application, would you? When you grow up hearing your parents say... You ARE our precious child... you wouldn't try to prove your status as a daughter or son -- absent some pretty unusual circumstances. So when the Lord says -- you ARE the salt of the earth, why do we sometimes hear -- you MUST BE the salt of the earth, or you HAVE the salt of the earth? Our mission story this month begins with a woman sewing a glittery hem onto an old worn out pair of pants in an effort to extend their already expired life-span... And it ends more than a decade later with a sentence in a book that metaphorically extends the "life" of that unraveled hem well beyond its shelf life. Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the September 2023 mission challenge and true story called -- Salt &... If you would like to receive the Mobile Mission Pack mentioned in this Episode, head on over to theridiculoushour.com and we will get one in the mail to you for free as long as supplies last!

The phrase mid-life is curious, isn't it? Especially when we have no way of knowing where the middle will be. Which is why mid-life tends to have us reinforcing holes. Asking questions like: “What have I left undone?” “What should I be doing in the time I have left?” Our mission story begins with an invite to give a TED-style talk and how it moved a mid-lifer to face a stereotype he hid behind... It ends with God reinforcing the holes in that adopted identity… And somewhere in the middle, we hear how the holes were filled: "The best analogy I have is a pair of jeans with worn out knees. When you run your hand over that part you feel something in the thin place that you don’t feel on the rest of your legs. The presence of the Lord was overwhelming." Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at the Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the August 2023 Mobile Mission launch – Mid-life: Reinforcing Holes. If you'd like the physical Mobile Mission Pack discussed in this podcast, go to TheRidiculousHour.com and we’ll get one in the mail to you right away [free while supplies last]. *** Always with joyful gratitude to our sound editor, Shannon Alderman, for her creative work on this episode.

There is a truth that would make most of us viscerally nod our heads up and down -- a phrase that tugs our heart strings when we pause to think about the folks who live this out in our lives -- a phrase that reaches a deep tender place... We long to be both fully known and still fully loved. Think about it. To be DEEPLY known, warts and all, and STILL deeply loved requires a great deal of trust on the part of the known one and a great deal of patience and kindness on the part of the knower. Our mission story this month starts with a nurse who explains, in an unforgettable way, why this kind of love is so hard to lose, and ends with a slap across the face that results in a... BEAR HUG! Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the July 2023 Mobile Mission called Old Love, New Love. If you'd like to receive the Mission Pack referenced in this Podcast [always free while supplies last] visit www.theridiculoushour.com. We'd absolutely love to send you one!

We are so fond of the phrase "life is a gift," and it is; but, the middle letters in both these words, life and gift, are IF. Both center on the ability to question. It's what sets us apart. Makes us human, right? If we aren't careful, we can fall into the trap of believing that questions and doubts are a sign of ingratitude. Or a lack of faith. If we aren't careful, we can stunt our growth and that of others by calling honest questions and doubts by the wrong names -- ingratitude and faithlessness. Our mission story begins with a girl whose parents give her the middle initials I.F. before they know her naturally inquisitive nature. A cancer diagnosis in her 20's amp up her questions about God and a fear that expressing them will signal ingratitude in the midst of so much care. Thinking that a carpe diem attitude is a higher way through cancer, she develops a poker face of confidence, stuffing her pain and doubts for years. COVID lockdown leaves her alone with all that stuffing and numbing mechanisms that no longer work. Our story ends with a "Godly Google Search" that results in friends who help her move from poker face to poker breath, a holy release from the desire to stuff honest questions and doubts. Curious? We sure hope so. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the June 2023 mission story and challenge. If you choose to begin this mission on June 1st, you will be joining individuals in 13 countries, 45 states and 270+ cities who are receiving these messages and activities. If you would like the physical Mission Pack with the equipping pieces described in this Episode (always free while supplies last), go to https://theridiculoushour.com/mobile-mission/ and request one or sign up to receive them automatically by mail. This episode is dedicated to my little sister Shannon I.F. Alderman who is brave in her questions and faithful in her journey toward hope. As sound editor to this podcast, she has blessed countless others through The Ridiculous Hour mission. We thank God for her daily.

