THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE with Danica & Autumn

Too DISTRACTED to DISCERN? How to Hear God's Voice // Discernment Series (Part 4)

• Danica Childs • Episode 6

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HOW CAN I HEAR GOD WHEN I’M SOOO DISTRACTED???  Good question!  We simply can’t discern when we’re too distracted to hear the still, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit.  We need HEART AWARENESS.  We need to cultivate an internal space -- an INNER SANCTUARY -- so we can hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  And since most of us can’t just drop everything and retreat to a cabin in the woods for a week (WE WISH!), we offer some doable, down-to-earth tips and suggestions on how to find pockets of silence in your already busy life in order to REALLY hear what God is saying to you AND to "excavate your heart's desires" with the Holy Spirit.

ABOUT US:
DANICA CHILDS is a Spiritual Director with a MA in Spiritual Formation/Soul Care from Talbot Seminary and a MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Her sister AUTUMN is a storyteller passionate about the spiritual gifts and creating with the Holy Spirit. We’re sisters who've spent a combined forty years in various forms of ministry, including co-planting a church in Hollywood with other families, where we served in a variety of leadership roles for around a decade. Later we began THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE as a Los Angeles based ministry in 2016. We daily pursue creative, artistic, messy, and joyful lives of adventure in Southern California with our family and friends!

"We're excited to adventure audaciously with YOU!"


Autumn Cornwell:

Hello, and welcome to the audacious adventure. I'm Autumn Cornwell -

Danica Childs:

And I'm Danica Childs.

Autumn Cornwell:

And we're two sisters that adventuring with the Holy Spirit and you. And today, we want to talk about distraction, how absolutely distracting our lives are, and how on earth can we hear and discern the still quiet, small voice of the Holy Spirit? When it's chaos around us all the time?

Danica Childs:

How do we actually create a space in internal space where we can actually hear the inner promptings of the Spirit? How do we push past the distractions? How do we stop the overstimulation of our lives so that we can actually be present to God long enough to actually pay attention to what he might be trying to tell us in these internal movements of our soul?

Autumn Cornwell:

You know, the people who say, we turn off our phones at this time of day, we turn off all cellular Wi Fi at this time a night - I'm like, that sounds great. I've never done that.

Danica Childs:

I know. I still aspire to do that, actually. Which is funny, because I was just talking to my husband today saying, I think we should do an experiment this summer, where we totally unplug for a week. Have you heard of people doing that?

Autumn Cornwell:

Oh, yeah. And using candles?

Danica Childs:

I think that's going a little too far on them. I feel like you're making fun of me now.

Autumn Cornwell:

No, but I agree. You're talking no cell phone, no computer. Like everything.

Danica Childs:

We would shut down internet. We wouldn't watch movies.

Autumn Cornwell:

You would just play games?

Danica Childs:

That's right. I mean, just the sound of that terrifies me.

Autumn Cornwell:

I think it'd be great.

Danica Childs:

I mean, if we could be traveling while doing it, I think that'd be awesome. But, you know, sitting in your own home and being like, okay, we're all now going to be perfectly present to each other. And we're going to play games, and we're going to go on hikes, and nothing can distract us from being together.

Autumn Cornwell:

There are calls to the doctor when you have a mental breakdown.

Danica Childs:

So anyway, maybe we'll talk about that in a future episode. If we actually do it. That could be kind of interesting. I know, we should do it together as an experiment. And then we'll talk about it and tell you how it went.

Autumn Cornwell:

And then you can keep us accountable.

Danica Childs:

And then maybe we'll be absolutely crazed.

Autumn Cornwell:

I know, or we'll have heard God so solidly we're gonna leave and move to Albania.

Danica Childs:

Oh, oh, dear. Do I want to hear that? I don't know. So anyway, so talking about distractions, right? I mean, do we even need to talk this out, we all know the distraction of just having this computer in our pocket.

Autumn Cornwell:

And in fact, we could be a distraction to you right now. You might be trying to get studying done or making dinner.

Danica Childs:

Maybe God is actually tapping you on the shoulder right now saying, turn their video off, turn their podcast off and talk to me.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes, exactly. Exactly.

Danica Childs:

So distraction. The question is, we live in an age where we are not gonna be able to get rid of these distractions every single day. So what do we do? What do we do? What can we do in our days as they are now - none of us are just going to start tossing our phones away. We know we're going to keep our phones. We know we're going to keep our entertainment. We know that there are certain things we will continue to do.

Autumn Cornwell:

I know. It has a hold on us.

Danica Childs:

I don't even want to go into all the conspiracy theories. Anyway. So what do we do about the distractions? Well, one thing we I think we need to be very clear of is that you cannot discern well while also being distracted. You can't discern in distraction. So obviously, we want to figure out well, what do we do to become less distracted so we can create that internal space to hear God. And so we're going to talk about two things that maybe when you hear about it, you're like "no, say it's not so. Anything but that." And then others of you will be like, "Oh, finally, I've been given permission." So it could go either way today, but hopefully, by the time we're done talking about it, you will realize it's completely doable in your life.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes, I have visceral reactions to some of the things she talks about. I fight them tooth and nail.

Danica Childs:

We've already had many offline discussions about this. So the first thing that you might find hard to do is just this concept of being alone with God. So take a moment right now, what happened inside you, this is your chance to actually pay attention right now, when we say being alone with God. Does that bring up feelings of I don't want to do this. Does it bring up Ooh, that actually sounds tempting, or, you know, pay attention to what's going on inside because those are good things to be aware of, your internal movements right in this moment. What happens when we say that - your time alone with God?

Autumn Cornwell:

Because I think back in the day, I think when you would hear about alone time, devotions - It didn't matter. It didn't work or whatever. I mean, I think there was good natured, you know, advice out there, but it always felt the same.

Danica Childs:

Don't get me started.

Autumn Cornwell:

Get up at 6am, make your coffee, get your special study time and it always felt so orchestrated and it had to be a certain way and if you didn't do it correctly and did it wrong. It felt like every time you have a quiet time or time alone with God to hear him, it always seemed to look the same.

Danica Childs:

And it felt like a checkbox. This is what you do to be a good Christian. And I mean, I think it's also personality because I, maybe I'm just undisciplined by nature -

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes.

Danica Childs:

Rude! But that idea of the same time, every day, doing this quiet time checking the box, having it be for a certain amount of time. I mean, that feeling feels so constricting to me. I feel constrained that I can't do that. I can't meet that expectation, and therefore, I must not be able to have alone time with God.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah, that's interesting. The funny thing about me is that I remember thinking, Oh, that sounds cheesy. But I loved my quiet time with God, because I framed it in a different way. So I did similar things. But it was my way during the day at mine time.

Danica Childs:

More like 2am,

Autumn Cornwell:

Probably 2am in the morning, or at 3am I buckle down or whatever. But it's the framing of it. And then it was my way and the Holy Spirit led me into a personalized way to kind of hang out with him and journal and all that.

Danica Childs:

Basically, I will guarantee that you have been alone, at some point in your day already. Unless you live in a very populated house. And you bunk with people all the time, you know, okay, we're getting away from the point. But the point is, you are probably alone at some point in your day. And so what do we mean by Time Alone With God. It can simply be this, you're in your car alone - then how do you mitigate against the distractions? You don't turn on the radio, you don't turn on the news, you don't turn on a podcast, not even ours. You actually sit in the silence in that aloneness in the car. And instead of just talking to yourself, you actually invite God into that alone time with you. And you can even sort of visualize Jesus sitting in the passenger seat with you. So Jesus is coming with you, in this alone time in the car. And then you start talking to Jesus about what's going on inside you, I'm sure you're feeling something, we're all feeling stuff during the day, even if we're not paying attention to it, I know this for a fact. Or you have desires, maybe there's things that are coming up and you have wants or things that you want in your life. Well start telling Jesus about those desires, he cares, and he wants to know about them. Or maybe you are going into something, maybe you are driving to a destination for a doctor's appointment, or your job or a meeting with a friend or a meeting for whatever reason. And there's certain things you are nervous about or anxious about, we'll bring that into conversation with Jesus. That's all we mean by Time Alone With God.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah, and that is so huge, because I'm a ruminator. I can mull things over. I can think and think and think and process and visualize outcomes and visualize how I could have done it better or whatever. And this helps that almost hamster wheel of constantly going over and over the same thing.

Danica Childs:

It's perseveration. It's where you just keep thinking about the same thing over and over and over again.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah. Or, I think this is great, because you can actually voice that concern, voice that regret. Give it to Jesus, and Jesus is there with you. He literally can take that off you and take it out of your hand, so to speak. And off your mind. And it's, it's very therapeutic. I mean, it's what prayer is supposed to be doing. You know, anyway. And that is huge. Because oh my gosh, we can just be in our heads, even when we think we're having downtime. You're still plugged into your own continual thought cycle.