What is hope before it's tested? It's a funny question, isn't it? I mean, we know transformation happens between untested and tested hope, but what kind? C.S. Lewis focuses his answer on revelation in his book A Grief Observed: “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't." The Apostle Paul goes beyond self-revelation to an often painful trajectory that ends at a fruitful promise: "...we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame..." Romans 5:3-5 Which leads some of us to this bold honest question... So does that mean it's possible to get to the point where we move through suffering and tests differently because we trust they lead to resilient hope? To a hope that does not disappoint? After reading Carlisa's story, we think you might find yourself declaring, "of course it does!" When God called Carlisa and her husband to foster* nine children [not all at the same time], He already knew that it would pull her through the biggest faith crisis of her adult life -- the death of her beloved mother. Our mission story begins with a grief stricken daughter declaring "I don't do God anymore" and ends with a wild, nearly comical series of God-incidences that leave her shamelessly hopeful! Curious? We sure hope so. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the May 2023 Mission story called Tested Hope. If you'd like to receive the free Mission Pack discussed in this podcast, we'd be thrilled to send you one by snail mail while supplies last. Simply visit the mission page at www.theridiculoushour.com. Note*: some facts about the children have been changed to protect their identities. End Note: With ridiculous gratitude to our sound producer, Shannon Alderman, for your excellence in making these podcasts pop with music and vocal edits.

Waiting sounds like such a passive thing, doesn't it? The act of waiting. You let time pass until the wait is over and then you go on, right? Sometimes we do, but not always. Not when it's the hardest kind of waiting. Not when it is the kind of waiting where you have zero control over the outcome and the outcome will seriously impact your life. You have a routine medical test. You get that call... you need a biopsy. While you're waiting for the test and then the results, you feel like you have a gremlin living in your head. He does laps around the creases in your brain repeatedly yelling "what if, what if, what if..." He's loud and rude and he won't shut up. You keep getting in the car with him like you're in a NASCAR race and you let him drive you to the scene of various worst case scenarios again and again. You're very active in that waiting room, but you know that it isn't the right kind of active waiting. How do you find it? Our mission story this month begins with that little fear and worry gremlin driving a woman bonkers while waiting for biopsy results and it ends with perfect strangers feasting in a hospital room and experiencing peace together before the results come in. Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, the founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the April 2023 mission story and challenge called Active Waiting. If you would like to learn more about the project or you'd like to receive the Mission Pack described in this episode [while supplies last], go to www.theridiculoushour.com and click that orange Get Started button at the center of the giant bike picture. This episode is dedicated to Alma Figueredo who found peace again and again while she waited. With gratitude to Shannon Alderman for the sound edits to this episode.

I'm too old. I'm too young. I'm too inexperienced. I'm too poor. I don't have any talents. I'm too tired. I'm too busy. I'm not creative. I'm not bold. I'm afraid. I'm not fixed enough. I'm not ready. I'm not equipped. I'm not good at anything special. I'm afraid to fail. I'm shy. I don't have anything special to add. I don't have any unique skills. I don't know where to start... Tell this to Margarita and Barbara, two best friends, who at 70 years old started making handmade dolls for people in need of comfort. It started with one doll, then another... and now, at 76 and 77 years old, they are close to their 7,000th's doll. Did they buy all that fabric and stuffing and thread? Nope. It was donated. Did they pay to have the dolls shipped to countries all over the world? Nope. Established ministries, churches, strangers and friends carried or shipped them to those in need. Do they have a formal organization? Negative! Just a name, Komfort Kuddlies and a heart to share the Lord. This dynamic duo has something to teach us about the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. Something way beyond the call to use what we've been given. Something about the joyful freedom to invest our talents without the wrong kind of fear holding us back. Something about giving out of a deep security in God's love.  Our mission story this months begins with a woman searching for a role model the way one might search for a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket and ends with two septuagenarians and a wild investment strategy.  Curious? We sure hope so! Join the Founder of the Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, for the March 2023 Mobile Mission -- Nothing Wasted With God. If you'd like to receive the equipping piece discussed in this Episode, visit www.theridiculoushour.com and go to the mission page. We'll get one out to you! With gratitude to Shannon Alderman for the sound edits and production of this episode. Thank you for giving your talents so faithfully!