Danica Childs:

And we may not realize how much self talk we're doing. And it's just self talk, it's not prayer. It's not bringing God into it. So we're just saying if you're alone in the car, it doesn't even have to be for the entire drive. It could be you know, five minutes, a minute, start with a minute, start with whatever you can do without running away.

Autumn Cornwell:

And in a way you're kind of multitasking so you can actually convince yourself - I'm actually getting my prayer in at the same time as I'm pumping gas

Danica Childs:

Except that gas pumps now have video cameras or screens. Everywhere there's distraction.

Autumn Cornwell:

They are conspiring against our solitude.

Danica Childs:

Some other ways for this would be, hopefully you take a shower alone -

Autumn Cornwell:

Ha! I love that! We're goint to cut that out and put that everywhere.

Danica Childs:

This can be time with God, this can be time again where you invite Jesus into the shower. It sounds weired, but you know what I'm saying? Like this can be a space where you are alone. And you can start processing your feelings, your thoughts, your desires, your wants, whatever's going on in you in that moment with Jesus. So you're gonna pay attention. What am I feeling right now? What are my wants right now? What am I afraid of? What am I anxious about - whatever it is, take it to Jesus in that silence. It could also be if you have a pet, you go for walks with your pet well don't look at your phone, don't talk to the neighbors. Talk to Jesus!

Autumn Cornwell:

Be antisocial.

Danica Childs:

But that can be a natural alone time in your day that can now be alone time with God.

Autumn Cornwell:

And you know what I do sometimes, and this is something to think about. And a tip out there for somebody. I will go for walks or hikes. And I will have my cell phone and my ear piece in and I will record my ideas and stuff. But I also record prayers to Jesus and my conversation. So people think I'm talking on the phone. And I'll be like, I really need help. I need your clarity on this. And nobody knows you're talking to Jesus. And then I have that recording kind of as a memory. It's almost like a journal. And I can go back for years now. And I can pick out certain times I was praying to Jesus and I recorded it. That just came to me.

Danica Childs:

That's a great idea.

Autumn Cornwell:

That can be interesting and helpful for somebody to even get you used to voicing it out loud, because then it takes you out of your headspace into the audible. And I think there's something very powerful, there's a spiritual power of release, like spiritual power in speaking things out.

Danica Childs:

So that's a great idea. If you wash dishes, that can be alone time. And you can do it with God.

Autumn Cornwell:

Brother Lawrence.

Danica Childs:

Again, it's just pay attention to what you're feeling inside, pay attention to those desires, those thoughts, anything, and just start talking to God about them, rather than just them being in your head. So as we're talking, are you maybe thinking of like, Oh, I do know of some times where I'm alone in the day that I could start doing this. So it doesn't have to be like, you don't have to go out there and try and fit this into what you think is already a busy schedule. You don't have to try and make this work. You probably have spaces in your day where you could already be doing it naturally. Even just standing in line.

Autumn Cornwell:

Oh, yes standing in line at the supermarket.

Danica Childs:

Pick the longest line and go against your natural instinct to try to figure out which one's gonna be the shortest and go for the longest one knowing that that gives you some time alone with God just to be present to him.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes. And then I feel like you can almost condition yourself to suddenly go, I'm in line again. Time to pray or, I think laundry pops into my head. Because when I'm doing laundry I can pray during that time or talk to God. It's like, we have so many activities that don't require any mental agility,we're just physically doing it, and how often church mothers and fathers have said, it's almost like a humility, act of service, and also talking to God at the same time. So everything we do for others is a blessing. And it's also a time to talk to God.

Danica Childs:

So the basic point here is simply that, in order to create that space, to hear from God, and to get to that place where we're listening to the Holy Spirit, inner promptings, we want to create and cultivate time alone with God. And it's easier than you might think. I think that's our big point in this one. And then the second thing is, is cultivating times of silence. Now, times of silence in this distracted world, where, we might need to be alone with God in some place where we don't need to be paying attention to the cars around us, you know, but where you can be silent before God and just sort of pay attention to what does he want to say to you. What is God trying to tell you in the silence? Because I'm one of those people that cannot...I cannot...

Autumn Cornwell:

-form a sentence?

Danica Childs:

Exactly. Um, I can't even speak the word. Identify my feelings or my emotions, at any given moment. I cannot do it in the moment. I have to actually take some time alone, and sit in silence and be like, Okay, I know that when I had this interaction with this woman earlier, something came up in me, but I didn't have time in the moment to figure out what I was feeling. And now I get time to process what actually was I feeling in that moment, I have to do that. Now other people, maybe like my sister, or people who tend to be natural feelers can do it in the moment. I cannot do it in the moment, don't put that pressure on me. I need to take time away to sit and in the silence, pay attention to what kind of comes to the surface of my heart. I'm not talking about surface feelings that you have going through a day like sometimes I'm irritated and sometimes I'm frustrated, and sometimes I'm happy.

Autumn Cornwell:

Sometimes I'm horrible hormonal.

Danica Childs:

It's not those surface level feelings. It's those deeper current feelings that have kind of lingered for a while and you haven't really been paying attention to them, but you can tell that they are are motivating you in ways that maybe you're not conscious of. And so silence allows those things that we keep hidden or we try to avoid through busyness to come to the surface of our heart and be dealt with, because God wants to deal with those things. So they don't take us down.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes. And then another aspect of that quiet time is when God reveals things to you. Because if you're never alone, and never quiet, You won't here the things he wants to tell you, about yourself about his world about, what's going on in your life. And I have an example of that when I was a Christian camp counselor. In high school, I did two summers, and it was really fun. And I loved it, the nonstop activity, I basically was trying to keep campers from jumping into the water without a lifejacket and things like that. But when we occasionally had time away from the kids, I will never forget, like I just wanted to go do stuff and hang out and chat at the cafeteria. I was in extrovert total extrovert. I process with other people.

But then there was a couple times when the camp leader, this gentle, quiet man asked all of us leaders to get up early in the morning - early for me - 7am or maybe 6:

30. It was like, Oh, my gosh, they're people up at that time? And then we were supposed to take our Bibles and journals and go out into the woods, scatter out and just sit and ponder a verse of the Bible, or a section and journal or just sit. And I was at first resistant, being that I wanted to be sleeping. But when I got out there, the fresh air the crispness, I was converted to a morning person, briefly, never went back. But anyway, I could understand that draw of early fresh morning. And I felt so connected to God in the Bible. And I remember, reading a Psalm and then reading some of the New Testament and I was like, This is awesome. I'm hearing God about me, and I didn't really know what that was. I wasn't really, you know, diagnosing it, you know, like, this is God, really, His Holy Spirit is speaking to me, and and sharing with me things of his heart. And I absolutely loved it. But of course, I never really did that again until my late 20s. So it was like 10 years later, I was starting to make it a habit.

Danica Childs:

But it planted a seed. A seed, I think of desire of this as a good thing, even if I can't act on it now for whatever reasons.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes, it did. It planted a seed. I was resistant, but then when I did it, I didn't want to stop. He was like, time to come in. The campers are coming. And I was like, no, I don't want to go!

Danica Childs:

Both of us love nature. And that is definitely a place where we feel very connected to God, because it's almost like the sounds of nature take over and become like white noise that allows you to center and pay attention to what goes on inside yourself.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes, it's like hiking, biking, my husband's often done that surfing. And you know anything where you're out in nature, and you can see the majesty of God's creation. And the rhythm of walking or rhythm of doing something.

Danica Childs:

Walking is a great meditative activity, especially when you're doing it with God and saying, talk to me. This last Christmas - It wasn't Christmas, it was New Year's Eve. I always have these big ambitions of like, I'm going to, do these end of year reviews of my life and have God speak to me and clarify the themes of my life and, you know, all these good things and whatever. Like, they always go horribly wrong for me and my expectations for what should be in the moment. So anyway, I was like, alright, here's the least I can do. I'm gonna sit in a chair in my room. I'm alone, and I'm gonna be quiet. I'm just gonna ask God, Lord give me some idea of my year and draw to my attention anything I need to know about this past year. So I'm sitting there in silence, sort of snoozy, a little snoozy. And then all of a sudden, this word just sort of floated to the top of my heart in that time of silence. And I was like, what? How is THAT the word that you're bringing to my attention? Because I'm thinking happy happy joy joy, positive, I'm miss optimism, you can find the bright side of everything. Well, the word that floated, I would say it felt like it floated to the surface of my heart was the word disappointment. Really? My theme word for the year 2022 Is disappointment? Like, thanks, God. So then I was like, alright, I need to process this with you. What do you mean by disappointment? And so things sort of flashed through my mind, scenarios of the year flashed through my head and, and I realized that there were a lot of instances through my year where I was disappointed with the outcome or I was disappointed with my experience of something or I was disappointed in a person or I was disappointed with God. There was disappointment under a lot of experiences I had in 2022 and I had never processed it. I had never acknowledged it. I had never named it. And it was like God was saying, Danica, before you can move into a fresh new year, you need to be aware of this experience of your life. And let's talk about it and you can hand it to me and we can take care of it. So it doesn't trail you into 2023.