In 1964 a father penned a bedtime story for his sons called Flat Stanley. In it, Stanley is flattened by a falling bulletin board which makes it possible for him to be sent through the postal service in an envelope to a friend in another state. He returns in a fresh new envelope full of stories about his time with friends. Strangely, this seems like such an apt description of what we've become socially. We flatten our voices into text messages, our movements into reels, our physical presence into sharable images and we send them to our "friends." We stopped calling this "connection" long ago and now call it flat-out-relationship.  And while much of this was absolutely necessary during a global pandemic, and while it remains vitally necessary for those with compromised immunities or health challenges, and while it definitely works for folks separated by geography and for teaching on a broad scale, haven't we taken the flat thing a bit too far? In the Lord, the relational world was never intended to be flat. Far from it. It was designed to have the texture of touch and voice and presence. How do we push through a culture that says flat is where it's at? Our mission story this month begins with the director of a Trial Academy Boot Camp lecturing young lawyers on the importance of texture in their interaction with a jury and we end with Flat Stanley sightings all over the world and beyond to the International Space Station.  Curious? We sure hope so. Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Ridiculous Hour Foundation [Home of The Mobile Mission Project] for our February 2023 Mobile Mission Challenge. If you would like to receive the equipping piece discussed in this month's podcast, visit our mission page at www.theridiculoushour.com. We'd be thrilled to mail you one while supplies last. And if you'd like to sign up to take these monthly challenges, visit our sign up link on our home page at www.theridiculoushour.com. With gratitude to Shannon Alderman for her sound edits on this podcast. Her skill adds texture to the mission!

We buy planners this time of year. Preprinted commercial books that give space for yearly goals, monthly calendars, daily plans. We are given room to write and then check off our accomplishments. Set our top priorities. Even schedule our days by 30 minute increments. Doesn't it seem a bit odd that there isn't a box anywhere on those tools for detours? For the unplanned moments when our steps are involuntarily reordered? When it doesn't go the way we want and we find ourselves off the page trying to get back on track? Doesn't it seem like there should be a checkable box for the detours? Don't they count? Do we live as if the unplanned is unusual? As if the detours don't count on life's map?   Our mission story this month begins with a quirky family mantra -- "what's written remains" -- that causes one family member to freeze when it comes time to writing down goals and plans. It ends with a carefully scripted weekend that was marked more by interruptions than by check marks. A weekend that made that same family member grateful she could compare the written plan to the map her steps ultimately took.  Curious? We sure hope so!     Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, as she introduces the January 2023 Mobile Mission -- Counting Detours. To learn more about this project or to receive the equipping piece discussed in this episode, visit www.TheRidiculousHour.com.  

Our mission story this month starts with a little girl who communicates through sign language a desperate desire for more time with her grandmother and ends with a sign language word that we may decide to use for the rest of our lives to remind ourselves and others that there is always more with God! Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation for the December 2022 mission challenge -- MORE! If you'd like to receive the equipping pieces discussed at the end of this podcast [always free while supplies last], visit the mission page at www.theridiculoushour.com and select "request materials." May we all walk through December 2022 remembering this -- there is always more with God!

Have you ever seen a team lift? A group of people reaching the least, the lost and the lonely TOGETHER! It's beautiful thing to witness isn't it? You see from afar that God is working through that team, but you hang back because it wasn't the burning bush moment you where hoping for.  Or what about this: God puts an idea in your heart that is beyond your personal capacity. You immediately think more about the obstacles than the possibilities. If you can't do it all on your own with the gifts and resources you have, you choose instead to do nothing. You know that the whisper you heard from heaven requires more than a solo flight with God... you know it involves a team lift.  But with whom? And how? Not able to wrap your brain around that question, you allow the heavenly whisper to morph into a fleeting thought.  Our mission story this month starts with a veteran stirred by a news clip about a little girl in a war zone and ends with hundreds of teddy bears and stuffed animals waiting for a ride to kiddos fleeing war zones.   Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the November 2022 Mobile Mission -- Team Lift. We are on a mission to rethink responsiveness to God, one month at a time. If you'd like the activity pack referenced in this podcast [free while supplies last], simply go to https://theridiculoushour.com/mobile-mission and select REQUEST MATERIALS just under the countdown timer.  Sound Credit: Shannon Alderman is responsible for the sound production of this episode. You make us better. Thank you Shannon!