Autumn Cornwell:

Wow, that's powerful.

Danica Childs:

Yeah, it was completely shocking. And I don't think to this day, I would ever have realized that if I hadn't taken that time. And I'm telling you this was not like an hour of sitting in silence. This was maybe 10 minutes.

Autumn Cornwell:

Oh, wow. And when you looked back, did you then go, Aha, I see. And the whole it was the Holy Spirit pointing out all the different times of disappointment?

Danica Childs:

And I hadn't acknowledged it in the moment because I'm one of those people who stuff, stuff, stuff, bury, bury bury it. I can get through my days without even being aware that I had those feelings. So obviously, that was a big one.

Autumn Cornwell:

That is awesome. And so now, every year are you going to be doing that?

Danica Childs:

I thought it was a really helpful activity just to kind excavate my heart. I want to excavate my heart with the Holy Spirit to see what stuff needs to be removed, you know, because you can kind of calcified. You can get crusty bits on your heart that need to come off so that you can hear clearly.

Autumn Cornwell:

And I think the converse of that also, I think is helpful to sit and actually have the Holy Spirit recap your year, where there's highlights. Because our joys are answers to prayer, I try to write them down. But sometimes I forget. And I feel like I need to do it better, where I sit down and go, Okay, let's recap the year of all the joys. Because God wants us to praise and honor him when things go well. But sometimes we forget those, right? And then when you look back, you're like, oh, my gosh, look at all these amazing breakthroughs, or look at all these amazing praise reports, you know, in addition to the disappointments, but in Danica's case, she needed to acknowledge the disappointment,

Danica Childs:

Because I can acknowledge the joys and the good. It's really easy for me, but acknowledging the the darker stuff, the more negative stuff is difficult. Who wants to sit with that stuff, who wants to sort of sit and talk about their anxieties or their fears or, you know, disappointments, that's not something we naturally go to.

Autumn Cornwell:

That's true. And then I also think sometimes people don't want to rest in the the joy of something or this went well. They're kind of on to the next thing. They don't celebrate the moments, the breakthroughs, the times that God did show up and then they're on to the next thing.

Danica Childs:

That's a really good point because I think generally I have a hard time celebrating like taking time to celebrate. You're very good at it, which is why I love autumn. She's a natural celebrator.

Autumn Cornwell:

We made it through another episode!

Danica Childs:

So in watching Autumn in her life with her family, it's actually taught me to take time to celebrate these things. Celebrate the accomplishments of your kids, celebrate the accomplishments of your husband, or your spouse or whomever. Even small things - just celebrate. Take time to celebrate.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah, because all through the Old Testament, you know, the special rhythms of the Israelites, They were always celebrating harvest festivals, this new moon festival.

Danica Childs:

It's good for our soul.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah, to take moments to not work, to not strive and just be present and just celebrate, you know, that meal was actually tasty, I could eat it.

Danica Childs:

So all this to say is that if this resonates in you and you're like I do want to spend some time alone with God, I do want to sit in silence. I want to be less distracted. Here's what I would say start with, just spend a moment - it could be one minute with the Holy Spirit and say, Holy Spirit, show me the way forward. Show me one step I can take in this. And the Holy Spirit wants this for us. So the Holy Spirit will meet you in this.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah. And if he taps you on the shoulder, and you're like, I still want to bitterly go over what happened. Or I want to listen to this podcast or this music this time. Next time he taps you on the shoulder. Maybe you're maybe this time.

Danica Childs:

And here's something you can do. My spiritual director mentioned this to me once and I've never forgotten it. He's like, so, you know, there's times when I sense God wanting me to spend time with him. And I'm like, no I'd rather watch this Korean drama right now. Well, my director said, why don't you invite Jesus into the watching with you? So instead of doing it alone, invite Jesus in with you and then see what that experience was like when you invited Jesus to watch Korean dramas with you. And it's profound.

Autumn Cornwell:

That is great. All good gifts come from Jesus.

Danica Childs:

You don't have to separate Jesus out from these things. Even when you don't want to be with God. You can invite God into what you're doing. And because it's about relationship, it's not about being alone, it's about being in relationship. So invite Jesus in. It's kind of like the act of intentionality is what makes it spiritually profound.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yeah. Because I realized sometimes when I'm listening to things, or I'm reading things, I'll pause and go, God, what is going on with this writer? Why am I having a reaction to what they're saying. And I will literally talk it out with the Holy Spirit. Because sometimes I'm having a reaction that I don't understand, or someone's saying something, it could be a podcast, or some show or something. And I have to pause and go, Wait a minute, something's off, or I'm getting a red flag, or I'm getting something and then that's when I feel like, Jesus is hanging out with me and going, Yeah, this is probably why.

Danica Childs:

Because at the end of the day, I think God more than anything wants us to know, we are not alone. We carry the presence of God in us, as we've said before,

Autumn Cornwell:

He's a constant companion.

Danica Childs:

So it's kind of like bringing that awareness to our mind, more often than not, until it sort of becomes a habit.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes. So this whole idea that we've got to get quiet is actually liberating.

Danica Childs:

It's going to lead to greater self awareness. And to discern well, you have to have some really good self awareness, as well as an awareness of how God works in your life.

Autumn Cornwell:

So today, before we leave you, we want to suggest an exercise you can do, that's easy. So first of all, think of an activity you do where you're naturally alone, that could be walking the dog, going on an errand in your car, taking a shower, or getting dressed in the morning, if it takes you a long time. And then what do we do Danica?

Danica Childs:

Well then in that time, invite Jesus into your time alone. And do this intentionally, make it an intentional act of inviting him in. And then in that time of silence and aloneness ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your own heart to yourself. What are the underlining emotions that you're carrying around at that moment? What are your desires? What do you want in the present moment? What are some of the things that you're worried about? Or anxious about? What are you fearful of in that moment? Just have the Holy Spirit, reveal yourself to you.

Autumn Cornwell:

Oh, I was gonna jump in here too. I love it when I talk to Jesus I ask, what do you like about me?

Danica Childs:

That's a fun one, too.

Autumn Cornwell:

Because if I'm feeling 'meh' I'll be like, What do you like about me? Then he'll share what he likes about me. Things will pop into my head that I know are the Holy Spirit's messages to me, you know, saying I like this. I like that.

Danica Childs:

I would actually say do both. Because one is telling you about your identity. Jesus is speaking into who you are. The other one is helping you reveal yourself to you that you're not aware of. So do both.

Autumn Cornwell:

I think it'd be a fun one. Yeah, a one two punch. And then after that, you know, go about your day.

Danica Childs:

When you're done pay attention again. How did you feel? How did you feel doing that? Did it bring a sense of relief? Did it bring a sense of peace? Did it bring a sense of connection that maybe has been missing in your relationship with God? Just pay attention. Did you like doing the activity?

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes. And also, I just was thinking another question I like to ask Jesus is, what do I want, Jesus? You know what I want more than I do. I'm confused. Let's say you're confused and you're doing your laundry, or you're driving an errand and you're like, Okay, God, I'm having quiet time with you. But I'm confused about such and such. What do I really want? What's my deep, deep yearning that I don't want to admit? Or like Danica, I haven't had time to shovel down deep to figure it out, help me, you know, make a shortcut.

Danica Childs:

Clarify. This is excellent. It's basically excavating, again, help me excavate my desires, help me excavate my emotions about this thing. That's an excellent one as well.

Autumn Cornwell:

Danica, any other final thoughts before we let these wonderful folks go about their day?

Danica Childs:

Well, we would love it, if you're comfortable, if you would drop us a comment or send us an email letting us know about your experiences. We love to hear testimony of how God moves in your life.

Autumn Cornwell:

Yes, testimony is one of our favorite things. It just instills fire in the other person hearing it and gets them excited. And they have an increase in faith that they can do it themselves and it can help them. And next time we're going to be sharing a case study of a time my husband and I had to make a choice between two opportunities that were equally good. So it's discernment in action.

Danica Childs:

How do you pay attention to those inner promptings of the Spirit to know which good to choose?

Autumn Cornwell:

It's a mystery. And you have to tune in to find out which Good thing we chose.

Danica Childs:

Dun dun dun