Do you give your trust to God in difficult circumstances and then find yourself fretting, worrying, and spinning? Do you give it to Him and then take it back? Do you give it to Him again and then wonder why you couldn't resist the urge to snatch it back? Do you give it to Him yet again and then find yourself surprised at the fact that you are holding it? "Why am I holding this? I already gave that to you God? Why is it so hard for me to trust you in this circumstance?" It is as if we are stacking up trust in the Lord the same way we sometimes stack dirty dishes in the sink. "I definitely trust you with ALL my heart God; but right now, I need to put that trust on the pile for a while so I can ______ [fill in the blank -- fret, worry, spin]?"   Our mission story this month starts with a coffee loving college student on his way to a coffee farm in the mountainous jungle of Peru and ends with his anxiety ridden mother transferring her trust from an app on her phone to the God of the universe who knit this boy in her womb.  Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the October 2022 Mobile Mission -- Do Not Stack. We are on a mission to rethink responsiveness to God, one month at a time. If you'd like the activity pack referenced in this podcast [free while supplies last], simply go to www.theridiculoushour.com and select GET STARTED just below our tag line -- inspiring lives ridiculously responsive to the promptings of God! Sound Credit: Shannon Alderman is responsible for the sound production of this episode. You make us better. Thank you Shannon!

Are you a resizer? You feel a nudge, a poke, a prompt a call from the Lord and immediately decide it's the wrong size? "Oh no Lord, that's way outside my comfort zone. Can you resize that? Make it medium please. Just squarely in the middle of my natural talents and abilities. I know how to use those." Or you want something bigger, so your resize request sounds more like this: "I want to make a REAL difference in the world. Can you give me something God size?" Our mission story this month starts Mr. Canyou, an expert at resizing God's nudges, and ends with a young boy relieved to know he's not alone on the next few steps of first airplane ride.   Curious? We sure hope so!  Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, for the September 2022 Mobile Mission -- God Size. We are on a mission to rethink responsiveness to God, one month at a time. If you'd like the activity pack referenced in this podcast [free], simply go to www.theridiculoushour.com and select GET STARTED just below our tag line -- inspiring lives ridiculously responsive to the promptings of God! Sound Credit: Shannon Alderman is responsible for the sound production of this episode. You make us better. Thank you Shannon!

Ever notice how some truths seem to go together? Stating one without the counterpart leaves you wanting to complete the thought. Truth #1: Truth without love is brutality. We've all experienced a brutally honest person who delivers hard truth with zero love, zero compassion, and negative zero empathy. At best we put up our armor and fight back. At worst we leave with a gaping wound that swallows any hope of addressing the hard truth. So what's the counterpart? What is love without truth? Truth #2: Love without truth is hypocrisy. You've been there, right? Some mushy sugary statement comes out of someone's mouth while the elephant in the room is so big nobody can ignore it. You know the speaker sees it to. But they ignore it. Cover it up with "love." So, you don't trust 'em completely. No, truth and love seem to be some kind of package deal. A set that isn't intended to be separated.    Episode 32 begins with a "hard truth" meet up between friends and ends with Ralph Waldo Emerson's holy version of the truth/love package deal.   Curious? We sure hope so! Join the founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, for the story behind the August 2022 Mobile Monthly Mission -- Do Not Separate. To order the free equipping piece referenced in this podcast or to sign up for our monthly missions, visit www.theridiculoushour.com. __________________ Sound Credit: Thank you Shannon Alderman, our sound editor, for your awesome edits.

Ever had to eat your words? Tasted the bitter fruit of words spoken a little too quickly? Rashly? Carelessly? We all have! But you know what? We've all done something else too. Something powerful and delicious. We've tasted the sweet fruit of life-giving words. Encouraging words. Even hard truthful words spoken with deep love and right motives. What if the phrase, "I ate my words" signaled a delicious moment? What if we wanted to eat the fruit of our words because we chose them so carefully?  Our mission story this month begins with the shortest boy in a class who rose a head taller than the rest and ends with red "muzzle" flags in mailboxes in 44 states, 260 cities and a few countries.   Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of the Mobile Mission Project at the Ridiculous Hour Foundation, as she introduces the Foundation's July 2022 Mobile Mission Project -- Word Power. Would you like to join us over the next 30 days as we pause to respond to God's call to "be slow to speak?" Or perhaps you'd simply like to receive a sample mission pack in the mail? Either way, contact us at www.theridiculoushour.com. We'll get you started. Audio Credit: With gratitude to Shannon Alderman for her audio edits to our podcast.

Our story this month begins with a spectacular gift that accidentally ended up on the trash heap and ends with a tree hospital for the deadest of orchids. Curious? We sure hope so! Join the Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, as we find a way to pause in the brittle dry places of life and attach to the source of all life. If you'd like to learn more about our monthly missions or you'd like to receive the "equipping piece" that goes with this podcast (while supplies last), check out our mission page on our website at www.theridiculoushour.com.  SHOUT OUT #1: With gratitude to individuals in 44 states, 260 cities and 9 countries that are participating in our mission this month!  SHOUT OUT#2: With gratitude to Shannon Alderman for the sound edits on this Podcast. You make us better!

We live in a world that celebrates very visible things. Someone gets an award. Earns a degree. Delivers a speech. Writes a book. Starts a charity. Has lots of social media followers. The spot light goes there. People notice. Some form of social value is assigned. But what about the hidden things? The invisible acts? The excruciatingly beautiful sacrifices? Think about the nurse who cleans the vomit. The adult sibling who cares for the dying parent. The friend who drives the elderly couple to the grocery store. The individual who reads to the dyslexic child. Is there more to sacrificial acts of service than being "good citizens" or getting social credit or feeling good about ourselves? The Lord says there is.  Episode 29 begins with a baby named Tuesday and ends with a bunch of folks dusting for fingerprints -- their own.  Curious?  We sure hope so!   Join the founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation, Kat Silverglate, for the story behind the May 2022 Mobile Monthly Mission -- Love is a Tuesday. To order the free equipping piece referenced in this podcast or to sign up for our monthly missions, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.   __________________ Sound Credit: Thank you Shannon Alderman, our sound editor, for your Tuesday edits. 

We live in a world obsessed with BIG. Big outcomes. Big following. Big titles. Big results. Big names. Big awards. Big wins. Big gulps. Big deals! Small, for the most part, doesn't make headlines. Doesn't garner attention. Doesn't even seem to wiggle the needle on the radar screen of life. Which is more than a bit ironic when you think about some of God's language about small things. Rather than promote BIG faith, He celebrates faith the size of a mustard seed. It sounds intriguing until you actually hold a single mustard seed in the palm of your hand. And then, it just sounds ridiculous! He sends the youngest son to fight a giant with small stones. And He refuses to speak to Elijah out of the Big-3 weather terrors: tornados, earthquakes and fires. Instead, God chooses to come to him in a small gentle whisper. God so flips our association with the lesser place of SMALL THINGS that we are left hungry to let Him use them to satisfy what BIG has simply failed to satiate. Our mission story this month begins with a Mama determined to flip the script for a little girl intellectually and developmentally a year behind her class, and ends with a small move -- a one sentence private Facebook message -- that explodes the faith of the recipient. Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, the founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation as she welcomes us to the Foundation's April 2022 Mobile Monthly Mission -- Small Moves, Big Faith. If, after hearing this podcast, you'd like to learn more or you'd like a sample mission pack, visit www.theridiculoushour.com.